Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers Part 11

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, Ma.s.sachusetts.

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 a.s.sumed 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 compa.s.ses made of walnut, having maple sighting bars and a silvered bra.s.s vernier set under the gla.s.s.

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 bra.s.s strip set into one end, an item lacking in the other example (fig. 68).

The compa.s.s card, made from a line engraving, is identical in each of the three examples. A floriated fleur-de-lis on the North point has a compa.s.s and square at its base, and the name T. S. BOWLES is 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. *"

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 67.--Wooden surveying compa.s.s made by Thomas Salter Bowles of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. With spirit level. Made of birch, the compa.s.s is 13 in. long and has a diameter of 6 in. In the Streeter Collection of Weights and Measures, Yale University.]

The most interesting of the three instruments was acquired by the Dartmouth Museum as part of a collection of the late Frank C. Churchill, an inspector in the Indian Service. The instrument (fig. 69) is a quarter circle with a compa.s.s in its center and sighting bars mounted on a swinging arm that reads the angle of the bra.s.s scale on the arc by means of a vernier. It is mounted on a wooden tripod with the customary ball-and-socket joint, which permits it to be placed on a vertical plane. A built-in plumb bob at the side helps to establish the vertical.[127]

Interesting features of this instrument are two inscriptions engraved on the bra.s.s strip on the top of the dial. One states that it was "INVENTED BY P. MERRILL ESQ." and the other relates that it was "MADE BY JOHN KENNARD NEWMARKET." No information about P. Merrill has been found, and it is presumed that it was he who conceived the idea of combining the various elements into a single instrument and that it was made under his direction by Kennard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 68.--Wooden surveying compa.s.s made by Thomas Salter Bowles (1765/70-post 1821) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Made of walnut, it is 12 in. long and has a diameter of 5-3/8 in. With walnut sighting bars. In collection of writer.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 69.--Wooden surveying instrument inscribed "Invented by P. Merrill, Esq." and "Made by John Kennard, Newmarket."

Made of walnut, 7-3/4 in. long; in its original pine case, with cover.

The compa.s.s card and dial (see opposite) were made by Thomas Salter Bowles of Portsmouth. In Frank C. Churchill Collection, Dartmouth College Museum, Hanover, New Hampshire.]

Some data on Kennard is available in a history of Newfields (formerly Newmarket) by Reverend Fitts. John Kennard was born in Kittery, Maine, in 1782. He learned the trade of clockmaker in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, presumably working with the members of the Ham family or others. On July 3, 1806, he married Sarah Ewer. He lived for various periods in Nashua and Concord before moving to Newfields in 1812. He lived in the Palmer house (which was burned in September 1899), and he kept a store in the little community and also served as its postmaster from 1822 to 1824. The post office was the only public office in the town until the cotton mills were built on the Lamprey River in 1823.

Kennard later built and occupied the Kennard house on Pisca.s.sic Street, which was subsequently owned by Jeremiah Towle and has since been burned. In December 1830 he established an iron foundry together with Temple Paul and the Drake family, but in 1834 he sold his interest to Amos Paul and others. He was the father of six children and he died in 1861. During his lifetime he had specialized in making tall case and banjo clocks.[128]

_The New Era_

The beginning of the 19th century saw increased trading and shipping resulting from the economic development of the new republic, and the westward surge brought increased preoccupation with the settlement of communities and the development of land areas. As a consequence, the demand for instruments likewise increased.

Whereas during the 18th century and until some time after the end of the Revolutionary War probably not more than a dozen instrument makers and dealers are known to have emigrated from England or elsewhere to make their homes and careers in the American Colonies, the beginning of the 19th century saw substantial numbers of English and French instrument makers and dealers immigrate to the United States, to establish shops in the major centers of trade.

And whereas the names of scarcely a hundred mathematical-instrument makers who worked in the American Colonies during the 18th century are known today, the names of hundreds of similar 19th-century craftsmen and dealers are to be found.

As Derek Price[129] has so cogently stated: "For scientific instrument makers, one need only examine the nineteenth century city directories of Boston, Philadelphia and New York to find hundreds of names of craftsmen and firms. It is, to be sure, an antiquarian research, for one does not expect to find great discoveries coming from these people. But just as in Europe, it is a populous trade, influential in the growth of science and highly effective in spreading and intensifying the itch for ingenious instruments and devices. It is by these men that the basic skills of the Industrial Revolution were populated...." By such means did American science and technology come of age.

_The National Collection_

_Early American Scientific Instruments and Related Materials in the United States National Museum, Listed by Makers and Users_

ADAMS, GEORGE; Fleet Street, London. (See Ellicott, Andrew; Surveying Instrument.)

BARDIN, W. & T. M.; 16 Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, London. (See Priestley, Joseph: Globes.)

BENNET, N. (fl. 1777); Middleboro, Ma.s.s., or Middleboro, Pa. _Alidade_, plane table, scale 7-7/8 in. radius, compa.s.s 5-3/8 in. long. Bra.s.s scale and sights with compa.s.s in wooden box. Instrument inscribed "N.

Bennet--Middlebor 1777." Although the name of this instrument maker does not appear on list of English or American makers, it is believed that he was American. USNM 319076.

ELLICOTT, ANDREW (1754-1820); Baltimore, Md. _Instrument Box_ for astronomical instruments. Made of rosewood, with a hinged top, green felt underlining, bra.s.s lock, size 3 in. by 3 in. by 11 in. Owned and used by Andrew Ellicott for storage and transportation of small astronomical equipment.

Gift of John E. Reynolds, Ellicott's great-grandson, of Meadville, Pa., in 1932. USNM 310418.

_Journal_ and _Astronomical Notebook_, ma.n.u.script written by Andrew Ellicott while locating the U.S. boundary line between the United States and the Spanish territory of Florida, 1797-1801. Contains day-by-day entries of experiences, field notes, and calculations made by Ellicott.

The major part of the ma.n.u.script was published in _The Journal of Andrew Ellicott_.[130] Bound volume with brown leather covers, end opening, marked "And. Ellicott," 6-1/2 in. by 8 in. by 2 in. First page has signature "Andrew Ellicott 1788."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 70.--Pages from ma.n.u.script "Journal and Astronomical Notebook" (USNM 310417) written by Andrew Ellicott while locating the boundary between the United States and the Spanish territory of Florida. These pages relate to the observations made in 1799 at the cord of the guide line on Mobile River for determining the lat.i.tude.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 71.--Folding plate from Andrew Ellicott's "Journal and Astronomical Notebook" (USNM 310417), relating the results of observations made in February 1800 with the large and small sectors for determining Ellicott's position on St. Mary's River.]

Formerly the property of Ellicott's eldest daughter, Jane Judith Ellicott, from whom it pa.s.sed to her youngest son, William Reynolds. It was inherited by the latter's son, John Reynolds of Meadville, Pa., who presented it as a gift to the U.S. National Museum in 1932. USNM 310417.

FIGURES 70, 71.

_Pocket Slate_ 7-1/4 in. long and 4 in. wide, with wooden frame 7-1/4 in. long and 4 in. wide. Slate 5-3/4 in. long and 2-1/2 in. wide. Part of field equipment used by Ellicott.

Gift of Charles Ellicott of Dansville, N.Y., in 1960. USNM 318292.

_Quadrant_ of bra.s.s made and used by Ellicott. Quadrant has a radius of 12 in., is on a stand 17 in. high, and has the original lenses. Simple construction with easy adjustment, accomplished by means of two plumb lines. A tangent screw for slow motions was designed and added in 1885 by Andrew Ellicott Dougla.s.s, Ellicott's grandson. Instrument was made by Ellicott about 1790 and was used in running the southern boundary of the United States in 1796 and 1800, and on other surveys.

Deposit of Andrew Ellicott Dougla.s.s of Tucson, Ariz., in 1931. USNM 152081. FIGURE 72.

_Surveying Instrument_, with bra.s.s disk 10-1/2 in. in diameter laid off in degrees, minutes, and seconds with vernier points. Two telescopes, one fixed and the other revolving. The instrument is mounted on a tripod or Jacob's staff by means of a socket on the underside. Complete with original painted pine case. The name of the maker, "G. Adams London," is engraved on the dial.

George Adams (1704-1773) was mathematical instrument maker to King George III. After serving an apprenticeship from 1718, he made instruments for the East India Company in 1735 and 1736, and established a shop at "Tycho Brahe's Head" at the corner of Raquet Court, Fleet Street. He specialized in terrestrial and celestial globes and microscopes. Following his death he was succeeded in business by his son George Adams the Younger (1750-1795), who also served as mathematical-instrument maker to the king.

This instrument is believed by the donor to have been used by either Andrew Ellicott or by his son-in-law David Bates Dougla.s.s.

Gift of Charles B. Curtis of Litchfield, Conn., in 1945. USNM 312932.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 72.--Bra.s.s quadrant made by Andrew Ellicott about 1790 and used for running the southern boundary of the United States about 1796 and 1800, and on later surveys. USNM 152081.]

_Telescope_, consisting of a bra.s.s tube 3-1/2 in. long with an aperture of 2-3/4 in.; on its original bra.s.s tripod, with a serviceable altazimuth mounting. Late 18th century. Made by "W. & S. Jones/135 Holborn/London."

The firm of "W. & S. Jones" was a partnership of two brothers, Samuel and William Jones, opticians, who worked at 30 Lower Holborn and at 135 Holborn in London, from 1793. They bought the copyright to the books of George Adams, and subsequently largely carried on the original business of the Adams instrument makers.

In _The Journal of Andrew Ellicott_ its author describes this instrument as the first of "Two Acromatic Telescopes for Taking signals, with sliding tubes, one of them drew out to upwards of 4 feet, and the other to about 15 inches, the latter for its length is remarkably good, it shows the satellites of Jupiter very distinctly."

Deposit of Andrew Ellicott Dougla.s.s of Tucson, Ariz., in 1899. USNM 152082. FIGURE 73.

_Telescope_, draw type, made of bra.s.s with acromatic lens, length 11 in.