THE INCORPORATORS 173 



Board. In the last position he visited many stations, and took part 

 in many experiments, both in acoustics and optics. This work, 

 while adding to his fame, was a severe strain upon his physical 

 forces. A serious illness overtook him, and he died at the Barber 

 house, the site of the New Observatory, on May 5, 1882, after 

 fifty-four years of public service. 



(From ASAPH HALL, in Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of 

 Sciences, vol. 6, 1909, pp. 81-92. See also CHARLES O. PAULLIN, " Services of 

 Commodore John Rodgers in the War of 1812," and " In Our Wars with the 

 Barbary Corsairs "; also " A Biography of Commodore John Rodgers.") 



FAIRMAN ROGERS 

 Born, November 15, 1833; died, August 22, 1900 



The faculties that gave Fairman Rogers prominence as a man 

 of science seem to have been inherited in large part from his 

 father, Evans Rogers, and from his maternal grandfather, 

 Gideon Fairman, who was a noted inventor. He was born on 

 November 15, 1833 in Philadelphia, and while yet in the pre- 

 paratory school gave promise of a brilliant career. He entered 

 the University of Pennsylvania in 1849, and was very successful 

 in his studies, especially in the physical sciences, so much so 

 that Dr. John F. Frazer, then Professor of Chemistry and 

 Physics in the University, foreseeing a brilliant future for his 

 pupil, not only aided him in his class work, but introduced him 

 to his scientific acquaintances. Two years after graduation, Mr. 

 Rogers became connected with the United States Coast Survey, 

 and in 1857 assisted Professor Bache in determining the Epping 

 base-line in Maine. At this time he was Professor of Civil 

 Engineering in the University of Pennsylvania, and also lectured 

 at the Franklin Institute, and later at Harvard University. In 

 1 86 1 he delivered a course of lectures in the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, on the construction of roads and bridges, and, later, a course 

 on glaciers. He also made a survey of the Potomac River for the 

 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. 



At the beginning of the Civil War, Professor Rogers served 

 as first sergeant of the Philadelphia city cavalry in a three months' 

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