

Figure 15. — James Wilson, first American maker of globes. From a sketch by- 

 John Ross Dix in Ballou s Pictorial Drawing Room Companion (Boston, 1857), 

 vol. 12, p. 156. 



Together with the other craftsmen throughout the colonies who 

 estabHshed and advertised themselves specifically as instrument 

 makers, they produced a large number of the mathematical 

 instruments used in the American Colonies in the 18th century. 

 A careful study of their regional distribution reveals that most 

 of them were concentrated in the major coastal cities of commerce. 



New Hampshire 



Among the artisans who combined clockmaking with instrument 

 making before the beginning of the 19th century was Benjamin C. 

 Oilman (1763-1835) of Exeter, New Hampshire. He made mathe- 

 matical instruments and clocks in addition to working as a silver- 

 smith, clockmaker, and hydraulic engineer. 



Vermont 



A New England instrument maker who had a most unusual 

 career was James Wilson (1763-1855) of Bradford, Vermont. He 

 was a native of Francestown, New Hampshire, where he was born 

 in a log cabin and brought up on a farm. In 1796 he purchased 

 his own farm, at Bradford. 



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