Figure 49
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:
Mr. William Williams DrTo Engravg plate for hatt bills 0-18-0To 2 hund prints 0-6-0.
Mr. William Williams DrTo Engravg plate for hatt bills 0-18-0To 2 hund prints 0-6-0.
From June 24, 1792, to January 28, 1797, Revere entered 12 charges against Williams for 8,500 hat bills for the total amount of £14/15/0.[104]
Closely associated with the name of William Williams is that of another instrument maker of Boston, Samuel Thaxter (1769-1842). Thaxter was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, on December 13, 1769, the son of Samuel and Bathsheba (Lincoln) Thaxter. His father, who had been born in Hingham in 1744, was married on December 27, 1768, and he became the father of sixchildren, of whom Samuel was the eldest. Samuel Thaxter, Sr., was apparently a man of means, for he is listed as a "Gentleman" and a loyal subject of King George. He resided on North Street in Hingham, near Ship Street. He died on the island of Campobello at the age of 44 years on May 27, 1788.[105]
Samuel Thaxter, as well as several generations of his family before him, was born in the old Thomas Thaxter mansion that was built by the settler of that name in 1652. During the Revolution Samuel's father, Maj. Samuel Thaxter, concealed Tories from the Committee of Safety in a blind passage with a secret door in the old house. From there he smuggled them to Boston. At the massacre of Fort William, Major Thaxter was one of those captured by the Indians. While tied to a tree, he saw two French officers, and demanded whether this was the treatment they gave to commissioned officers. They allowed him to go free and he dragged himself to Fort Edward. Meanwhile, his comrades had reported him missing in action, and Dr. Gay preached his funeral sermon in Hingham shortly before Thaxter's return. The old Thaxter mansion was torn down in 1864.[106]
Young Samuel Thaxter moved from Hingham to Boston, where he is first heard of in 1792. On June 14, 1792, Thaxter married Polly Helyer, the niece of William Williams.
Within a month after the sale of Williams' property at public auction, Thaxter acquired the instrument-making business. Apparently the new owner of the premises required the business to move, and Thaxter established himself at No. 9 Butler's Row. A month after the Williams auction Thaxter announced his new location in an advertisement (fig. 50) inThe Columbia Centinelof May 22, 1793.
Thaxter's new location was a wooden store structure, on the north side of Butler's Row that was owned by Andrew Hall and Eunice Fitch in 1798. It was in the rear of the north side of State Street, running from Merchants Row to the water.
By 1796 Thaxter had moved from this location to No. 49 State Street, on the north side opposite to Broad Street, a brick store owned by Joseph Lovering & Sons, tallow chandlers. He continued to do business at this address until 1815, when he moved to 27 State Street, on the opposite side of the street. The new location was in a brick dwelling, opposite Merchants Row, that was owned by Joseph Clough, a housewright.
Figure 50
Figure 50.—Advertisement of Samuel Thaxter in The Columbia Centinel, May 22, 1793. Photo courtesy Harvard University Library.
In about 1825 Thaxter moved his business once more, to 125 State Street, the east corner of Broad Street. This building was occupied by Charles Stimpson, Jr., a stationer who was one of the publishers of theBoston Annual Advertiser, which was annexed to the Boston Directory of 1826. The building was owned by Jonathan Phillips, the first mayor of Boston. In the cellar of the building was a victualler named Augustus Adams.[107]
The dominating feature of Thaxter's shop from the time it was opened was the carved figure of "The Little Admiral," the trade sign first used by Williams.
The firm of Samuel Thaxter eventually became Samuel Thaxter & Son, and it continued with that name until past the middle of the 19th century. Samuel Thaxter died in April 1842 at the age of 72 years. The entry for the firm in the 1843 City Directory listed S. T. Cushing as the new owner. From the initials, it seems likelythat his full name was Samuel Thaxter Cushing, and that he was the grandson of the original Samuel Thaxter. S. T. Cushing continued to be listed as the owner of the firm until 1899, when he was succeeded by A. T. Cushing, presumably a son of the former. The old store was finally demolished in 1901.[108]Comparison of a photograph of the building just before its demolition with a copy of Thaxter's trade card (fig. 51) of the mid-19th century shows that the building underwent little change in the period. The "Little Admiral" is barely visible in both views.
Figure 51
Figure 51.—19th-century trade card in collection of the Bostonian Society.
Figure 52
Figure 52.—Mahogany surveying compass made by Samuel Thaxter of Boston. Length, 13 in.; diameter, 7-1/2 in. Wooden frame slides off to permit removal of glass and adjustment of needle. Sighting bars are of boxwood. In collection of the writer.
In 1796, shortly after his marriage, Thaxter made his home on
Fish Street (now North Street), but in 1800 he was living at 54 Middle Street (Hanover Street). By 1807 he had moved to a new home on Fleet Street. His last home address, at the time of his death, was 41 Pinckney Street.[109]
Figure 53
Figure 53.—Compass card from earlier form of wooden surveying compass made by Samuel Thaxter of Boston. From an instrument in the collection of the writer.
In the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society there is a receipted bill (fig. 55) from Samuel Thaxter dated July 1, 1801, to Sam Brown, for touching up and repairing nine compasses for the French corvelleBerceau.
Figure 54
Figure 54.—Brass surveying compass made and sold by S. Thaxter & Son, Boston, in late 18th or early 19th century. Over-all length, 14 in.; diameter of dial, 6 in.; length of needle, 5-1/8 in.; height of sighting bars, 6-1/2 in. In collection of the writer.
Figure 55
Figure 55.—Receipted bill from Samuel Thaxter to Sam Brown, Boston, August 4, 1801. In collection of Massachusetts Historical Society.
John Dupee of Boston apparently was another instrument maker of the pre-Revolutionary period actively engaged in producing wooden surveying compasses. Three wooden instruments with his compass card exist in private and public collections. The instruments are quite similar: the wood in each case is walnut or applewood, with an engraved paper mariner's compass card; a schooner at sea is figured within the central medallion, and inscribed within the riband enclosing it are the words "Made and Sold byJohn DupeeYe North Side of Swing Bridge Boston New Eng." One of the instruments is owned by the South Natick [Massachusetts] Historical Society; a second example is in thecollection of the Bostonian Society; and a third is owned by a private collector.
There is no record of a maker of scientific instruments or clocks by the name of Dupee, although the name John Dupee occurs in the city records of Boston during the early decades of the 18th century. An advertisement in the February 9, 1761, issue ofThe Boston Gazettestates that
Isaac Dupee, Carver, Advertises his Customers and others, that since the late Fire (on Dock Square) he has opened a shop the North side of the Swing-Bridge, opposite toThomas Tyler's, Esq.; where Business will be carried on as usual with Fidelity and Dispatch.
Isaac Dupee, Carver, Advertises his Customers and others, that since the late Fire (on Dock Square) he has opened a shop the North side of the Swing-Bridge, opposite toThomas Tyler's, Esq.; where Business will be carried on as usual with Fidelity and Dispatch.
The natural assumption would be that the three instruments were produced in Isaac Dupee's shop after 1761, perhaps by the carver's son. The use of an engraved compass card indicates that the instruments were not unique, and that a number of others were produced or contemplated. On the other hand, it is likely that the maker produced other types of instruments utilizing such a card, such as mariner's compasses.
Another instrument maker, presumably of Boston, is Jere Clough. The only instrument bearing his name known at present is a surveying compass (fig. 56), made of wood, in the Streeter Collection of Weights and Measures at Yale University. Clough's name does not appear on any of the lists of instrument makers or clockmakers, yet it is a name that is fairly prevalent in Boston. In 1741, for instance, one Joseph Clough of Boston was a maker of bellows.He produced bellows of all types—for furnaces, refiners, blacksmiths, braziers, and goldsmiths.[110]
Figure 56
Figure 56.—Wooden instrument made by Jere Clough. In Streeter Collection of Weights and Measures, Yale University.
Figure 57
Figure 57.—Wooden surveying compass made by Andrew Newell (1749-1798) of Boston. It is made of mahogany, is 11-1/2 in. long, and has a diameter of 5 in. The engraved compass card is signed by Nathaniel Hurd, goldsmith, silversmith, and engraver of Boston. In collection of Yale University Art Gallery.
An instrument of considerable significance is another wooden surveyor's compass, in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery. This compass (fig. 57) is made of rich brown San Domingo mahogany with sighting bars of boxwood. A mariner's card, set into the opening with a metal vernier scale, is in the usual form of the mariner's compass card of the 18th century; it is executed as a line engraving. A ship and the Boston harbor lighthouse are featured in the central medallion. On a riband encircling the medallion is the inscription "Made byANDW. NEWELLEast End of theMARKET BOSTON," Engraved in script at the southern tip of the star is the signature "N. Hurd Sct."
Relatively little is known about Andrew Newell (1749-1798) except that he was a maker of mathematical instruments. An entry in the first Boston directory, in 1789, listed "Andrew Newell, instrument maker, 61 State Street." The directory of 1796 mentioned Newell as having a shop on the "East side of the Market," the address that appears on the surveying compass.
Two years later the Boston directory listed Andrew Newell and Son, and in 1800 the listing included only the name of Joseph Newell, who may have been the son. Another mathematical instrument maker named Charles Newell may have been another son of Andrew Newell; his name does not appear in the city Directory until in the 19th century. An instrument with the signature "Newell & Son, Makers, East End of Faneuil Hall, Boston" is in the collection of the Bostonian Society.
An important feature of the Newell instrument is the fact that the engraver of the compass card was Nathaniel Hurd (1729-1777), the peer of goldsmiths and engravers of the colonial period. This compass card is a previously unrecorded example of Hurd's work, and constitutes a work of art, making the compass a historic scientific instrument.[111]The compass was presented to the Yale University Art Gallery by a Yale alumnus, Mr. Henry G. Schiff of New York City. No other examples have thus far been found.
Aaron Breed (1791-1861) is a relatively unknown maker of mathematical instruments who worked in Boston into the 19th century. He specialized in nautical, mathematical and optical instruments, with an address at 173 Broad Street, and another at No. 2 Rowe's Wharf, "At the Sign of the Quadrant." Breed made surveying instruments in brass and in wood. A brass instrument is in the Henry Ford Museum, and a wooden instrument is in the collection of Old Sturbridge Village. The latter is fashioned from walnut with an engraved compass card inscribed "Aaron Breed Boston."
The name of Charles Thacher appears on the compass card of a wooden surveying compass (fig. 58) in the collection of the Mariners' Museum, Norfolk, Virginia. No record of this maker has been found, but the engraved compass card indicates that he probably worked in New England.
Figure 58
Figure 58.—Wooden surveying compass made by Charles Thacher. It is made of cherry or maple; sighting bars are of oak. Over-all length, 13-5/8 in. Photos courtesy Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia.
Benjamin King Hagger (c. 1769-1834) was the scion of two well-known families of instrument makers in New England, so it is not surprising that he worked in the same craft.
It is believed that Hagger was born in Newport, Rhode Island, about 1769, the son of William Guyse Hagger and of a sister of Benjamin King. Although his father made instruments—at first in partnership with Benjamin King, and then working alone—in Newport at least as late as 1776, the family appears to have moved after the Revolution. William Guyse Hagger's name did not appear in the 1790 census of Newport, and it is presumed that he moved with his family to Boston.
Benjamin King Hagger was listed in the first city directory of Boston in 1789 as "a mathematical instrument maker" with an address on Ann Street; he was only 20 years of age at this time.
On November 10, 1793, Benjamin King Hagger, "mathematical instrument maker," purchased land with buildings on Prince Street near Snow Hill Street from one Peter Greene. Two years later, on December 1, 1795, Hagger, now listed simply as a "merchant," purchased a brick house, a wooden house, and a shed with land from William Ballard, a tailor of Framingham and an heir of Samuel Ballard. The property was located on the east side of North Street, south of Mill Creek. At the time of purchase, Hagger mortgaged the property to Ballard, and also mortgaged to him the house and land previously purchased from Greene.
Hagger was listed as a ship chandler in the following year when on March 24, 1796, he deeded part of his land on Prince Street to William and George Hillman, minors.
On June 22, 1796, three months later, Hagger, now listed as "mathematical instrument maker, and ship-chandler" deeded to a mariner named Thomas Wallis a house and land that formed part of his original purchase near Copp's Hill from Peter Greene. Then on July 21, 1796, he purchased from William Ballard all his right to the brick house and land on North Street (Ann Street), at the same time mortgaging the property to William Ballard, Jr., of Framingham. This mortgage was cancelled on April 11, 1798.[112]
These negotiations took place before marriage. A report of the Record Commissioners of Boston, states that "William King Hagger of Boston and Mehitable Ballard of Framingham weremarried October 6, 1796." The entry appears to be in error because the marriage intentions had read "Benjamin King Hagger." It is presumed that Mehitable was the daughter of William Ballard, the tailor of Framingham, from whom Hagger had bought his house on Ann Street, south of Mill Creek.[113]
Benjamin King Hagger is listed in the city directory of Boston for 1798 as a "mathematical instrument maker" on Ann Street. This, however, is the last listing for his name in Boston, as his name does not appear in the 1803 or subsequent directories.
Shortly after 1798 Hagger appears to have left Boston together with his wife, and it is probable that he established himself as an instrument maker in another Massachusetts community, at present unknown. In about 1816 Hagger moved with his family to Baltimore and continued his instrument-making business.
The records of the 1850 Federal census of Baltimore indicate that two of Hagger's sons, John W. and William G. Hagger, had been born in 1800 and 1806 respectively, in Massachusetts, presumably in the community to which Hagger had moved from Boston before moving once more to Baltimore.
According to Matchett's Baltimore directory for 1824, Hagger was a "mathematical and optical instrument maker" with a shop at 57 South Street. His advertisement in the directory stated that he
Respectfully acquaints his fellow citizens that he executes all orders in the line of his business with punctuality and confidently professes to give satisfaction to his employers, from the experience of a regular apprenticeship and 37 years practice.
Respectfully acquaints his fellow citizens that he executes all orders in the line of his business with punctuality and confidently professes to give satisfaction to his employers, from the experience of a regular apprenticeship and 37 years practice.
This indicates that Hagger completed his apprenticeship in 1787, when he was 18, and since then had been established in his own business or had worked for another as a journeyman instrument maker. His first advertisement in the Boston directory appeared in 1789, wherein his shop was listed as being on Ann Street.
Hagger died in Baltimore on November 8, 1834, at the age of 65, after a residence of 18 years in that city.[114]
Thus far only one instrument by Hagger has been found—a wooden surveying instrument or semicircumferentor (fig. 59). It is in the possession of the writer.
Figure 59
Figure 59.—Wooden graphometer made by Benjamin King Hagger (c. 1769-1834) of Boston and Baltimore. Made of yellow birch, with the name and gradations and lines incised into the wood by means of tiny punches, and filled. Trough compass; sighting bars mounted on a swivelling brass bar; collapsible tripod made of maple. In collection of the writer.
Production of wooden surveying compasses was not limited to Boston. Another instrument maker who produced them was Benjamin Warren (c. 1740-?) of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The name of Benjamin Warren was a fairly common one in Plymouth, being a name handed down in the family from father to son for at least five generations before 1800. The first Benjamin Warren at Plymouth was married in 1697, and his son Benjamin (2) was born in1698. Benjamin (2) was married in due course, and his son Benjamin (3) was born in 1740. The third Benjamin was the father of Benjamin (4), who was born in 1766. In 1789 Benjamin (4) married Sarah Young, the daughter of Daniel Young, and their son Benjamin (5) was born in 1792. The Benjamin Warren who operated the shop in Plymouth probably was Benjamin Warren (3), who was then about 45 years of age.[115]
A search ofThe Plymouth Journal & Massachusetts Advertiserhas revealed several advertisements and notices (fig. 60) about Benjamin Warren from which some information can be derived about the man and his business during this period. The first known notice dated March 19, 1785, probably is the most important one. Later in the same year, on August 16, 1785, Warren published the following notice:
WHEREAS on Friday Morning of the 5th inst. eloped from the House of the subscriber,Inholderin Plymouth, JOHN MOREY, of NORTON, of tall stature, & round shoulder'd. Had on when he absconded, a shabby claret coloured coat, adorned with patches, and a pair of dirty smoak'd coloured breeches; without knee-buckles; and an old flopped hatt, defaced with grease.As he appeared to be an enterprising genius, without abilities, politeness or honesty, and went off in an abrupt and clandestine manner; a reward ofSixpencewill be paid, to any person or persons, who will persuade or induce the said Morey to make his appearance once more to the subscriber.
WHEREAS on Friday Morning of the 5th inst. eloped from the House of the subscriber,Inholderin Plymouth, JOHN MOREY, of NORTON, of tall stature, & round shoulder'd. Had on when he absconded, a shabby claret coloured coat, adorned with patches, and a pair of dirty smoak'd coloured breeches; without knee-buckles; and an old flopped hatt, defaced with grease.
As he appeared to be an enterprising genius, without abilities, politeness or honesty, and went off in an abrupt and clandestine manner; a reward ofSixpencewill be paid, to any person or persons, who will persuade or induce the said Morey to make his appearance once more to the subscriber.
Figure 60
Figure 60.—An advertisement of Benjamin Warren in The Plymouth Journal & Massachusetts Advertiser. Photos courtesy The American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.
It is obvious that Warren was not considerably concerned about the return of John Morey, for the reward offered was scarcely conducive to obtain the public's cooperation. Warren's first ventures with public sales must have been successful, for early in the next year, in the issue of January 3, 1786, he announced that
Benjamin Warren,
PROPOSES to open a convenient AUCTION-ROOM, over the Shop he now trades in, next week. Any Gentlemen that will furnish him with goods of any kind for Public or Private sale, on Commission, shall be served with fidelity, and the smallest favours in that way gratefully acknowledged.
PROPOSES to open a convenient AUCTION-ROOM, over the Shop he now trades in, next week. Any Gentlemen that will furnish him with goods of any kind for Public or Private sale, on Commission, shall be served with fidelity, and the smallest favours in that way gratefully acknowledged.
The next notice of the auction-room appeared on February 21, 1786, when the newspaper advertised that
To-morrowwill be SOLD, byPublic Vendue,AtWARREN'SAuction Room,A VARIETY of articles,viz. Nails, Bar Lead, GlassPewter, Buttons, Buckles, Chairs, Stands, &c., &c., &c.*** The SALE to begin at 10 o'Clock, A.M.
No other notices of public sales appeared in theJournalfor the next several months. The last notice of this period was another announcement of a sale, which was published in the issue of May 30, 1786:
Publick Vendue,AtWARREN's Auction Room, in PLYMOUTH:at Ten o'clock this morning. WILLbe Sold, a quantity of bar lead, boxes of glass,6 × 8. English Shovels and Tongs, bridle-Bits,and a variety of other articles of Hard-Ware.Also, a few Anvils at private sale.
Only one instrument signed by Warren is known to survive; it is a wooden surveying compass (fig. 61) in the Streeter Collectionof Weights and Measures at Yale University. The instrument, which appears to have been made from walnut, has a compass card with the following inscription around the central medallion: "Made and sold byBENJAMIN WARRENPlymouth New Engd."
Figure 61
Figure 61.—Wooden surveying compass made by Benjamin Warren (c. 1740-c. 1800) of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and detail of the compass card. The compass, made of cherry wood, is 12 in. long and has a diameter of 6 in. In Streeter Collection of Weights and Measures, Yale University.
Figure 62
Figure 62.—Detail of card, Warren surveying compass shown in figure 61.
The medallion (fig. 62) encloses a harbor scene with a brigantine of the 1740 period off a promontory on which is prominently situated a lighthouse with a smaller building partly visible at the left. The lighthouse is unusual in construction in that it features twin towers rising from a large rectangular wooden building.
As far as can be determined from available records, the only lighthouse in America of this period having such construction was the noted Gurnet Light, which was built at the tip of Duxbury Beach in Plymouth Bay in 1768. D. Alan Stevenson[116]relates that the Governor's Council of Massachusetts, when it decided in 1768to erect the Gurnet Lighthouse at Plymouth, adopted a novel plan to distinguish it from other American lighthouses. "This consisted of double lights set horizontally in the same structure. A timber house built at a cost of £660, 30' long and 20' high, had a lanthorn at each end to contain two four-wick lamps.
"In 1802 fire destroyed the house but the merchants of the town promptly subscribed to replace it by temporary lights, as the Government had no immediate funds at its disposal. An Act of Congress of 1802 allotted $2500 for building another set of twin lights and reimbursing the merchants for their expenditure.
"Though the idea of twin lights at Plymouth seemed an excellent distinction from a single navigation light shown at Barnstable harbor in the vicinity, they proved not entirely advantageous and a sea captain blamed them for causing his shipwreck. He had seen the light from only one tower and identified it with confidence as the Barnstable light; apparently, from a particular direction one tower hid the other. But local prejudice in favor of retaining the twin lights as a distinction prevailed until 1924 when, at last, opposition ceased to the recommendation which the Lighthouse Board expressed frequently that a single light would be preferable."
It seems quite likely that the compass card bears one of the very few surviving contemporary representations of the first Gurnet Light in Plymouth Bay. A search of the archives of the historical societies in Plymouth, Boston, and Worcester and the files of the U.S. National Archives has failed to reveal any illustration of this famous lighthouse.
Quite by coincidence, the name of Benjamin Warren was discovered among the entries of the day books of Paul Revere, the famous patriot, silversmith, and engraver. The entry[117](fig. 63) appears as follows:
1786 March 13. Benjm Warren Dr. PlimouthTo printing one hundred Compass Cards 0-18-0.
1786 March 13. Benjm Warren Dr. PlimouthTo printing one hundred Compass Cards 0-18-0.
Whether the compass card on the Warren instrument was produced by Revere is difficult to determine. Authorities on Revere's engravings agree that it could have been engraved by Revere but are unable to state it positively. It has been suggested that the entry in Revere's day book indicates that he merely printed the compass cards for Warren and that he did not engrave a plate. The charge for the work bears out this supposition; and furthermore, Revere's bills seemed to make a definite distinctionbetween the engraving of plates and actual prints. Whether or not Revere was responsible for making the original engraving remains to be determined, but it is very probable that he printed the compass card of the instrument in the Streeter Collection of Weights and Measures at Yale.
Figure 63
Figure 63.—Page from the "day books" of Paul Revere with entry for the printing of compass cards for Benjamin Warren of Plymouth. In collection of Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.
One of the best known and most respected names among Connecticut clockmakers is that of Daniel Burnap (1759-1838) of East Windsor. Burnap was born in Coventry in 1759 and served an apprenticeship with Thomas Harland, clockmaker of Norwich. In about 1780 Burnap opened his own establishment, where he combined the crafts of clockmaking, cabinetmaking, and engraving of brass, in all of which he was greatly skilled. One of his apprentices was Eli Terry, who later achieved fame in the craft in his own right.[118]
Burnap's business included clients in Windsor, Hartford, andCoventry, as well as some of the leading merchants and cabinetmakers of the nearby cities and towns. Although clockmaking was the primary business in which Burnap engaged, he also had a large trade for his surveying instruments, silver spoons, gold beads, harness and saddlery hardware, and shoe buckles.
Burnap prospered, and in about 1800 he moved back to his native town, Coventry. There he purchased a large farm and erected a shop and a sawmill, and in due course became the leading citizen of the community. He died in 1838, leaving a valuable technological record in the completeness of his journals and account books. A study of the entries of his day books and ledgers (see fig. 64) reveals that Burnap did a substantial amount of business in surveying compasses, chains, and protractors. Among his shop equipment after his death there was found an unfinished protractor, but no examples of his instruments are known except for a compass dial, inscribed with his name, that was discovered recently in the collection of a midwestern historical society.[119]
It is significant to note that Burnap made instruments of varying quality. For instance, he charged three different prices for his surveyor's compasses. The highest-priced compasses cost £6; they were made of brass, and were of the more elaborate conventional type used by surveyors. A few examples that appeared in his records cost £4; these also were made of brass, but probably were of a simpler form. Several entries list surveying compasses priced at £2 and £2/8. One of these was made for Capt. Solomon Dewie (1750-1813) in September 1790 for £2/8. At the same time, Burnap charged him £0/1/6 for touching the needle of another compass.[120]The entries in Burnap's account books do not state that these inexpensive compasses were constructed of wood, but it seems to be sufficiently conclusive that they were.
Gurdon Huntington (1763-1804) was not primarily a maker of scientific instruments, but he was established as a goldsmith and clockmaker. He was born in Windham, Connecticut, onApril 30, 1763, the son of Hezekiah and Submit (Murdock) Huntington.[121]
Figure 64
Figure 64.—Entry in the manuscript ledgers of Daniel Burnap (1759-1838) of East Windsor and Coventry, Connecticut, for sale of surveying compass in 1790. Reproduced from the Burnap shop records in the collection of Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.
The Huntington family was one of the most important in Connecticut colonial history. Gurdon's father, Hezekiah, was in service during the Revolutionary War, going to Boston as a major with the first troops raised in Connecticut. When in Boston he witnessed the miserable condition of the arms then in the hands of the soldiers. Major Huntington went immediately to Philadelphia, where Congress was in session, and proposed to the Congress that he would return to his home in Windham and that there he would open a manufactory for repairing muskets and other arms. He claimed to have been the first man to have made a gun in the Colonies.
Gurdon was too young to have served in the Revolution, but he undoubtedly worked in his father's gun manufactory as a boy. In due course he learned the trades of goldsmith and clockmaker and established his own shop in Windham, which, according to an advertisement (fig. 65) inThe Connecticut Gazetteof June 11, 1784, was "a few rods north of Major Ebenezer Backus' store."
On Christmas Day, 1785, Gurdon was married in New London to Temperance Williams of Groton. In 1789 their first child, Marvin, was born, and in October of the same year the Huntingtons moved from Windham to Walpole, New Hampshire. No reason can be found for the move, other than the possibility that Gurdon might have anticipated greater opportunity in the new community. There he applied himself to his trade as goldsmith and clockmaker, but apparently he was not very successful. His family grew, and by the time of his death there were eight children. Possibly in an effort to supplement his income, Huntington served as postmaster of the community. In about 1797, seven or eight years after he had moved to Walpole, his father and mother joined him there, and it is believed that Major Hezekiah may have worked as a gunsmith during that period. Eventually the senior Huntington returned to Windham, Connecticut, where he died in 1807.[122]
Meanwhile Gurdon Huntington struggled on until his death on July 26, 1804. He died insolvent, which created a considerable problem in view of the large family he left behind him. Huntington's estate was administered by Asa Sibley, a clockmaker inWalpole. Sibley had moved to Walpole from his home in Woodstock, Connecticut, in the 1790's and he remained there until 1808, when he again returned to Woodstock. Gurdon Huntington's widow removed to Bloomfield, Ohio, with her children, and she died there on May 25, 1823. Most of her children settledin Bloomfield, but several of them moved to New Hartford, New York.
Figure 65
Figure 65.—Advertisement of Gurdon Huntington (1763-1804) in The Connecticut Gazette, June 11, 1784. In collection of Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.
Figure 66
Figure 66b
Figure 66.—Views of wooden surveying compass made by Gurdon Huntington, clockmaker in Walpole, New Hampshire, between 1789-1804. Made of cherry with folding brass sighting bars, the instrument is 14 in. long and 5-1/2 in. wide. In collection of the writer.
Several examples of Huntington's clocks are known to exist in private collections in the United States. However, only one example of his scientific instruments appears to have survived. This is a surveying compass (fig. 66) made of wood, with brass sighting bars and a painted dial under glass with a steel needle. The dial is inscribed "G. HUNTINGTON/WALPOLE." The instrument, which is in the collection of the writer, is made of cherry wood, with a riveted ball-and-socket joint of brass for insertion on a tripod.
Jedidiah Baldwin (fl. 1790's) was another early New England clock and instrument maker, but little is known of his early life. He was a brother of Jabes Baldwin (c. 1777-1829), who worked as a clockmaker in Salem and Boston after serving an apprenticeship with Thomas Harland in Norwich, Connecticut.
Jedidiah Baldwin also served an apprenticeship with Harland. In 1791 he was working in Northampton, Massachusetts, as a member of the firm of Stiles and Baldwin, and from 1792 to 1794 he was a member of the firm of Stiles and Storrs, in partnership with Nathan Storrs.[123]In about 1794 Baldwin moved to Hanover,New Hampshire, where he became the local postmaster, and where Dartmouth College records his death.
Only one existing instrument is known to have been made by Baldwin; it is a wooden surveying compass with a brass dial having two scales, one for degrees and one for eight divisions per 90°. The dial is inscribed "JED BALDWIN/HANOVER." According to its present owner, Mr. Worth Shampeny of Rochester, Vermont, the compass was used for surveying in Vermont during the early 1800's.
Another Jedidiah Baldwin worked as a clockmaker in Morrisville, New York, from 1818-1820 and then in Fairfield, New York; he appears also in the city directory of Rochester, New York, as a clockmaker during the years 1834-1844. He may have been a son or grandson of the first Jedidiah, or a nephew.
Thomas Salter Bowles (c. 1765-?) is another elusive New England instrument maker about whom little information is available. He is believed to have been the son of Deacon Samuel and Hannah (Salter) Bowles, born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, probably between 1765 and 1770. His father was born in 1739; his mother, who was the daughter of Captain Titus Salter, was born in 1748 and died in 1831.[124]Deacon Bowles was clerk of the Brick Market in Portsmouth from 1801 to the time of his death, November 3, 1802. There is a minimum of information available from church and city records in the community, but it is believed that he was a member of one of the offshoots of the established Puritan Church, and hence he would not appear in its records. He kept the lower school in the Brick School House on State Street for a number of years.
It is believed that the Bowles family first came to Portsmouth during the few years immediately before the beginning of the Revolutionary War. It is known that a Thomas Bowles and a Samuel Bowles both signed the Association Test on August 14, 1776, promising to oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies. Furthermore, one of the principal taxpayers in Portsmouth in 1770 was a firm named Griffith and Bowles, which paid £17 in taxes in 1770. The name of the Bowles who formed part of this firm is not known, but it was either Samuel or the firstThomas Bowles. The other partner was Nathaniel S. Griffith, a watchmaker. It is possible that a tradition of instrument making existed in the Bowles family even then.[125]
On file in the office of the City Clerk in Portsmouth are two certificates of marriage made out by Thomas Salter Bowles. The first is for his marriage to Hannah Ham, a ceremony performed on September 21, 1809, by Joseph Walton, one of the pastors of a church dissenting from the Puritan regime. Hannah was the daughter of William Ham, a brother of Supply Ham (1788-1862), a noted local clockmaker. Bowles may have served an apprenticeship in that shop before he married Hannah. Two other members of the Ham family—George Ham and Henry H. Ham—worked as watchmakers in Portsmouth in the same period.
A search of the cemeteries has indicated that Hannah Ham Bowles died in 1811, age 20. She is buried with her infant son in North Cemetery.[126]
Thomas Bowles's second marriage certificate in Portsmouth is for his marriage on September 29, 1813—two years after Hannah's death—to Abiah Emerly Bradley of Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Little is known about the work of Bowles as an instrument maker except through a few of his instruments. He is listed in the first Portsmouth directory, of 1821, as a "mathematical instrument maker" with a place of business on Daniel Street; his home was given as Austin Street in Portsmouth. He did not appear in the city's directories of 1827 and 1834. It is assumed that he may have left Portsmouth in the interim, possibly to settle in his wife's home town of Haverhill.
Three instruments signed by Bowles have survived, and all show signs of considerable wear. They are surveying compasses made of walnut, having maple sighting bars and a silvered brass vernier set under the glass. Two examples, one in the Streeter Collection of Weights and Measures at Yale University and one owned by this writer are almost identical in size, form, and details. The only variation is that the Yale example (fig. 67) has a bubble level under a brass strip set into one end, an item lacking in the other example (fig. 68).
The compass card, made from a line engraving, is identical in each of the three examples. A floriated fleur-de-lis on the Northpoint has a compass and square at its base, and the nameT. S. BOWLESis on a riband over it. Adorning the East point is an American eagle bearing a shield with stars and stripes and clutching arrows in one claw and a laurel twig in the other. In a ring within the central medallion is inscribed (see fig. 68), "*T. S. BOWLES*PORTSMOUTH, N.H.*"