Coventry, as well as some of the leading merchants and cabinet- 

 makers of the nearby cities and towns. Although clockmaking 

 was the primary business in which Burnap engaged, he also had a 

 large trade for his surveying instruments, silver spoons, gold beads, 

 harness and saddlery hardware, and shoe buckles. 



Burnap prospered, and in about 1800 he moved back to his 

 native town, Coventry. There -he purchased a large farm and 

 erected a shop and a sawmill, and in due course became the leading 

 citizen of the community. He died in 1838, leaving a valuable 

 technological record in the completeness of his journals and 

 account books. A study of the entries of his day books and 

 ledgers (see fig. 64) reveals that Burnap did a substantial amount 

 of business in surveying compasses, chains, and protractors. 

 Among his shop equipment after his death there was found an 

 unfinished protractor, but no examples of his instruments are 

 known except for a compass dial, inscribed with his name, that 

 was discovered recently in the collection of a midwestern historical 

 society. ^^^ 



It is significant to note that Burnap made instruments of varying 

 quality. For instance, he charged three different prices for his 

 surveyor's compasses. The highest-priced compasses cost £6; 

 they were made of brass, and were of the more elaborate conven- 

 tional type used by surveyors. A few examples that appeared in 

 his records cost £4; these also were made of brass, but probably 

 were of a simpler form. Several entries list surveying compasses 

 priced at £2 and £2/8. One of these was made for Capt. Solomon 

 Dewie (1750-1813) in September 1790 for £2/8. ' At the same time, 

 Burnap charged him £0/1/6 for touching the needle of another 

 compass.^^^ The entries in Burnap's account books do not state 

 that these inexpensive compasses were constructed of wood, but 

 it seems to be sufficiently conclusive that they were. 



Gurdon Huntington 



Gurdon Huntington (1763-1804) was not primarily a maker 

 of scientific instruments, but he was established as a goldsmith 

 and clockmaker. He was born in Windham, Connecticut, on 



"^ Information from Mr. C. E. Smart, of VV. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, New York. 

 ''•^•^ Penrose R. Hoopes, Shop Records of Daniel Burnap, Clockmaker, (Hartford; 

 Connecticut Historical Society, 1958), pp. 63-66. 



118 



