Measuring & Mapping

Where, how far, and how much? People have invented an astonishing array of devices to answer seemingly simple questions like these. Measuring and mapping objects in the Museum's collections include the instruments of the famous—Thomas Jefferson's thermometer and a pocket compass used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition across the American West. A timing device was part of the pioneering motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s. Time measurement is represented in clocks from simple sundials to precise chronometers for mapping, surveying, and finding longitude. Everyday objects tell part of the story, too, from tape measures and electrical meters to more than 300 scales to measure food and drink. Maps of many kinds fill out the collections, from railroad surveys to star charts.

"We are desirous of obtaining the first Transit made, or the oldest existing Transit, and offer in exchange for same, a first-class new Instrument." This notice appeared in Wm. J.
Description
"We are desirous of obtaining the first Transit made, or the oldest existing Transit, and offer in exchange for same, a first-class new Instrument." This notice appeared in Wm. J. Young & Sons' Price List of Engineering, Mining and Surveying Instruments (1875-1883), and led to the discovery of this instrument marked "W. J. Young / MAKER / Philadelphia." After getting a hold of this instrument, the Youngs promoted it as "The First American Transit," placing a photograph of it in the 1892 edition of their Price List, and displaying it at the Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. Keuffel & Esser acquired this instrument in 1923 when they bought the Young business, and gave it to the Smithsonian in 1970. This instrument is indeed early. It was made by William J. Young before the issuance of his patent (after January 17, 1832, Young added the word "Patent" to his signature). But whether it was the first transit is hard to say.
The horizontal circle is located inside the compass face, silvered, graduated every 1 degree, and read by vernier to 3 minutes. It is moved by tangent screw, while that on the first transit made for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was moved by rack and pinion. A circular level is at the north end of the compass, and an outkeeper is at the south. The face is darkened, and the needle ring silvered. The tripod head is the type that Young patented in 1858.
The tripod head that supports the transit conforms to Young's patent #20,915 of July 13, 1858. According to an early description, this head "was designed to facilitate the adjustment of the plumb line to any given point on the ground, without the operator having to resort to the usual tedious process of adjusting the legs of the tripod."
Ref.: D. J. Warner, "William J. Young. From Craft to Industry in a Skilled Trade," Pennsylvania History 52 (1985): 53-68.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
ID Number
PH.330459
catalog number
330459
accession number
293491
Thomas Sinclair (ca 1805-1881) of Philadelphia produced this chromolithographic print of "Phalacrocorax brasilianus [GM]" or Neotropic cormorant, from an original illustration by William Dreser (ca 1820, fl. 1849-1860).
Description (Brief)
Thomas Sinclair (ca 1805-1881) of Philadelphia produced this chromolithographic print of "Phalacrocorax brasilianus [GM]" or Neotropic cormorant, from an original illustration by William Dreser (ca 1820, fl. 1849-1860). The image was published as Plate XXVIII in Volume 2, following page 204 of Appendix F (Zoology-Birds) by John Cassin (1813-1869) in the report describing "The U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere during the Years 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1852" by James M. Gillis (1811-1865). The volume was printed in 1855 by A. O. P. Nicholson (1808-1876) of Washington, D.C.
Location
Currently not on view
date of book publication
1855
graphic artist
Sinclair, Thomas
original artist
Dreser, William
publisher
United States Navy
printer
Nicholson, A. O. P.
author
Cassin, John
Gilliss, James Melville
ID Number
2008.0175.02
accession number
2008.0175
catalog number
2008.0175.02
Heller & Brightly advertised this as an "Improved Complete Combined Transit and Leveling Instrument For Civil Engineers and Surveyors." This example is marked "Heller & Brightly Makers 5740 Philadelphia." The serial number indicates that it was made around 1884.
Description
Heller & Brightly advertised this as an "Improved Complete Combined Transit and Leveling Instrument For Civil Engineers and Surveyors." This example is marked "Heller & Brightly Makers 5740 Philadelphia." The serial number indicates that it was made around 1884. New, the basic transit cost $220. The vertical circle was an extra $25. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated every 30 minutes of arc, and read by verniers at N and S to single minutes. There are level vials at N (this one covers a vernier) and at E. The vertical circle, also silvered, is read by vernier to single minutes, and is protected by an aluminum guard. To reduce weight, the vertical standards are ribbed and braced. The telescope is equipped with stadia wires for determining distances.
The tripod head of this transit allows the instrument to be leveled, and also to be adjusted horizontally in order to be brought over a fixed point on the ground. Daniel Hoffman obtained a patent (#197,369) on this design in 1877, and assigned the rights to Heller & Brightly in exchange for $5 for each unit sold.
Ref: Heller & Brightly, Remarks on Surveying Instruments (Philadelphia, 1886).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1884
maker
Heller & Brightly
ID Number
PH.328726
catalog number
328726
accession number
275808
Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820) was the leading geodetic surveyor in the United States in the early years of the Republic, and he aimed to produce surveys that compared favorably with those done by the best Europeans in the field.
Description
Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820) was the leading geodetic surveyor in the United States in the early years of the Republic, and he aimed to produce surveys that compared favorably with those done by the best Europeans in the field. In his words, the transit and equal altitude instrument was "the most perfect, and best calculated for running straight lines." Moreover, "when the different verifications are carefully attended to, [it] may safely be considered as absolutely perfect."
Ellicott made this instrument, and used it to run the western boundary of New York in 1789, the boundaries of the District of Columbia in the early 1790s, the southern boundary of the United States in 1796-1800, and the boundary between Georgia and North Carolina in 1811. Ellicott took this instrument with him to West Point, when he became professor of mathematics at the U.S. Military Academy in 1813. A descendant, Andrew Ellicott Douglass, deposited it with the Smithsonian in 1898.
This instrument, marked "Andw Ellicott Philadelphia," is modeled on the transit and equal altitude instrument that had been made by John Bird in London, purchased by Thomas Penn in 1763, and used by Mason and Dixon for their survey of the boundary between the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Ellicott had used this English instrument in 1784, when he was part of the team of American surveyors who extended the Mason-Dixon line to the western edge of Pennsylvania.
Ref: Andrew Ellicott, "A Letter to Robert Patterson," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 4 (1799): 32-51.
Andrew Ellicott, "An Account of the Apparatus used on the Boundary between the United States and His Catholic Majesty," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 5 (1802): 204-208.
Silvio Bedini, "Andrew Ellicott, Surveyor of the Wilderness," Surveying and Mapping (June 1976): 113-135.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Ellicott, Andrew
ID Number
PH.152080
accession number
116914
catalog number
152080.01
The earliest domestic clocks in the American colonies were English-made "lantern" clocks, with brass gear trains held between pillars.
Description
The earliest domestic clocks in the American colonies were English-made "lantern" clocks, with brass gear trains held between pillars. Along with fully furnished "best" beds, looking glasses, sofas, silver, and case furniture, such clocks were the household objects consistently assigned the highest monetary value in inventories of possessions.
By the 18th century, the most common style of domestic clock came to look more like a piece of household furniture. A wooden case enclosed the movement, weights, and pendulum. Through a glass window the dial was visible.
In 1769, Pennsylvania clockmaker and millwright Joseph Ellicott completed this complicated tall case clock. On three separate dials, it tells the time and shows the phases of the moon; depicts on an orrery the motions of the sun, moon, and planets; and plays selected twenty-four musical tunes on the hour.
The musical dial on the Ellicott clock allows the listener to choose from twelve pairs of tunes. Each pair includes a short tune and a long one. On the hour only the short tune plays, but every third hour, both play. During a tune, automaton figures at the top of the dial appear to tap their feet in time to the music, and a small dog between them jumps up and down.
Joseph Ellicott moved from the Philadelphia area to Maryland in 1772 and, with his brothers Andrew and John, set up a flour-milling operation in what is now Ellicott City. The clock was a centerpiece in Ellicott family homes for generations.
Who else owned clocks in early America? Clock owners, like the American colonists themselves, were not a homogeneous group. Where a person lived influenced the probability of owning a timepiece. In 1774, for example, New Englanders and Middle Atlantic colonials were equally likely to own a timepiece. In those regions, roughly 13 or 14 adults out of 100 had a clock in their possessions when they died. Among Southern colonists at that time, only about 6 in 100 had a clock.
Date made
1769
user
Ellicott, Joseph
maker
Ellicott, Joseph
ID Number
1999.0276.01
accession number
1999.0276
catalog number
1999.0276.01
The "RITTENHOUSE & EVANS" inscription on this compass refers to Benjamin Rittenhouse and his nephew, Benjamin Evans, who worked together in Worcester Township, Pennsylvania, around 1798-1801.
Description
The "RITTENHOUSE & EVANS" inscription on this compass refers to Benjamin Rittenhouse and his nephew, Benjamin Evans, who worked together in Worcester Township, Pennsylvania, around 1798-1801. A variation arc on the south arm extends 15 degrees either way; the "folded" vernier is moved by rack and pinion and reads to 5 minutes. John Johnson (1771-1841), the Surveyor-General of Vermont, used this compass in 1817-1820 while surveying the boundary between Maine and Canada. His notes refer to it as "a Circumferentor of 2.5 inches Radius made at Philadelphia by Rittenhouse and Evans and graduated to every 5 Minutes by the help of a nonius."
Ref: "John Johnson" in Abby M. Hemenway, ed., The Vermont Historical Gazeteer (Burlington, Vt., 1868), vol. 1, pp. 596-599
"John Johnson," in National Cyclopaedia of American History, vol. 17, pp. 290-291
Johnson's report on the Maine-Canada boundary survey, in University of Vermont Library.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Johnson, John
maker
Rittenhouse and Evans
ID Number
PH.309543
accession number
95588
catalog number
309543
In the 1920s, as American companies began using scientific tools for petroleum prospecting, the Marland Oil Co. established a geophysical research laboratory; hired a PhD physicist named Englehardt August Eckhardt and an electrical engineer named Ralph D.
Description
In the 1920s, as American companies began using scientific tools for petroleum prospecting, the Marland Oil Co. established a geophysical research laboratory; hired a PhD physicist named Englehardt August Eckhardt and an electrical engineer named Ralph D. Wyckoff; and purchased two sets of Mendenhall pendulum apparatus. Since this apparatus "afforded a precision of measurement which was just barely sufficient" for prospecting purposes, Eckhardt and Wyckoff developed a more precise instrument. The key element of their design was a minimum period pendulum made of fused quartz, a material that was physically stable and that minimized temperature corrections. General Electric supplied the quartz, the largest pieces of this material it had yet made.
The Gulf Research & Development Corp. hired Eckhardt and Wyckoff in 1928, and asked them to design new pendulum equipment based on their past experience. By 1935, Gulf had 10 pendulum instruments in the field. The pendulums were ground and polished by J. W. Fecker from pieces of fused quartz produced by General Electric. The bearings for the knife-edges were made of Pyrex. The optical work for the instrument was done by Bausch & Lomb.
For geological purposes, the Gulf pendulum instruments were replaced by gravimeters in 1936. For geodetic purposes, however, they remained useful and important for much longer. Indeed, some examples were used during the International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958. The Gulf Research & Development Corp. donated this example to the Smithsonian in 1962.
Ref: Malcolm W. Gay, "Relative Gravity Measurements Using Precision Pendulum Equipment," Geophysics 5 (1940): 176-191.
"Pendulum and Gravimeter Measurements of the Earth's Gravity," Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 39 (1958): 1205-1211.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s
maker
Gulf Research & Development Corp.
ID Number
PH.319961
catalog number
319961
accession number
241314
Heller & Brightly advertised this as an Improved Complete Combined Transit and Leveling Instrument For Civil Engineers and Surveyors. This example is marked "Heller & Brightly Makers 5512 Philadelphia." It was made around 1882 and cost $220 new.
Description
Heller & Brightly advertised this as an Improved Complete Combined Transit and Leveling Instrument For Civil Engineers and Surveyors. This example is marked "Heller & Brightly Makers 5512 Philadelphia." It was made around 1882 and cost $220 new. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated every 30 minutes of arc, and read by two verniers to single minutes; one vernier is covered by a level vial. The vertical arc, also silvered, is read by a single vernier to 30 seconds. The joints are sealed to keep dust out of the working parts. To reduce weight, the vertical standards are ribbed and braced. To reduce backlash, the tangent screw is provided with a fixed spiral spring and follower.
This instrument is equipped so that a surveyor can determine horizontal distances by observing a distant graduated rod. To that end, it has an exceptionally powerful telescope, and its eyepiece has two horizontal wires so arranged that they encompass a tenth of a foot on a rod placed at a distance of 100 feet. Stadia surveying, as this practice is known, originated in Europe in the late 18th century and was introduced to the United States in the 1840s. The box in which the transit is packed is equipped with springs to accommodate the instrument in any direction. A solar attachment designed by George N. Saegmuller, and marked "HELLER & BRIGHTLY MAKERS PHILA." and "PAT. May 3. 81," is included.
Ref: Heller & Brightly, Remarks on Surveying Instruments (Philadelphia, 1886).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Heller & Brightly
ID Number
PH.334889
catalog number
334889
accession number
315134
This compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia" has two notable features. One is that the variation arc and vernier mechanism are located on the compass face, under glass and protected from harm. A similar design appears in the drawing accompanying William J.
Description
This compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia" has two notable features. One is that the variation arc and vernier mechanism are located on the compass face, under glass and protected from harm. A similar design appears in the drawing accompanying William J. Young's 1830 patent application for an "Improved Surveying Compass." That instrument, however, had a full divided circle rather than a small variation arc. The other feature of this compass--a dark face and a silvered needle ring--was also described in Young's patent, and seems to be found on all Young compasses with a needle 5 inches or longer. The Journal of the Franklin Institute 10 (1832): 34, explained that this improvement of Young's "consists in colouring the surface of the compass plate green, or bronzing it, instead of silvering it in the usual way, thereby relieving the eye from the unpleasant and injurious effects of the white plate. A narrow silvered rim surrounds the bronzed surface, giving a distinct view of the needle point."
This compass dates from the late 1840s or early 1850s, after the expiration of Young's patent and before Young began placing serial numbers on his instruments. The variation arc extends 20 some degrees either way, and is graduated to 30 minutes. The vernier is moved by rack and pinion located on the south arm and hidden under a brass plate, and reads to single minutes. There is an outkeeper and a level vial (now missing) on the north arm.
Ref: D. J. Warner, "William J. Young. From Craft to Industry in a Skilled Trade," Pennsylvania History 52 (1985): 53-68.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
ID Number
1982.0104.03
accession number
1982.0104
catalog number
1982.0104.03
This wye level was made by Edmund Draper in Philadelphia, around 1870. The inscriptions read "E. Draper. Philad" and "294."Currently not on view
Description
This wye level was made by Edmund Draper in Philadelphia, around 1870. The inscriptions read "E. Draper. Philad" and "294."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Draper, Edmund
ID Number
PH.337021
accession number
1977.1101
catalog number
337021
This compass has a wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The paper card has an ornate American eagle with a ribband in its mouth reading "E PLURIBUS UNUM" at north. The inscriptions read "Wm Helffricht. Philadelphia" and "W. H. C.
Description
This compass has a wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The paper card has an ornate American eagle with a ribband in its mouth reading "E PLURIBUS UNUM" at north. The inscriptions read "Wm Helffricht. Philadelphia" and "W. H. C. RIGGS, Front near Dock St." This card was probably made for William Davenport. It was used by his successor, William Helffricht. The overlaid signature is that of W. H. C. Riggs, a clock and watch maker in Philadelphia whose firm became W. H. C. Riggs & Son in 1863. On the side of the box is a trade card of Riggs & Brother, who were in business from 1865 to 1901.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
maker
Riggs & Brother
ID Number
PH.330471
catalog number
330471
accession number
291268
This compass is marked "B. Stancliffe - Philada Maker" and "Warranted." It has a variation arc on the north arm that extends 22 degrees to either side; the vernier is moved by rack and pinion and reads to 5 minutes. A spirit level is on the south arm.
Description
This compass is marked "B. Stancliffe - Philada Maker" and "Warranted." It has a variation arc on the north arm that extends 22 degrees to either side; the vernier is moved by rack and pinion and reads to 5 minutes. A spirit level is on the south arm. The signature refers to Benjamin Stancliffe (1782-1834) who was born in England, apprenticed with his uncle, John Stancliffe, a noted instrument maker in London, and worked for Edward Troughton making sophisticated geodetic instruments for the fledgling United States Coast Survey. Stancliffe then migrated to America, appearing in Philadelphia directories as early as 1817. In 1828 he went into partnership with his former apprentice, Edmund Draper. By 1832 Stancliffe was again in business on his own, advertising that he manufactured "all kinds of mathematical, optical, and philosophical instruments," including surveyor's compasses, theodolites, sextants, and quadrants.
Ref: Robert C. Miller, "Benjamin Stancliffe and His Successors: A Century of Mathematical Instrument Makers in Philadelphia," Rittenhouse 11 (1996): 1-13.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Stancliffe, Benjamin
ID Number
PH.336362
accession number
1977.0970
catalog number
336362
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Pleiodus strigirostris" (now Didunculus strigirostris - Tooth-billed Pigeon or Samoan Pigeon) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalo
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Pleiodus strigirostris" (now Didunculus strigirostris - Tooth-billed Pigeon or Samoan Pigeon) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 34, in the edition Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. The engraving was produced by W. H. Dougal after T. R. Peale.
Description
William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C., (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate after a drawing by Expedition Naturalist Titian Ramsey Peale. The image depicts the Pleiodus strigirostris (now Didunculus strigirostris, Tooth billed pigeon or Samoan Pigeon). The engraved illustration was published as Plate 34 in Volume VIII, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Peale, Titian Ramsay
graphic artist
Dougal, William H.
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Cassin, John
ID Number
1999.0145.414
catalog number
1999.0145.414
accession number
1999.0145
This instrument is a specialized timekeeper for determining longitude at sea. It is serial no. 1 from a run of approximately 10,000 similar timekeepers made by Hamilton Watch Co, Lancaster, PA in 1942.World War II created a dire chronometer shortage for the United States.
Description
This instrument is a specialized timekeeper for determining longitude at sea. It is serial no. 1 from a run of approximately 10,000 similar timekeepers made by Hamilton Watch Co, Lancaster, PA in 1942.
World War II created a dire chronometer shortage for the United States. Before the war, most chronometers for American military and civilian customers were imported. Only a few American firms—including William Bond & Son of Boston and the New York establishments of John Bliss Inc. and T.S. and J. D. Negus—finished chronometers from parts imported from European makers. Chronometer making was a craft, with only a few hundred produced in any given year. When the war started in 1941, European suppliers of parts and finished instruments halted exports to the United States.
Anticipating the arrival of war, the U.S. Naval Observatory had asked American domestic watch manufacturers in 1939 for their participation in mass-producing chronometers. Domestic watch manufacturers Hamilton and Elgin agreed to undertake the design and production, but only Hamilton’s product met Navy accuracy requirements. Hamilton delivered two prototypes to the Navy on 27 February 1942, which passed with an error rate of 1.55 seconds per day. The firm went on during the war to mass-produce 8900 more chronometers for the Navy, 1500 for merchant shipping and 500 for the Army. Between 1942 and 1944, the price dropped from $625 to $390 per timekeeper.
Hamilton’s design for its Model 21 chronometer did not copy traditional European standards. Instead the design introduced key changes to improve accuracy. The modifications included changes to the escapement and the chronometer’s oscillating unit—the balance and hairspring assembly.
To find longitude at sea, a chronometer would be set to the time of a place of known longitude, like Greenwich, England, the prime meridian. That time, carried to a remote location, could be compared to local time. Because one hour of difference in time equals 15 degrees difference in longitude, the difference in time between the chronometer and local time would yield local longitude.
References:
1. Dick, Steven J. Sky and Ocean Joined: The U. S. Naval Observatory 1830-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
2. Whitney, Marvin. The Ship’s Chronometer. Cincinnati: American Watchmakers Institute Press, 1985.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1941
1956
maker
Hamilton
ID Number
ME.314825
catalog number
314825
accession number
210893
Wm. J. Young & Sons (fl. 1870-1881) used a simple transit instrument of this sort as their logo, placing it on their advertisements and on the front cover of their Manual and Price List of Engineering and Mathematical Instruments. The inscription on this example reads "Wm. J.
Description
Wm. J. Young & Sons (fl. 1870-1881) used a simple transit instrument of this sort as their logo, placing it on their advertisements and on the front cover of their Manual and Price List of Engineering and Mathematical Instruments. The inscription on this example reads "Wm. J. Young & Sons 4648 Philadelphia." The serial number dates from 1872. The horizontal circle is silvered, graduated into 30 minutes of arc, and read by opposite verniers. One vernier reads to single minutes, and the other reads to 1/100 of a degree.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
maker
William J. Young and Sons
ID Number
1985.0800.01
accession number
1985.0800
catalog number
1985.0800.01
Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after the drawing Kasanji, a native of Kasanji, by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 63 of Volume I of the U.S.
Description
Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after the drawing Kasanji, a native of Kasanji, by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 63 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1844
ca 1844
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Agate, A. T.
graphic artist
Brightly, Joseph H.
ID Number
1999.0145.038
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.038
accession number
1999.0145
The "Wm. J. Young Maker 3641 Philadelphia" inscription indicates that this compass was made around 1859. The face is dark, and the needle ring is silvered. An outkeeper is on the face at west, and a circular level at east.
Description
The "Wm. J. Young Maker 3641 Philadelphia" inscription indicates that this compass was made around 1859. The face is dark, and the needle ring is silvered. An outkeeper is on the face at west, and a circular level at east. The variation arc on the north arm extends 20 degrees either way, and reads by vernier to single minutes. The arms are unusually thick, making the compass unusually heavy. The box is marked "J. H. Marvin Lexington Ky."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Young, William J.
ID Number
2000.0241.01
accession number
2000.0241
catalog number
2000.0241.01
In the spring of 1803, Meriwether Lewis began to purchase scientific and mathematical instruments for a pending expedition into the northwestern region of North America.
Description
In the spring of 1803, Meriwether Lewis began to purchase scientific and mathematical instruments for a pending expedition into the northwestern region of North America. Among the items he purchased from Philadelphia instrument maker Thomas Whitney were three pocket compasses for $2.50 each, and this silver-plated pocket compass for $5. It has a mahogany box, a silver-plated brass rim that is graduated to degrees and numbered in quadrants from north and south, a paper dial, two small brass sight vanes, and a leather carrying case. Whether Lewis purchased the silver compass for himself or intended it as a special gesture for William Clark is not known.
Following the instructions of President Thomas Jefferson, the Corps of Discovery, under the leadership of Lewis and Clark, ascended the Missouri River in May 1804 to obtain detailed information on the natural resources of the region, to search for a northwest passage, and to make official diplomatic contact with Indian leaders.
By the time they returned to St. Louis in September 1806, few of the instruments that were purchased for the trip had survived the journey. The pocket compass, however, was kept by Clark as a memento. He later gave the compass to his friend, Capt. Robert A. McCabe, whose heirs donated it in 1933 to the Smithsonian Institution.
Date made
ca 1804
user
Clark, William
maker
Whitney, Thomas
ID Number
PL.038366
catalog number
38366
accession number
122864
Most nineteenth century American clocks were cheaply made for the mass market and domestic use.
Description
Most nineteenth century American clocks were cheaply made for the mass market and domestic use. But a few firms made finely finished precision clocks for applications where accuracy was vital: determining the time of scientific observations, for example, or regulating other clocks and watches. One such firm was E. Howard and Company of Boston, specialists in quality clocks, watches and scales since 1842.
This high-quality clock, made by the firm in 1874, distributed Philadelphia time for the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company in that city. Subscribers to the firm’s service of telegraphed gold prices and stock quotations could also receive a time service to set their clocks. Fitted to the mechanical movement of this Howard timepiece are assemblies that interrupt an electric telegraph circuit to indicate every half minute, full minute, five minutes and the hour.
Before 1883, towns across the nation set their own times by observing the position of the sun, so there were hundreds of local times. Instead of Eastern Standard Time, for example, there was Philadelphia Standard Time or Charleston Standard Time. Beginning in the 1850s, railroads operated on regional times, each set to an agreed-upon, arbitrary standard time. By the 1880s, there were about fifty such regional railroad times.
In November 1883, most North American railroads voluntarily agreed to adopt a standardized railway time based on zones, a system from which the time zones in use today originated.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
associated date
1874
associated institution
Allegheny Observatory
Gold and Stock Telegraph Company
associated person
Bentley, Henry
manufacturer
E. Howard & Co.
ID Number
ME.333468.01
catalog number
333468
accession number
294351
The form of this compass suggests that it was made in the late 18th century. The "DEAN PHILAD" inscription refers to William Dean who, in an advertisement of June 4, 1792, described himself as a "mathematical instrument maker" who had "commenced business" at No.
Description
The form of this compass suggests that it was made in the late 18th century. The "DEAN PHILAD" inscription refers to William Dean who, in an advertisement of June 4, 1792, described himself as a "mathematical instrument maker" who had "commenced business" at No. 43, South Front Street, Philadelphia, "directly opposite the post-office." In another advertisement, this one dated January 31, 1794, Dean announced that he made and sold "Surveying instruments of every description, Theodolets, Circumferentors on an improved plan, with a noneus, &c., Leveling instruments with or without telescopes, Sextants, Quadrants, Mariner’s Compasses, &c. and every article requisite for navigation, surveying, levelling, &c."
Ref: Charles Smart, The Makers of Surveying Instruments in America Since 1700 (Troy, N.Y., 1962), pp. 36-37.
Advertisements in Dunlap’s American Daily Advertiser for June 4, 1792, and January 31, 1794.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Dean, William
ID Number
2003.0156.01
accession number
2003.0156
catalog number
2003.0156.01
Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after a drawing of Patagonians by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 118 of Volume I of the U.S.
Description
Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after a drawing of Patagonians by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 118 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1844
ca 1844
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Agate, A. T.
graphic artist
Brightly, Joseph H.
Manning, J. H.
ID Number
1999.0145.055
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.055
This engraved wood block was used to print an image in the publication "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," 1844, Volume 2, page 196. The image was drawn by A. T. Agate. It was engraved by R. H.
Description (Brief)
This engraved wood block was used to print an image in the publication "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," 1844, Volume 2, page 196. The image was drawn by A. T. Agate. It was engraved by R. H. Pease, and originally printed by C. Sherman of Philadelphia in 1844.
Description
Richard H. Pease (1813–1869) engraved this printing block after a drawing, Native of Australia, by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 196 of Volume II of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1844
ca 1844
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
graphic artist
Pease, Richard H.
original artist
Agate, A. T.
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Wilkes, Charles
ID Number
1999.0145.113
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.113
The inscriptions on the face of this aneroid barometer read “Compensated” and “James W. Queen & Co. / PHILADELPHIA.” The pressure scale around the circumference extends from 18 to 31 inches of mercury.
Description
The inscriptions on the face of this aneroid barometer read “Compensated” and “James W. Queen & Co. / PHILADELPHIA.” The pressure scale around the circumference extends from 18 to 31 inches of mercury. The altitude scale extends to 15,000 feet elevation and is read by vernier and microscope to single feet. The diameter is about 3.5 inches. Although this instrument was sold by Queen, it was was probably made in London, perhaps by Short & Mason. New, it would have sold for $60.
Ref.: James W. Queen & Co., Priced and Illustrated Catalogue of Meteorological Instruments (Philadelphia, 1882), p. 93.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1859-1896
maker
James W. Queen & Co.
ID Number
1996.0163.01
accession number
1996.0163
catalog number
1996.0163.01
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Scolopax meridionalis, Zapornia umbrina" (now Galinago shicklandii - Cordilleran snipe and Porzana porzana - Spotted Crake) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840,
Description (Brief)
This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image of "Scolopax meridionalis, Zapornia umbrina" (now Galinago shicklandii - Cordilleran snipe and Porzana porzana - Spotted Crake) for the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 8, Mammalogy and Ornithology, plate 35, in the edition Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. The engraving was produced by W. H. Dougal after W. E. Hitchcock.
Description
William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C. (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate after drawings by William E. Hitchcock. The image depicts the Scolopax meridionalis (now Galinago shicklandii, or Cordilleran snipe) and Zapornia umbrina (now Porzana porzana, or Spotted Crake). The engraved illustration was published as Plate 35 in Volume VIII, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, 1858.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Hitchcock, W. E.
graphic artist
Dougal, William H.
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Cassin, John
maker
Peale, Titian Ramsay
ID Number
1999.0145.415
catalog number
1999.0145.415
accession number
1999.0145

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.