Joseph Halsy. He appears to have been one of the sons of the James
Halsie I, who was mentioned in a land deed of 1674 as a mathematician.[80]
The land records indicate that James I was the father of several
children, including Rebecca, a spinster; John Halsey, a mariner who died
before 1716; Sarah, who later became Mrs. Dorsan; another daughter, name
unknown, who became the wife of a Joseph Gilbert and the mother of two
daughters and a son who inherited her share of her father's estate;
Nathaniel Halsie; and probably Joseph Halsy. James Halsie I appears to
have owned property consisting of land, a wooden house, and wharves on
the North End, on North Street between Sun Court and Fleet Street.[81]
The date of birth of Joseph Halsy of Boston has not been found, but
mention is made of the fact that on January 29, 1697, he was married to
Elizabeth Eldridge, the daughter of a mariner named Joseph Eldridge, and
that five children resulted from the marriage, three sons and two
daughters.[82] One son, Joseph, died in infancy and a daughter,
Elizabeth, died at an early age.
On February 26, 1704/5 Halsy purchased from Rebecca Halsey, the spinster
daughter of James, her share in the house and land of her late father on
North Street between Sun Court and Fleet Street.
On April 19, 1714, Halsy and his wife deeded a house and land on North
End, at the corner of Hanover and Salutation Streets, to a shipwright
named Joseph Hood. Two years later, on March 2, 1716, he purchased from
Jane, his sister-in-law, who was the widow of the mariner John Halsy,
her share of the house and land of James Halsie, being the same property
on North Street. On March 27 of the same year he purchased the share in
the same property belonging to Sarah Dorsan, his widowed sister. In
August 1719 he was forced to mortgage some of the property to a merchant
named John Frizell, but the mortgage was cancelled in 1741.
Halsy was married for a second time on January 10, 1731, to Mrs. Anna
Lloyd, a widow.[83]
[Illustration: Figure 39.--Wooden surveying compass "Made and sold by
Joseph Halsy, Boston, New England." The instrument, made of maple, is 11
in. long and has a diameter of 5-3/4 in. In the collection of New
Hampshire Historical Society, Concord.]
During the 1730's, Halsy continued to buy out the heirs of James Halsie.
On March 6, 1730, he acquired the share of Mary Gilbert, a
granddaughter, and on the same date he purchased from the James Halsey
heirs their inheritance "part to land, wharf, house, shop and buildings
on North Street." Other heirs remained, for in June 9, 1732, he bought
out the share of Marty Partridge, another granddaughter, and on June 27
the share of Joseph Gilbert, Jr., a grandson. In October 1740 he was
forced to mortgage as security to James Bowdoin a house and land on the
southwest side of North Street, but this was cancelled when on August
26, 1751, Joseph Halsey and his wife, Anna, deeded to James Noble the
land, wooden house, and wharves near Fish Street on North Street between
Sun Court and Fleet Street, which apparently was formerly the property
of James Halsey that Joseph had acquired with so much trouble over a
period of 40 years.[84]
The following advertisement relating to instruments sold by Halsy
appeared in the issues of _The Boston Gazette_ for the months of
September and October 1738:
Made and sold by Joseph Halsey jun. Hadley's New Invented Quadrant
or Octant the best and exacted Instrument for taking the Latitude
or Other Altitudes at Sea, as ever yet Invented.[85]
The last dated record relating to Joseph Halsy which has been found is a
letter dated February 3, 1762, that he wrote to Robert Treat Paine
concerning legal matters.
Only one complete instrument produced by Joseph Halsy appears to have
survived--an especially fine wooden surveyors compass (fig. 39) in the
collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society. It is made of maple.
The compass card, probably the most interesting of any found in the
wooden instruments, is hand-colored in black, blue, red, and gold. A
fleur-de-lis marks the North point, and triangular pointers indicate the
other compass directions. Inside the pointers are crudely painted female
figures representing the seven arts: NW, Grammar; W, Logick; SW,
Geometry; S, Arithmetick; SE, Astronomy; E, Rhetorick; and NE, Musick.
Within a medallion at the center of the compass card is depicted a
sailing vessel at sea; surrounding the medallion is a riband inscribed
"Made and Sold by JOSEPH HALSY Boston--New England."[86]
Another, but much less elaborate, compass card used by Joseph Halsy, is
an engraved example (fig. 40) found glued in Thomas Paine's own
manuscript copy of Charles Morton's _Compendium Physicae_, which is
preserved in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
John Halsy (fl. 1700-1750), also a mathematical instrument maker, had a
shop on Green Street, in Boston, according to the Record Commissioner's
"Report of the City of Boston." He was married on December 10, 1700, by
the Reverend Cotton Mather. He probably was a brother of Joseph Halsy
who worked in the same period.
John Halsy subsequently abandoned his instrument-making business to
become a pirate. He went out to Madagascar, where it is reported that he
died in his own bed. He was buried with the rites of the Church of
England in his own watermelon patch.
[Illustration: Figure 40.--Compass card of Joseph Halsy found glued into
Thomas Paine's personal copy of Charles Morton's _Compendium Physicae_.
In collection of Massachusetts Historical Society.]
_James Halsy II_
James Halsy II (1695-1767), a mathematical instrument maker, was born in
Boston on April 10, 1695, the son of Nathaniel and Hannah (Gross)
Halsie. The parents had been married by the Reverend Cotton Mather in
June 1693.[87] In 1716 young James Halsy was a member of the Artillery
Company, and by 1720 he had the rating of 4th sergeant. He held town
offices and was one of the founders of the New Brick Church of Boston.
On May 30, 1717, he married Anna Gutridge (Goodrich). Ten years later,
on September 22, 1727, he bought a house and land on North Bennett and
Tileston Streets from Hugh Hall, a merchant; at the same time he deeded
to Hall some land and a house adjacent to the latter on the southwest
side of Green Street. On January 5, 1837, he deeded to his aunt(?), a
single woman named Huldah Gross, a house and land on Ann Street that he
had inherited from Thomas Gross, his grandfather. Several more real
estate negotiations were recorded in the course of the next few years.
In October 1740 he purchased a house and land on the north side of North
Bennet Street from John Endicott; in January 1741 land on the east side
of North Bennett Street; and in November 1748 half of the house and land
of Edward Pell, adjacent to Huldah Gross, on Cross Street; finally, in
October 1753, he purchased land on Tileston and North Bennett Streets
from John Grant.[88]
Halsy died on January 2, 1767, at the age of 72. In his will dated May
1, 1766, and probated January 2, 1767, by which his wife Anna was the
executrix of his estate, he left her the income of his real and personal
estate. He apparently was survived by three daughters and a son, also
named James Halsy. He divided his real estate in Boston amongst his
daughters, and to his son he left land in New Hampshire.[89]
The only known surviving instrument bearing James Halsy's name is a
wooden surveying compass (fig. 41) in the collection of the Peabody
Museum in Salem. The engraved compass card is quite similar to the one
used by Thomas Greenough. In the central medallion is an elaborate royal
crown, and in the circle around the medallion is inscribed "Made and
Sold by JAMES HALSY near Ye Draw Bridge in Boston."[90]
[Illustration: Figure 41.--Wooden surveying compass made by James Halsy
(1695-1767) of Boston. The instrument is 11 in. long. In collection of
East India Marine Hall, Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.]
_Thomas Greenough_
Contemporary with James Halsy II was Thomas Greenough (1710-1785), who
was born in Boston in 1710, the son of John and Elizabeth (Gross)
Greenough. His father was a shipwright in the North End of Boston, and
one of Thomas's brothers, Newman Greenough, became a sailmaker. Thomas
also had a sister named Jerusha, who later figured in his real estate
negotiations.
The earliest known record relating to Greenough is of his marriage in
1734 to Martha Clarke, daughter of William and Sarah Clarke of Boston.
Nine children resulted from this marriage over the course of the next 16
years; four of these were sons. On January 27 of the year of his
marriage he purchased a house on the northwest side of North Street,
between Mill Creek and Union Street, from John White and Nathaniel
Roberts. On August 1, 1736, Greenough purchased the house and land of
his father-in-law, William Clarke, on the south side of Portland Street.
On October 28 he mortgaged to his mother his house on Ann Street (which
appears to have been the house he had purchased on North Street), and at
the same time he deeded to his brother Newman all his right and title in
his father's estate at the North End. Greenough was only 24 at the time
of his marriage, and he apparently became involved in real estate, by
choice or by necessity, to a considerable degree.
Greenough, in 1744, was a member of a militia company in Boston,[91] and
three years later, in 1747, he was listed as third sergeant. He was a
firm patriot, held a town office, and was a founder and deacon of the
New Brick Church in Boston.
Greenough had a substantial interest in the holdings of his late
father-in-law. For example, on August 11, 1744, he and his wife deeded
to a merchant named James Pitts the seawall, or new wharf, "before the
Town of Boston in the front and rear lying to the northward of King
Street Pier, North Wharf and flats of James Bowdoin," all of which was
part of the estate of his deceased father-in-law that apparently had
been inherited by his wife. In the following year, on November 1, 1745,
he purchased a house and land on Portland Street from his widowed
mother-in-law and then on March 31, 1746, he and his wife deeded the
same house and land to a merchant named Stephen Hall. Numerous other
negotiations of the same nature are on record.
At some time between 1748 and 1750 Greenough's first wife, Martha, died,
and in 1750 he married Sarah Stoddard. Three more children, all sons,
resulted from this second marriage. His real estate negotiations
continued full pace during the second marriage as during the first.[92]
Greenough's second wife preceded him in death, and Greenough died in
1785 at the age of 75. His will, probated on August 23, 1785, had been
made on May 21, 1782;[93] it contained some interesting bequests:
Executors: my two sons, David S. and William Greenough. Legatees:
to the children of my son Thomas, deceased, Rachel, Ann, and Sally
Greenough, L13.6.8 each. To their sister Betty L5. To the children
of my son John deceased, 200 acres of land. I also give his eldest
son John my silver can, fellow to the one I gave his father. To his
sons Wm. and David, and to his daughters, Sarah, Abigail, and
Mehitible L5 each and the house they live in. My daughter, Sarah
Edwards, L10 and a silver chafing dish. My daughter Martha Stone
all my lands in the County of York, Cape Porpoise, and Wells, and
my silver salver, and her son Thomas L5 and a silver porringer. My
daughter Elizabeth Brooks L10 and a silver tea pot. My daughter
Mary Savage L40 and to her son Thomas one silver porringer. To the
children of my daughter Jerusha, deceased, Martha Clark Lepear and
Sally Lepear each of them, L50, and a pair of salt shovels, and a
pepper box, silver. All the rest of my estate to my two sons, David
Stoddard Greenough, and Wm. Greenough. The late Shute Shrimpton
Yeoman, Esq., left an estate to my late spouse Sarah, and to her
children, in the Island of Antigua. In case my son David should
have a legal possession of same, and Wm. no part, in that case I
give my son David L100 and sundry pieces as per schedule amount to
L63.11.3. All the rest of my estate to my son, William Greenough.
Of particular interest with relation to Greenough's business in
instruments is the following advertisement that appeared on May 11,
1742, in _The Boston Gazette_:
To be sold by Capt. Cyprian Southack at his House near the Orange
Tree and at Mr. Tho. Greenough's Mathematical Instrument Maker near
the Draw Bridge, said Southack's Char[t]s of the Coast from Sandy
Point of New York to Canso.
Invaluable for this study are Thomas Greenough's manuscript accounts
that have survived in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical
Society. The following itemized entries are selected from Greenough's
business accounts over a period of two decades to provide data on the
prices current in the second half of the 18th century for new
instruments and for repairing others:
In Account with Thomas James Gruchy:
1754, April 27: 1 Compass for the Schooner _Sea Flour_ L0.8.0.
1758, Nov. 28: 1 Spyglass L1.13.8.
1759, Jan. 25: Mending 3 Compasses for the Schooner
_Susanna_ L0.6.0.
In Account with Nathaniel Bethune:
1760, August: A gauging rod L0.6.0.
Mending a telescope L0.3.0.
In Account with Captain McAndrew Mirick of Nantucket:
1772, March 21: For 2 compasses, 1 leaded L0.16.8.
In Account with Captain Roberson Crockett:
1773, April: For mending 2 Compasses L0.6.2.
For mending 1 Hanging Compass L0.3.2.
In Account with Captain Reworth of the Brig _Fortune_:
1774, March 30: For mending 2 compasses & Glasses L0.7.0.
In Account with Captain Thomas Godfrey:
1774, April 7: For 1 Telescope L0.8.0.
Other documents in the same collection indicate that Greenough's
business interests were substantial and not limited merely to the
construction of instruments. On July 31, 1769, Greenough's name appeared
on the Boston Citizens' Non-Importation Agreement. Subsequently, on
December 14, 1774, there is Greenough's signed receipt, with the amount
left blank, stating that he had "REC'D. of Capt. Thomas Godfrey the Sum
of ---- in full for my Negro man Cuffes Shair in the Whaling Voige
----."
[Illustration: Figure 42.--Brass surveying compass made by Thomas
Greenough (1710-1785) of Boston. Compass face is mounted on main blade
with two copper rivets. Screws for vanes and tripod mounting are hand
cut, with wing nut ends. Sighting bars are 1/16 in. wide and 5-1/4 in.
high; over-all length is 11-7/8 in. and diameter is 5-1/4 in. Owned by
Greenough family of Boston. Photo courtesy of Dr. Thomas Greenough.]
Greenough apparently was succeeded in business by his son William
Greenough. Mr. Lawrence B. Romaine of Middleboro, Massachusetts, in 1939
described a wooden surveying compass with its own hand-whittled tripod
made of oak which bore a compass card inscribed "Made by William
Greenough, Boston, N.E."[94] The compass was protected by a pine cover
that fitted closely between the sights. The present location of this
instrument is not known, but it appears to be the only known example by
William Greenough made of wood.[95]
[Illustration: Figure 43.--Wooden surveying compass, made and sold by
Thomas Greenough. The instrument is made of gumwood and has a paper
compass card; it is 13-1/4 in. long and has a diameter of 5-3/4 in. In
collection of Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.]
In the Greenough family at the present time is a brass surveying compass
(fig. 42) of fine quality and of the period before or during the
American Revolution. The dial is finely engraved with a Tudor rose at
its center, and around it is the inscription "THOMAS GREENOUGH BOSTON
Fecit." The compass face is mounted to the main blade with two copper
rivets. The holding screws for the vane and tripod mounting are rather
crudely hand cut with wing-nut ends.[96]
[Illustration: Figure 44.--Wooden surveying compass made and sold by
Thomas Greenough. Made of hickory, it is 11 in. long and has a diameter
of 5-1/2 in. Compass card is of paper. Allegedly, this compass was used
by Joseph Frye for surveying his land grant in what is now Fryeburg,
Maine, in 1762. Loaned to the U.S. National Museum by Laurits C. Eichner
of Clifton, New Jersey. USNM 315001.]
Five other surveying compasses made by Thomas Greenough are known, and
all are made of wood: the one in the Franklin Institute is made of gum
(fig. 43), one in Old Sturbridge is made of maple, one in the Bucks
County Historical collection at the Mercer Museum is made of cherry, one
owned by this writer is made of basswood, and one on loan to the U.S.
National Museum from Mr. Laurits C. Eichner is made of hickory (fig.
44).
The compass at the Mercer Museum forms part of the surveyor's gear used
to lay out the town of Weymouth, Massachusetts. The example in hickory
on loan to the U.S. National Museum, as is usually the case with the
compass cards of the Thomas Greenough instruments, has the central ring
printed in gilt, and the inscription has turned black, making the
inscription almost illegible. This specimen was owned by Joseph Frye,
who was given a land grant in what is now Fryeburg, Maine, in 1762. He
allegedly used this compass for surveying that land. In 1783 he
assembled a manuscript book of tables (see fig. 45) for use in
surveying for his son Joseph Frye, Jr. This manuscript also is part of
the loan to the U.S. National Museum.[97]
[Illustration: Figure 45.--Pages from a booklet of "Tables Useful in
Surveying Land, Made and presented by Joseph Frye to his son, Joseph
Frye, Jr., November 18, A.D. 1783." Loaned to the U.S. National Museum
by Laurits C. Eichner of Clifton, N.J. USNM 315062.]
[Illustration: Figure 46.--Compass card from a wooden surveying compass
"Made by Thomas Greenough, Boston, New England." In collection of the
writer.]
The compass card in each of these five instruments is identical,
designed for use in the mariner's compass (see fig. 46). A gentleman in
the dress of about 1740 stands on the shore using a Davis quadrant.
Offshore in the harbor is a schooner of the 1750 period. Minor features
of the scene are touched up in red, presumably printed, since they are
consistent in all of the cards.
_William Williams_
Although not one of the earliest instrument makers in Boston, but
certainly one of the more significant, was William Williams
(1737/8-1792). He was the son of Capt. John Williams, a shopkeeper who
died on March 22, 1748, at the age of 41, and who was buried in King's
Chapel Burial Ground.[98]
William Williams was born in 1737 or 1738. He was ten years of age when
his father died, and he had two brothers and two sisters. His father
left a substantial estate of L6,575, of which L4,544/9/4 was for the
inventory of the shop merchandise. One of the appraisers for his estate,
Jotham Maverick, married the widowed Mrs. Williams less than a year
later, on January 20, 1748/9.[99]
In 1770 William Williams established himself as a mathematical
instrument maker and clockmaker at No. 1 Long Wharf, at the Crown Coffee
House, as it was then known. The shop was located on the corner of State
and Chatham Streets, on premises owned by Robert Shillcock.
[Illustration: Figure 47.--Quadrant, showing signature of Thomas
Greenough. Photo courtesy Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.]
Williams may have worked as an instrument maker in Marblehead before
returning to his native Boston. According to Felt,[100] an instrument
maker named William Williams at Marblehead advertised in the Salem
newspapers in the early 1770's. However, in 1768 Williams was producing
instruments from an address in King Street, Boston. (See figure 48.) An
advertisement inserted by Williams appeared in the March 12, 1770, issue
of _The Boston Gazette_. It was this same issue that reported the Boston
Massacre. One of the victims was Williams' step-brother Samuel Maverick,
the son of his stepfather Jotham Maverick by a first marriage.
In 1773 Williams married Joyce Shillcock, the daughter of his landlord.
During the Revolutionary War, Williams saw active service as a private
in Captain Mills' company, of Col. Jeduthan Baldwin's regiment of
artificers, during the years 1777-1779. In 1780 he served in Captain
Pattin's company of General Knox's artillery, which was stationed at
West Point.[101]
With the conclusion of the war Williams returned to the craft of
instrument-making in his shop, at No. 1 Long Wharf. In 1782 his wife,
Joyce, inherited the property from her mother, the widow Hannah
Shillcock, following the latter's death in that year. In the following
May it is recorded that Williams purchased the warehouse and land on the
north side of State Street from Benjamin Brown, a trader. By a separate
deed, he and his wife released to Brown the warehouse and land which had
been the property of his father-in-law in exchange for a clear title to
one-half share of the store and land under it "which is next to the
street called King Street." On February 7, 1784, he bought a share of
the lower division at Long Wharf, No. 7, from Arnold Welles. On May 17
of the same year he succeeded in buying out Brown's half share of the
lower division of Long Wharf at Nos. 1 and 7, and at the same time he
deeded to Brown one-half share of No. 7 Long Wharf, together with all
its dockage and wharfage. Finally, on January 20, 1785, Williams and his
wife deeded to Brown all rights to land of No. 7 Long Wharf, reserving
for himself his rights in the flats, wharfage, and dockage.
On March 23, 1787, Williams deeded to Joseph Helyer, a blockmaker, the
store and land under same, and half the wharfage properly belonging to
Lot No. 1. On October 20 of the same year he sold to Brown a part or
share of No. 7 Long Wharf, and on March 24, 1788, he purchased land with
a wooden store at State Street and Long Wharf from Benjamin Brown. On
June 26 he bought the land and store of Joseph Helyer on the north side
of Long Wharf.
[Illustration: Figure 48.--Advertisement of William Williams in _The
Boston Gazette_, March 12, 1770. Photo courtesy Harvard University
Library.]
Williams engaged in only two more transactions before his death. On
March 28, 1790, he mortgaged to Joseph Greene, a merchant, the land with
wooden store at the head of Long Wharf on the northeast side of State
Street; this mortgage was cancelled on May 29, 1793. On October 1, 1791,
he deeded to Benjamin Brown a one-half share or 1/48th of all the
dockage and wharfage of Long Wharf that appertained to one-half of Lot
No. 1, which he had previously purchased from Welles as noted, as well
as 1/48th of the proprietor's purchase of Gordon's lands and buildings
adjoining the Wharf.
Williams died on January 15, 1792, at age 44. The administrator of his
estate was a merchant named Abraham Quincy. By order of the Supreme
Court, in order to settle his estate, Williams' store building at No. 1
Long Wharf was ordered sold at public auction. Although on the site of
the Crown Coffee House, it was a new building erected in 1780 after the
Coffee House had burned. The purchaser appears to have been John Osborn,
a merchant, because on May 10, 1793, Quincy, Williams' administrator,
deeded to Osborn the land with wooden store at Long Wharf on State
Street.[102]
The only instrument made by Williams which appears to have survived is a
Davis backstaff (fig. 49) marked "By Wm. Williams, King Street, Boston,
for Malachi Allen, 1768"; this instrument is now in the collection of
the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. It is to be noted from this
inscription that this instrument was an early example of Williams' work,
produced at the age of 20, prior to the opening of his shop at the Crown
Coffee House.
In 1770, when Williams opened his shop, the carved sign of "The Little
Admiral" (fig. 37) was installed in front of the Crown Coffee House, and
Williams' establishment was thereafter designated by this symbol.[103]
In his shop at No. 1 Long Wharf, Williams exercised his crafts of
instrument-and clockmaking, and he made and sold a large assortment of
instruments, as well as time glasses which measured from one quarter
minute to two hours.
[Illustration: Figure 49.--Detail of wooden Davis quadrant inscribed
"Made by William Williams in King Street Boston" for "Malachi Allen
1768." In collection of East India Marine Hall, Peabody Museum, Salem,
Massachusetts.]
The name of Williams appears also in the Day Books of Paul Revere. Under
date of April 16, 1792, there is the following entry: