Surveyor's Compass

Description:

The inscriptions on this compass read "S. Kern Inventor" and "J. S. Danner Maker, Middletown, Va." On July 31, 1846, Samuel Kern of Strasburg, Va., obtained a patent (#4,675) for an instrument meant to be "at once cheap and efficient, enabling one to use it as a compass for running lines, or for leveling, as may be required." A trough compass, level vial, and outkeeper are inset into the face. The edge of the face is graduated to 30 minutes, and numbered in quadrants from north and south. Jacob Sensensy Danner (1807-1877) lived in Middletown, Va., and made instruments for surveyors.

Ref: Charles Smart, The Makers of Surveying Instruments in America Since 1700 (Troy, N.Y., 1962), p. 35.

Inventor: Kern, SamuelMaker: Danner, Jacob Sensensy

Location: Currently not on view

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences, Surveying and Geodesy, Measuring & Mapping

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Related Publication: Smart, Charles E.. Makers of Surveying Instruments in America Since 1700

Credit Line: George H. Kernodle

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: PH.312873Catalog Number: 312873Accession Number: 170227

Object Name: surveyor's compass

Measurements: overall: 5 1/2 in; 13.97 cmoverall: 2 1/2 in x 6 in; 6.35 cm x 15.24 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a8-88bf-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_997208

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.