Chapter III: Part 3

The earliest known maker of wooden scientific instruments of Boston was 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]

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.

_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]

_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 ----."

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]

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]

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]

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.

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.

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.

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 Dr
To Engravg plate for hatt bills 0-18-0
To 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 L14/15/0.[104]

_Samuel Thaxter_

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 six children, 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) in _The Columbia Centinel_ of 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.

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 the _Boston 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 likely that 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.

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]

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 corvelle _Berceau_.

_John Dupee_

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 by JOHN DUPEE Ye 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 the collection 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 of _The Boston Gazette_ states 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 to _Thomas 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.

_Jere Clough_

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]

_Andrew Newell_

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 by ANDW. NEWELL East End of the MARKET 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_

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."

_Charles Thacher_

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.

_Benjamin King Hagger_

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 were married 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.

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.

_Benjamin Warren_

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 in 1698. 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 of _The Plymouth Journal & Massachusetts Advertiser_ has 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, _Inholder_ in 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 of _Sixpence_ will be paid, to any person or
persons, who will persuade or induce the said Morey to make his
appearance once more to the subscriber.

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.

The next notice of the auction-room appeared on February 21, 1786, when the newspaper advertised that

_To-morrow_ will be SOLD, by Public Vendue, At WARREN'S Auction
Room,

A VARIETY of articles, _viz_. Nails, Bar Lead, Glass Pewter,
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 the _Journal_ for 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_,

_At_ WARREN's Auction Room, in PLYMOUTH: at Ten o'clock this
morning. WILL be Sold, a quantity of bar lead, boxes of glass, 6 x
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 Collection of 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 by BENJAMIN WARREN Plymouth New Eng^d."

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 1768 to 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 L660, 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. Plimouth
To 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 distinction between 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.

_Daniel Burnap_

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, and Coventry, 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 L6; 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 L4; these also were made of brass, but probably were of a simpler form. Several entries list surveying compasses priced at L2 and L2/8. One of these was made for Capt. Solomon Dewie (1750-1813) in September 1790 for L2/8. At the same time, Burnap charged him L0/1/6 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_

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, on April 30, 1763, the son of Hezekiah and Submit (Murdock) Huntington.[121]

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) in _The Connecticut Gazette_ of 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 in Walpole. 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 settled in Bloomfield, but several of them moved to New Hartford, New York.

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_

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 deg.. 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_

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 L17 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 first Thomas 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]