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Lot 537
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Early Astronomy Letter Mentioning J.Q. Adams, Monroe, Madison
Early Astronomy Letter Mentioning J.Q. Adams, Monroe, Madison
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Description:

Astronomy, Surveying
Hallowell, ME, January 25, 1824
Early Astronomy Letter Mentioning J.Q. Adams, Monroe, Madison
AL
[ASTRONOMY, SURVEYING.] [Benjamin Vaughan], Fragment of Autograph Letter, to Parker Cleaveland, January 25, 1824, Hallowell, Maine. 4 pp., 8" x 9.75". Expected folds; small loss to integral leaf from original opening; cellophane tape repair to two edge tears, not affecting text; general toning; light staining.

This incomplete letter, likely written by Benjamin Vaughan from Hallowell, Maine, to Professor Parker Cleaveland of Bowdoin College at Brunswick, Maine, discusses two sets of astronomical instruments acquired in Europe by Swiss-American surveyor Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler. According to Vaughan's memory, Hassler acquired two sets, one designated for Washington and the other for "East Port," likely Eastport, Maine, the easternmost city in the continental United States.

Vaughan argues against a proposal by amateur astronomer William Lambert to establish an "American prime meridian" running through Washington, D.C., believing that "multiplying prime meridians" is folly and would only lead to confusion as each nation developed its own prime meridian as a mark of "sovereignty." In the letter, Vaughan mentions former, current, and future presidents James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams.

Complete Transcript
Professor Cleaveland
Hallowell, Jany 25, 1824.
Dear sir,
Respecting the subject of the Observatory, I can only this evening write from recollection; but tomorrow I shall look for the copy of what I have written to Mr. Monroe; & as soon as possible, advise more fully & precisely as to one part of the subject.
The government knows under what impressions it ordered instruments from Europe: A Swiss (from Aar) came over here, a number of years since, with a Mr Schmidt, to prepare for a settlement of Swiss; but they fell into the hands of persons, who relieved them of all (or nearly all), the capital intrusted to them. The principal of them, bearing a name like that of Haslar, was an ingenious & scientific man; and was sent to Europe afterwards to order & superintend the construction of two sets of astronomical instruments of the first quality & by the first makers; which was done. Mr Lambert got permission to use them for the purpose of ascertaining the longitude of Washington; & made observations & reports on this subject, being desirous to have Washington made a prime meridian under his auspices. I was told that the instruments were classed into two assortments; one intended for Washington, & the other (an inferior one) for East Port: but I have since been told, that Mr Monroe has been instructed by some one to say to our Maine representatives to Congress, that there is but one Collection; & that the whole is therefore to be kept for Washington. This information paralyzed all further application from our friends to Mr Monroe. I presume to think, that Mr Monroe has been misled on this subject & possibly by the person who had used the instruments, & wanted the whole to be placed in an establishment at Washington under himself.
In any event, it is easy through Mr J Q Adams, to revert to the original order by which the instruments were procured; or else to learn from him whence the order issued, (which was in the time of Mr Madison;) & obtain a copy of it. A motion in Congress will easily, if needed, get at this. Genl Haslar, or the person above alluded to, who provided the instruments, is well known to Mr J. Q. A, for, when I studied Mr A's report on weights & measures, I found that Mr A. had consulted that person on some points named in his report. I will further add, that I believe Gen. H. was employed in settling the boundaries between the British provinces & the U.S., [&c.?] but after a time was (for some reason to me unknown) dismissed from that employment; to which some surveys on the coast were said to have been added.
Mr. Lambert made one of his reports to the government in the form of a pamphlet in folio, which I possess. To this Mr Bowditch, then of Salem, made a sufficient reply; demonstrating the folly of multiplying prime meridians. It is plain, that the governments of South America, will soon hold it as a mark of sovereignty to annex a prime meridian to their leading governments; possibly the King of the Netherlands & others in Europe, who have hitherto kept in the back ground. For myself, I think that a compromise with the powers of Europe ought to settle upon one prime meridian for both hemispheres; and that one, not in a leading state, would be more likely to give

Benjamin Vaughan (1751-1835) was born in Jamaica to a British banker and West India planter. He attended Trinity Hall, Cambridge, but did not graduate, read law at the Inns of Court, and then studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He became a West Indian merchant, but his friendship with Benjamin Franklin led him to edit the only collection of Franklin's writings published during his lifetime (1779). Despite his support of American independence, his political connections allowed him to serve as an unofficial British diplomatic agent at the peace negotiations in Paris in the early 1780s that led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Vaughan was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1786. He was a Member of Parliament from 1792 to 1796, but was absent from 1794, when he immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts. He then settled on a farm in Hallowell, Maine, in 1797. He became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1805 and a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813.

Parker Cleaveland (1780-1858) was born in Rowley, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College in 1799. He served as a tutor at Harvard from 1803 to 1805, when he was appointed as the first professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He also lectured on chemistry and mineralogy and remained at Bowdoin until his death. His valuable collection of minerals and his An Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology (1816 & several later editions) earned him the title of "Father of American Mineralogy." His interests also extended to instrument design, and he helped found the Maine Historical Society.

Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler (1770-1843) was born in Aarau, Switzerland. He was educated in a variety of Swiss, French, and German schools, initially studying law but changing his academic focus to astronomy, mathematics, and physics. He worked on the trigonometrical survey of Switzerland before migrating to the United States in 1805. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him as professor of mathematics at the United States Military Academy, a position he held from 1807 to 1809. In 1811, the United States government employed him to begin a hydrographic survey of the American coast. In 1812, Congress appointed him as superintendent of the Survey of the Coast, and he traveled to France and England to purchase supplies and instruments. During the War of 1812, his instruments were confiscated as spoils of war and he was treated as an enemy spy in England and detained. In 1816, he returned to the United States, and President James Madison appointed him as the first superintendent of the Survey of the Coast. In 1818, Congress removed Hassler as superintendent of the Survey of the Coast and placed it under the control of the U.S. Army until 1832. In 1829, Hassler was appointed gauger in the New York Customs House and in 1832 as head of the Office of Standard Weights and Measures in the Treasury Department, carrying out the early work of standardizing weights and measures in the United States. Congress reestablished the Survey of the Coast in 1832, and President Andrew Jackson recommended Hassler as superintendent. It was renamed the United States Coast Survey in 1836 and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878.

William Lambert (d. 1834) was born in Virginia and in 1788 helped arrange the state's accounts with the United States. was a clerk in the Department of State (1790-1792) and principal assistant to Clerk John Beckley of the U.S. House of Representatives (1789, 1801-1805). He was also an amateur astronomer who attempted to improve the calculation of longitude, establish a national observatory, and designate the longitude of Washington, D.C. as a new American prime meridian, a proposal he advocated for nearly two decades.

Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838) was born in Salem, Massachusetts, worked in his father's cooperage, and then was apprenticed as a bookkeeper for a ship chandler. In 1786, he began to study algebra and, two years later, taught himself calculus. He also taught himself Latin and French, so that he could read mathematical works in those languages. He translated a work by Pierre-Simon de Laplace from French on mathematics and theoretical astronomy that was critical to the development of astronomy in the United States. From 1795 to 1803, he went to sea on five voyages as a ship's clerk. In 1802, he published the first edition of American Practical Navigator, which became a standard text for shipping in the western hemisphere for the next 150 years. Harvard awarded him an honorary degree in that year, and in 1804, he became the first insurance actuary in the United States as president of the Essex Fire and Marine Insurance Agency in Salem. In 1816, Harvard awarded Bowditch an honorary Doctor of Laws. He turned down offers of professorships at Harvard, the United States Military Academy, and the University of Virginia. In 1823, he moved to Boston and became an actuary for the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company.

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