Robert P. Multhauf

“ Peate decided to concentrate on that basic tool, the telescope. It is possible that he first made a telescope, as many amateurs do, to advance himself in the study of astronomy, and only after completing it realized that his primary interest lay in the instruments rather than in the theoretical science. ”

“ Rittenhouse made other telescopes which survive, notably two zenith sectors now in the U.S. National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, [2] but he does not appear to have made them for commercial sale. In the history of telescope-making in America he seems to have been something of a “sport.” Not only were the instruments which still grace the desks of Washington, Jefferson, and others, of European manufacture, but the earliest observatories in the United States (eleven between 1786 and 1840) were outfitted exclusively (except for the Rittenhouse observatory) with European instruments. ”

“ The telescope submitted to the examination of the Committee of the Franklin Institute is of the reflecting kind; has a focal length of six feet; the diameter of the speculum is three inches nine-tenths; the rays of light are reflected but once; the image formed in the focus of the speculum is viewed by a common astronomical eye piece, or by a single lens; it has also an eye piece for viewing land objects, which shows them erect. The telescope is of the same construction as those of Sir William Herschell, the observer having his back towards the object and looking directly towards the speculum. ”

“ The Bonds established what was to be the Harvard Observatory in 1839, and by 1847 Harvard had obtained its famous 15-inch refractor from Merz and Mabler. [6] Fitz was to have a more sophisticated market than had Holcomb.
Despite the glowing recommendations of the Franklin Institute committee, [7] no actual use of Holcomb’s instruments by astronomers has come to light. We may owe to the rapid progress of American astronomy after 1840 the fact that we have evidence of a more distinguished history for some of Fitz’s instruments. ”

“ Toward 1845, Holcomb tells us, “one after another went into the business,” and indeed they did. At the American Institute Fair in New York that year a gold medal was given Henry Fitz “for the best achromatic telescope.” In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Alvan Clark is supposed to have already taken up the hobby of lens and mirror making. And in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, an amateur telescope-maker now known only as “Squire Wampler” made a small achromatic refractor which he demonstrated in 1849 to a 9-year-old boy named John Brashear, of whom more later. ”

“ He subsequently made, among other telescopes, a 30-inch refractor in 1906 for the Allegheny Observatory and in 1918 a 72-inch reflector, at Victoria, British Columbia. Brashear’s greatest fame, however, came from his accessory instruments—spectroscopes and the like.
Not the least thrilling aspect of the story of the spectacular ascendancy of American-made telescopes is the story of their financing—of the big-telescope era in American philanthropy and the financial giants (Lick, Hooker, Thaw, Yerkes, and others) who peopled it. ”

“ Although John Peate was born when Holcomb was only 33, and before that pioneer telescope-maker had produced his first instrument, he lived well into the time when American telescope-making had come of age. Before Peate’s death George Ellery Hale had begun his career as a promoter of large telescopes; indeed, the Yerkes 40-inch refractor was completed a year prior to Peate’s delivery of his own magnum opus, a 62-inch reflector, to The American University. ”

“ Some light was lost by the position of the head, an inconvenience partially obviated by making the end nearest the object three inches greater in aperture.
The Gregorian, which probably was not a very fine instrument of its kind, bore no comparison in distinctness, or in quantity of light, with the Herschelian telescope.
From these trials, the committee are of opinion that Mr. Holcomb has been entirely successful in the difficult art of polishing specula with the true curve, which gives to the objects viewed all the distinctness of figure that is given them by the best refractors by Dolland. ”

“ One of several observers assigned by the Society to the observation of the transit of Venus in 1769, he constructed instruments of the most advanced types, apparently employing European lenses, and used the instruments himself. Of these, a 13⁄4-inch refractor mounted as a transit instrument stands in the hall of the Philosophical Society. It is probably the oldest extant American-made telescope. ”

“ Peate was something of a poor man’s philanthropist, and his fame would have been no greater than that role customarily brings had he not undertaken in 1893 the astonishingly audacious project of making the largest glass reflector that had ever been built. ”

“ It is hard to imagine why the trade journal so strenuously objected to Standard’s attempt. It has been suggested that it derived from the fact that Standard Plate Glass just previous to that time had refused to join in a combination of Pittsburgh companies which had set up a glass trust. [30] Or it is possible that the young industry was afraid that an overly ambitious project doomed to failure might open American glassmaking to European ridicule and so harm the entire American industry. ”

“ Holcomb, during the past year, the committee look forward, with confident expectation, to the not far distant period, when, should his health be spared, the country will be in possession of a twenty feet reflector, of native workmanship, rivalling the best European instruments, and that, too, without the patronage of any corporate institution, should all of them be willing to waive the opportunity of sharing with him the merit of such an enterprise. ”

“ Brashear became a professional machinist, but retained an interest in astronomy which led him to make a 5-inch achromatic refractor in 1872 and subsequently to show the instrument to Samuel Pierpont Langley, [9] then director of the Allegheny Observatory. With Langley’s encouragement Brashear went on to construct a 12-inch reflector and in 1880 decided to make a business of telescope-making. ”

“ Instruments surviving from 18th-century America are almost exclusively of European origin, products of the numerous and famous shops which sprang up, particularly in England and France, to meet the demand occasioned by the popularity of the telescope among amateurs and dilettanti.
[2] U.S. National Museum catalog nos. 152078 and 152079.
[3] W. I. Milham, Early American Observatories, Williamstown, Mass., Williams College, 1938.
[4] Mechanics Magazine, 1830, vol. 13, pp. 114-115 and frontispiece.
[5] See p. 184 for a list of Holcomb’s instruments in the U.S. National Museum. ”

“ He first made a telescope in 1838, a reflector, with which he delighted to show the stars and planets to his friends. The well-known Reverend Clapp of New Orleans referred to him in a public address as “the young locksmith who knew more about the heavenly bodies than anyone else in the United States.” ”

“ A mirror must be continually tested as this polishing is being done, and since the polishing warms the glass and distorts its shape, it is necessary to allow a long time for the glass to cool before it can be tested. Peate estimated that polishing and figuring the mirror took 750 hours. ”

“ Although all parties concerned in this project seemed optimistic, no provision for mounting the mirror had yet been made. The University paper which announced the safe arrival of the glass hoped, at a later date, that—
some day, we trust before long, a noble and generous giver will appear, who will provide for the proper mounting of this mirror and also build a worthy housing.
This donor was never to appear. Five years later, in announcing the death of Peate, the Courier was still appealing for funds to mount the mirror. ”

“ In an amateur it is amazing. It detracts nothing from Peate to reveal, as does the sketch printed here, that the accolade which this project deserves (but has never received) belongs in part to George Howard and the Standard Plate Glass Company. His example and theirs encourage us to hope that the day of the amateur in science may not be at an end.
[160]
I. Amasa Holcomb, 1787-1875
Amasa Holcomb was born in 1787, the year John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat before the Constitutional Convention assembled at Philadelphia, and three years before the death of Benjamin Franklin. ”

“ The Hodge company made several (probably three) grinding tools for Peate. One was about 12 inches in diameter, and was to be used by hand. Two of the larger tools were provided with the male member of a ball and socket joint and were to be [175] power driven. They were 30 and 48 inches in diameter, respectively. The largest was grooved to a waffle-like surface on its convex face. These grooves were about 1⁄2 inch wide and 3/16 inch deep. This pattern was ground by placing the tool face up on a wheeled buggy, which rode on cambered oak rails. ”

“ Charles was a prominent business and civic leader in Suffolk County. George became a physician and inventor and was for a time Professor at Harvard. All married, and there are now living in the United States about fifty descendants of Henry Fitz, telescope maker. ”

“ He rotated the disc on the turntable and thus rounded it off.
After this had been done he commenced the rough grinding. Using the large checkerboard tool, steel shot, and levigated emery Dr. Peate ground out a rough hollow. This took only a few days. George Howard stated that the depth of the concavity was about 5⁄8 inch and the shape correct to within about 1/10,000 inch. The calculated concavity of the mirror would be 6/10 inch. Peate evidently used the usual method in polishing the large mirror, that is, he covered the tool face with pitch and used rouge (iron oxide) as the abrasive. ”

“ New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans, following the activities of the building trades and trying by long hours and austere living to save money for a locksmith shop of his own. For the sake of both health and pocketbook, he never rode if he could walk, neither drank nor smoked, ate little meat, and lived chiefly on graham bread and water.
Figure 6.—Henry Fitz, from a photograph in the collections of the U.S. National Museum. (Smithsonian photo 44594-b)
Evenings were spent in reading, study, and the pursuit of hobbies, chief of which was astronomy. ”

“ Figure 11.—Standard Plate Glass Company, Butler, Pennsylvania, with x marking building where Peate’s 62-inch disc was cast. (From Preston, fig. 1.)
“What am I to do all the rest of my life?” he asked of the presiding officer of the meeting, Bishop Hurst, who was also chancellor of the newly founded University.
“Oh, study astronomy,” said the Bishop.
“Make a big telescope lens,” said Dr. Wythe. ”

“ This article was anonymous and was obviously the work of an expert; it is thought to have been written by John Brashear. [34] Although Howard was thoroughly discouraged by this article, the cast had already been made and no harm could be done now by allowing it to cool and be examined.
In May 1895 Howard, with the workmen, opened the kiln. The mold was loose, so the pegs had sheared as expected. When the sand was removed the disc was found to be whole. A close inspection revealed no obvious faults. The disc was gently carried to an inspection room and Dr. Peate was immediately sent for. ”

“ While in Baltimore he took a step which marks the beginning of the final phase of his career. In June 1844 he married Julia Ann Wells of Southold, Long Island, whom he had known for about a decade and with whom he had long corresponded. ”

“ Dr. Peate must have spent some time testing it on the stars. The mirror was evidently completed sometime late in summer of 1897, and when Peate was satisfied that it was as perfect as possible, he made arrangements to send it to American University. He also designed the shipping case to protect it on the trip to Washington. It is described in the University paper as follows: [40]
This consists of a box in which the glass is packed and a wheeled truck in which it is swung. ”

“ In his 1845 prize winner he combined Boston-made flint with French plate glass. But the Boston flint proved too veiny for any but small lenses and he soon was importing both crown and flint. He designed and built machines, run by foot power, on which he could train employees to do much of the labor of lens making, always reserving the final polishing for himself. He increased the size as well as the quality of his lenses. By 1856, he was making 121⁄2-inch refractors, which according to Prof. ”