Early American Scientific Instruments and Their MakersBedini, Silvio A.
History
Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers
Bedini, Silvio A.
Scientific apparatus and instruments
Benjamin Platt was the migratory type. In 1817 he migrated from
Lanesboro to Columbus, Ohio. His son, Augustus Platt (1793-1886), also
made mathematical instruments (see fig. 25) in Columbus. In 1809 a
grandson, named William Augustus Platt was born. When the child's mother
died, Benjamin and Adah Platt adopted the boy, and when he came of age
he went into the watchmaking trade. William Platt married Fanny Hayes,
sister of President Hayes.[52] His shop was listed in the 1843 city
directory; it was the first jewelry and clock and watch store in the
community.
An interesting account of instrument making in Ohio is found in the
report of a missionary, John Heckewelder. He mentioned the brothers
Joseph and Francois Devacht who worked as watchmakers and instrument
makers in Gallipolis, Ohio. Writing in 1792, Heckewelder stated that
"the most interesting shops of the Workmen [in Gallipolis] were those of
the Goldsmiths and Watchmakers. They showed us work on watches,
compasses, sundials finer than I have ever beheld."
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Figure 24.--Brass surveying compass made by Benjamin
Platt (1757-1833) of New Milford, Connecticut, about 1795-1800. Shown in
original wooden case and separately (opposite page). Photos courtesy
Ohio State Museum.]
_New York_
There were relatively few makers of mathematical instruments in New York
City before the end of the 18th century. Perhaps the earliest was John
Bailey, who moved from Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Fishkill, New York,
in 1778. He was a cutler by trade, and he made and sold surgical
instruments.[53]
"Bulmain & Dennies" at 59 Water Street in New York were the appointed
agents to sell the "Perpetual Log or Distance Clock to find a ship's way
at sea." The device had been patented in the United States, and one of
the instruments was displayed at the bar of the Tontine Coffee House,
according to an advertisement in the July 23, 1799, issue of the _New
York Gazette and General Advertiser_.
H. Caritat, at 153 Broadway in New York, imported and sold "The
Planispherical Planetarium." This item was described in an
advertisement[54] as "a graphic representation of the earth, in twelve
particular positions during its revolutionary course around the sun, as
also of the Moon's revolution around the earth, together with literal
description of parts and motions, etc." The advertisement also stated
that Caritat sold "Carey's newly improved Terrestrial and Celestial
Globes which omitted the Constellary Configurations."
[Illustration: Figure 25.--Surveying theodolite made by Augustus Platt
(1793-1886) of Columbus, Ohio, in the early 19th century. Photo courtesy
Ohio State Museum.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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