WITH COMPASSAND CHAIN

Early American Surveyorsand Their Instruments

by

SILVIO A. BEDINI

Professional Surveyors Publishing Company, Inc.Frederick, Maryland

TABLE OF CONTENTSIllustrations XIII

Illustration Credits XXI

Foreword XXIII

Preface XXV

I Collectors and Collecting 1

II Being A History Detective 17

III Mapping the Wilderness 21

IV Surveyors' Portraits 31

1 The Colonial Surveyor 322 Samuel Wright Mifflin (1805-1885)

Railway Locating Engineer 363 A Nineteenth Century Surveyor and Chainman 40

V The Transit in the Tower 43

VI Of 'Science and Liberty': The Scientific Instruments ofKing's College and Eighteenth Century Columbia Collegein New York 93

VII The Practical Sciences in the American Revolution 131

VIII The Survey of the Federal Territory 151

IX Clock On A Wheelbarrow:The Advent of the County Atlas 175

X Tools of The Trade 189

1 The Surveyor's Telescopic Level 1902 The Surveyor's Field Clock 2123 The Surveyor's Measuring Tapes 2214 The Artificial Horizon 2295 Aluminum Surveying Instruments 2356 The Prismatic Compass 240

IX

X WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN

XI The Mathematical Instrument Makers 243

1 Rowland Houghton (c. 1678-1744)and His "New Theodolate" 244

2 The Doolittle Dynasty of Connecticut (1700-1800) 2533 The Kings of Salem, Massachusetts (1704-1790) 2564 Thomas Godfrey (1704-1749)

and the Invention of the Octant 2655 Benjamin King (1707-1786) of Newport, Rhode Island 2726 Thomas Greenough (1710-1785) of Boston, Massachusetts . . . 2837 The Dods of Mendham, New Jersey (1716-1816)

Surveying Instruments and Steam Engines 2878 Samuel Lane (1718-1809)

Shoemaker Surveyor of Stratham, New Hampshire 2949 Ephraim Shevie (fl. 1723-1725)

Sundial Maker and Counterfeiter 29810 Thomas Harland (1735-1807)

Master Teacher of Norwich, Connecticut 30211 Thomas Marshall (1730-1802)

The Mystery of the Meridian Instrument 30512 David Rittenhouse (1732-1796)

Dean of Instrument Makers 31313 Benjamin Rittenhouse (1740-1825)

of Norriton, Pennsylvania 32214 Joel Baily III (1732-1797) of Chester County, Pennsylvania . . . 32615 John Avery (1762-1834) of Bridgewater, Connecticut 33116 William Hart (1734-1812)

Tory of Portsmouth, New Hampshire 33317 Benjamin Condy (c. 1735-1798)

of Philadelphia 33718 Henry Voigt (1738-1814)

Mechanician and Chief Coiner 34819 Abel Buell (1742-1822)

Engraver and Counterfeiter 35320 George Wall, Jr. (1745-1804) and His Trigonometer 36321 Andrew Newell (1750/52-1798) and Sons

of Boston, Massachusetts 36922 Goldsmith Chandlee (1751-1821) and

George B. Graves (1792-1873) 37323 Andrew Ellicott (1753-1820) and the Governors 37824 Isaac Greenwood III (1758-1829) 38325 Daniel Burnap (1759-1838)

Surveying Compasses in Brass and Wood 39526 Frederick Heisely (1759-1843) and Sons 39927 Benjamin Clark Gilman (1763-1835)

Hydraulic Engineer 40428 William Hamlin (1772-1869) and His Telescopes 408

Table of Contents XI

29 Benjamin Pike and Sons (1777-1916) 41730 John Vogler (1783-1881)

Silversmith of Old Salem, North Carolina 42031 Isaac T. Heartte (1785-1836)

Baltimore Instrument Maker 42432 William Austin Burt (1792-1858)

Inventor of the Solar Compass 42933 Richard Patten (1792-1865) 43734 The Enigma of Lewis Michael

Metal Worker of York County, Pennsylvania 44135 John Trundy (1800-1873) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire . . . 44636 John Hapgood Temple (1812-1877)

Farm Boy Turned Instrument Maker 44937 Thomas Tennent (1822-1901)

" "At the Sign of the Wooden Sailor" 456

XII The Cartographers 459

1 Captain John Smith (1580-1631)Saved by a Compass Sundial 460

2 Augustine Herrman (c. 1606-1686)Denizen of Maryland 467

3 Thomas Holme (1624-1695)Pennsylvania's First Surveyor General 473

4 Eusebio Francisco Kino (1645-1711)Pioneering Padre on Horseback 481

5 The Scull Dynasty of Pennsylvania Surveyors 4896 Lewis Evans (c. 1700-1756)

Pennsylvania Map Maker 4937 Joshua Fisher (1707-1788) and His Chart of the

Delaware Bay 5018 William Gerard De Brahm (1718-c. 1799)

Military Engineer and Surveyor 5079 Bernard Romans (1720-1784)

Engineer Adventurer 51210 Captain Thomas Hutchins (c. 1730-1789)

Military Surveyor and Cartographer 52011 Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)

The First African American Man of Science 52812 Christopher Colles (1738-1816) and the First Road Guide 53413 John Fitch (1743-1798) and the Cider Press Map 54014 John Churchman (1753-1805) and the Magnetic Atlas 54715 Simeon De Witt (1756-1834)

Surveyor, Cartographer, and Land Developer 55716 Loammi Baldwin II (1780-1838)

Surveyor and Civil Engineer 565

XII WITH COMPASS AND CHAIN

17 John H. Eddy (1784-1817)New York State Geographer 568

18 The Kings of Washington, D.C. (1796-1818)Cartographers and Surveyors 571

19 The Whistler Engineers (1800-1869) 580

XIII The Surveyors 585

1 The Surveying Shermans (1613-1793)of Watertown, Massachusetts 586

2 William Mayo (1684-1744)Surveyor of the Virginia Piedmont 589

3 Joshua Fry of Virginia (c. 1700-1754)Scholar, Surveyor, Soldier 598

4 Joseph Frye (1712-1794)Founder of Fryeburg, Maine 603

5 Roger Sherman's Field Survey Bookwith Richard Norwood's Epitome 611

6 Elijah Porter (1721-1804)Wheelwright and County Surveyor 617

7 Philip Jones, Jr. (1701-1762)The 1730 Survey of Baltimore Town 622

8 John Sellers (fl. 1728-1804)Farmer, Millwright, and Surveyor 628

9 George Washington (1732-1799)Surveyor and Cartographer 632

10 George Gilpin (1740-1813)Alexandria's City Surveyor and Engineer 643

11 Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)Statesman Surveyor 649

12 The Saga of Thomas Jefferson's Odometers 65913 James Whitelaw (1748-1829)

Surveyor General of Vermont 66814 The First Settlements of Wachovia, North Carolina

(1751-1766) 67915 Isaac Briggs (1763-1825)

Surveyor General of the Mississippi Territory 68416 The Case of the "Worthless" Instruments 69217 George Leighton Whitehouse (1797-1887)

Surveyor of Railways 70018 Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Deputy County Surveyor 704

Bibliography 709

Index 755