Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers Part 7

_Joseph Halsy_

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 s.h.i.+pwright 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]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 39.--Wooden surveying compa.s.s "Made and sold by Joseph Halsy, Boston, New England." The instrument, made of maple, is 11 in. long and has a diameter of 5-3/4 in. In the collection of New Hamps.h.i.+re Historical Society, Concord.]

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 n.o.ble 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 advertis.e.m.e.nt 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 Lat.i.tude or Other Alt.i.tudes 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 compa.s.s (fig. 39) in the collection of the New Hamps.h.i.+re Historical Society. It is made of maple.

The compa.s.s 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 compa.s.s 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 compa.s.s 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, compa.s.s card used by Joseph Halsy, is an engraved example (fig. 40) found glued in Thomas Paine's own ma.n.u.script copy of Charles Morton's _Compendium Physicae_, which is preserved in the collection of the Ma.s.sachusetts 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 40.--Compa.s.s card of Joseph Halsy found glued into Thomas Paine's personal copy of Charles Morton's _Compendium Physicae_.

In collection of Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society.]

_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 Hamps.h.i.+re.[89]

The only known surviving instrument bearing James Halsy's name is a wooden surveying compa.s.s (fig. 41) in the collection of the Peabody Museum in Salem. The engraved compa.s.s 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]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 41.--Wooden surveying compa.s.s made by James Halsy (1695-1767) of Boston. The instrument is 11 in. long. In collection of East India Marine Hall, Peabody Museum, Salem, Ma.s.sachusetts.]

_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 s.h.i.+pwright 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 t.i.tle 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, 13.6.8 each. To their sister Betty 5. 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 5 each and the house they live in. My daughter, Sarah Edwards, 10 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 5 and a silver porringer. My daughter Elizabeth Brooks 10 and a silver tea pot. My daughter Mary Savage 40 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, 50, 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 100 and sundry pieces as per schedule amount to 63.11.3. 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 advertis.e.m.e.nt 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 ma.n.u.script accounts that have survived in the collections of the Ma.s.sachusetts 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 Compa.s.s for the Schooner _Sea Flour_ 0.8.0.

1758, Nov. 28: 1 Spygla.s.s 1.13.8.

1759, Jan. 25: Mending 3 Compa.s.ses for the Schooner _Susanna_ 0.6.0.

In Account with Nathaniel Bethune: 1760, August: A gauging rod 0.6.0.

Mending a telescope 0.3.0.

In Account with Captain McAndrew Mirick of Nantucket: 1772, March 21: For 2 compa.s.ses, 1 leaded 0.16.8.

In Account with Captain Roberson Crockett: 1773, April: For mending 2 Compa.s.ses 0.6.2.

For mending 1 Hanging Compa.s.s 0.3.2.

In Account with Captain Reworth of the Brig _Fortune_: 1774, March 30: For mending 2 compa.s.ses & Gla.s.ses 0.7.0.

In Account with Captain Thomas G.o.dfrey: 1774, April 7: For 1 Telescope 0.8.0.

Other doc.u.ments 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 G.o.dfrey the Sum of ---- in full for my Negro man Cuffes Shair in the Whaling Voige ----."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 42.--Bra.s.s surveying compa.s.s made by Thomas Greenough (1710-1785) of Boston. Compa.s.s face is mounted on main blade with two copper rivets. Screws for vanes and tripod mounting are hand cut, with wing nut ends. Sighting bars are 1/16 in. wide and 5-1/4 in.

high; over-all length is 11-7/8 in. and diameter is 5-1/4 in. Owned by Greenough family of Boston. Photo courtesy of Dr. Thomas Greenough.]

Greenough apparently was succeeded in business by his son William Greenough. Mr. Lawrence B. Romaine of Middleboro, Ma.s.sachusetts, in 1939 described a wooden surveying compa.s.s with its own hand-whittled tripod made of oak which bore a compa.s.s card inscribed "Made by William Greenough, Boston, N.E."[94] The compa.s.s 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]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 43.--Wooden surveying compa.s.s, made and sold by Thomas Greenough. The instrument is made of gumwood and has a paper compa.s.s card; it is 13-1/4 in. long and has a diameter of 5-3/4 in. In collection of Franklin Inst.i.tute, Philadelphia.]