PROMOTION OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 21 



The judiciary had William Cranch, Chief Justice of the Circuit 

 Court and prominent in many public affairs, Buckner Thruston, As- 

 sociate Judge of the same court, Richard Bland Lee and Nathaniel P. 

 Causin, Judges of the Orphans' Court ; with Elias B. Caldwell, clerk 

 of the Supreme Court of the United States, and William Brent, clerk 

 of the Circuit Court. 



Among the civilian officers and employees of the Government were 

 Dr. William Thornton, Commissioner of Patents; Josiah Meigs, 

 Chief of the United States Land Office ; George Watterston, Librarian 

 of Congress; Phineas Bradley, Assistant Postmaster General and 

 banker; Col. Samuel Lane and Maj. William Noland, Commission- 

 ers of Public Buildings ; Matthew St. Clair Clarke, clerk of the House 

 of Representatives; Asburj^ Dickins, chief clerk of the Treasury De- 

 partment; Thomas L. Thurston, librarian of the Department of 

 State ; Benjamin Homans, chief clerk of the Navy Department ; Wal- 

 ter Jones, District Attorney and Major General of the District 

 militia; William Lambert, 1 clerk in the Pension Office; William 

 Elliot, 1 clerk in the Patent Office; Joseph Anderson, John Under- 

 wood, and Nathaniel Cutting. Connected with the city government 

 were Robert King, surveyor of the city, and Isaac Roberdeau, who 

 had been one of L'Enfant's corps of surveyors; William Hewitt, 

 register of Washington; Thomas Munroe, postmaster: and William 

 Prout, member of the city hall erection commission. 



At least eleven of the members held the office of mayor of Washing- 

 ton during the period of the Institute, or immediately before or 

 afterwards. They were Robert Brent, banker, who had also served 

 as Judge of the Orphans' Court and as Paymaster General of the 

 Army ; Daniel Rapine, publisher ; Dr. James H. Blake, a practicing 

 physician; Thomas Carbery, Roger C. Weightman; Joseph Gales, jr., 

 publisher; John P. VanNess, banker and at one time General of the 

 District militia ; William A. Bradley, banker ; Peter Force and Wil- 

 liam W. Seaton, both publishers and active participants in city af- 

 fairs ; and Richard Wallach. 



The medical profession furnished a large and prominent quota of 

 the membership, including nearly one-half of the incorporators of the 

 Medical Society in 1819. Besides Mayor Blake, already referred to. 

 may be mentioned Dr. B. S. Bohrer, Dr. James S. Gunnell, Dr. 

 Thomas Henderson, Dr. Henry Huntt, the first health officer of Wash- 

 ington, Dr. Alexander McWilliams, at one time a surgeon in the 

 Navy, Dr. George May, Dr. Frederick May, Dr. Richard Randall, 

 Dr. Thomas Sewall, Dr. John T. Shaaf , Dr. Thomas Sims, Dr. John 



1 Mr. Lambert was selected by the Secretary of State in 1821 to make the 

 necessary observations for determining the meridian of Washington, in which 

 he was assisted by William Elliot, publisher, mathematician, and city surveyor 

 from 1832 to 1835. 



