brary Company. The expedition was described in the Transactions 

 of the American Philosophical Society in 1771 in an article entitled 

 "An Account of the Transit of Venus, over the Sun's Disk, as 

 observed near Cape Henlopen, on Delaware Bay, June 3rd, 1769 

 by Owen Biddle, Joel Baily and (Richard Thomas) Drawn by 

 Owen Biddle." In addition to his trade in clocks and watches, 

 Biddle also made mathematical instruments and was well known 

 in his native city as a merchant, inventor, and ironmaster. 



Benjamin Banneker 



A name that is too often ignored in the history of science in colo- 

 nial America is that of a free Negro, Benjamin Banneker (c. 1734- 

 1806) of Baltimore. A farmer by occupation, Banneker was the 

 son of a native African slave and a free mulatto woman. In his 

 spare time he attended the school of a Quaker farmer; the only 

 book he owned was the Bible. When he was a young man he ac- 

 quired a watch from a trader, and from it he developed his love of 

 science and instruments. Although he had never seen a clock, he 

 constructed one based on drawings he made from the watch. 

 Banneker was called upon to assist in the construction of the mills 

 for the Ellicotts, and it was natural that his clock, which was the 

 marvel of the Negro settlement, should come to the attention of 

 Joseph Ellicott. Ellicott became interested in Banneker's thirst 

 for knowledge and allowed him the use of his tools, scientific in- 

 struments, and technical books. Among the books were Mayer's 

 Tables, James Ferguson's Astronomy, and Leadbeater's Lunar 

 Tables. Banneker absorbed these and other works that he bor- 

 rowed and went on to explore the wonderful new world they opened 

 up for him. He pursued astronomical studies, and within three 

 years he began to make calculations (fig. 12) for an almanac. After 

 completing the calculations for the year 1791, he went on to pro- 

 duce a set of calculations for 1792. During this period he mastered 

 the use of surveying instruments and made a firsthand study of 

 tides in the region. His great opportunity came when Andrew 

 Ellicott was chosen to make a survey for the city of Washington 

 and hired Banneker as an assistant. While thus employed, Ban- 

 neker completed his almanac and gave it to George Ellicott, 

 Andrew's cousin, as a subject of possible interest. Apparently 

 George Ellicott turned it over to the Honorable James McHenry 

 of Baltimore, who in turned submitted it to the Philadelphia firm 

 of Goddard & Angell, who pubHshed it (fig. 13). Banneker mailed 



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