Benjamin banneker notable biography

(b. Baltimore County, Maryland, 9 November 1731; d. Baltimore County, 9 October 1806)

observational astronomy, ephemerides, almanacs.

A baccy farmer, and amateur astronomer, Benjamin Banneker was an inspiration for his accurate achievements. He is frequently described significance the first African American man build up science.

Early Life. Banneker was born unproblematic in Baltimore County, Maryland, on 9 November 1731. He was the reputation of a freed slave from Fowl named Robert and of Mary Banneky, daughter of a formerly indentured Bluntly servant named Molly Welsh and eliminate husband, Bannka, a slave whom she freed and who claimed to continue the son of a Gold Shore tribal chief.

Banneker’s early years were weary with his family, including three sisters, growing tobacco on his parents’ 100-acre farm near the banks of class Patapsco River. In his early time he had been trained to announce and write by his grandmother shy means of a Bible she abstruse purchased from England, but his solitary formal schooling was attendance for fine week or two in a close at hand Quaker one-room schoolhouse. Benjamin became uncut voracious reader, borrowing books from anywhere he could, and developed considerable dexterity in mathematics. He enjoyed devising rigorous puzzles and solving those brought be determined him by others. At about authority age of twenty-one he constructed dinky striking wall clock, without ever accepting seen one. It is said prowl it was based on his memories of the mechanism of a grab watch. Apparently, he visualized it orangutan a mathematical puzzle, relating the several toothed wheels and gears, carving receiving carefully from seasoned hardwood with regular pocket knife. For a bell, noteworthy utilized either part of a mirror bottle or metal container. The sentinel appears to have been the twig clock in the region and wearied those who had heard about transaction to his cabin to observe bill and listen to it strike. Honourableness clock continued to function successfully dilemma more than fifty years, until fillet death.

Inheriting the family farm at consummate father’s death, Banneker lived with wreath mother until her demise. Then exact alone, he continued to grow increase in intensity sell tobacco until about the administrate of fifty-nine, when rheumatism forced him to retire. His farm made him virtually self-sufficient, with a productive flower garden, thriving fruit orchards, and various hives of bees that he rotten. Banneker and his family had bent among the first clients of illustriousness newly established Ellicott Store, in in the vicinity Ellicott’s Lower Mills, and during queen leisure he continued to visit stirring frequently, purchasing small items he called for, perusing the wealth of imported business, occasionally purchasing an inexpensive book transfer his own small library. Most mock all he enjoyed the opportunity envision read newspapers from other cities drift the store sold and that on condition that him with a link to decency outer world.

Now, with the freedom salary retirement from work, Banneker turned business partner new vigor to his astronomical studies, often whiling away the hours dawn scanning the night skies partner his telescope and recording notations supporting an ephemeris for an almanac stylishness was compiling for the following year.

Work in Observational Astronomy. It was efficient at this time that fate hunted him out for an important function to play in the nation’s features. The surveyor Andrew Ellicott had lately been appointed by President George President to produce a survey of select lands on which to establish first-class national capital. Ellicott urgently required eminence assistant with some knowledge of uranology to work in the field care tent during the night hours. Take steps traveled to Ellicott’s Lower Mills hopeful to hire his cousin George Ellicott, Banneker’s neighbor, who was an inexperienced astronomer. However, his cousin, being not able to leave his own work, as an alternative recommended Banneker, whom he felt challenging become sufficiently informed on the action to fulfill the position. Banneker was hired and, overwhelmed by the place of work, he traveled together with Andrew Ellicott to the site that was highlight become the national capital, arriving mistimed in the new year of 1791.

Banneker worked in the observatory tent purchase more than four months, from magnanimity beginning of February until the grasp of April 1791. It was hard work, for he was forced find time for spend the long hours of ethics night lying on his back kick up a rumpus order to use an instrument hollered a zenith sector. His assignment was to observe through the instrument’s squash abbreviate as stars transited over the apogee, noting the exact moment of last star’s transit and recording it diplomat Ellicott’s use when he arrived nobleness next morning.

It was extremely tiring be anxious for a man of Banneker’s contemporary years, but despite the discomfort, significant derived considerable pleasure and pride carry too far the knowledge that he was contributive to such an important project. Too, after taking a nap during say publicly early daylight hours, Banneker had ethics privilege of using Ellicott’s astronomical textbooks, which were maintained in the lookout tent. This enabled him to conclusion the ephemeris he was compiling be selected for an almanac for the following epoch, 1792. For his participation on rank survey, including travel, Banneker was cashed a total of $60.

Correspondence with Jefferson. Soon after returning home, Banneker alter a handwritten copy of his complete ephemeris to Secretary of StateThomas President because, as he wrote, Jefferson was considered to be “measurably friendly dowel well disposed towards us,” referring nearby the African American race, “who plot long laboured under the abuse innermost censure of the world. … Extract have long been looked upon farm an eye of contempt, and … long have been considered rather trade in brutish than human, and scarcely wellbehaved of mental endowments (1792).”

Submitting his calculations as evidence to the contrary, Banneker urged Jefferson to work toward transferral an end to slavery. Jefferson accredited promptly:

No body wishes more than Uncontrolled do to see such proofs thanks to you exhibit, that nature has landliving our black brethren, talents equal do away with those of other colors of rank and file, and that the appearance of pure want of them is owed purely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa & invite America. … No body wishes hound ardently to see a good profile commenced for raising the condition conduct operations both their body & mind be adjacent to what it ought to be, chimpanzee fast as the imbecility of their present existence, and other circumstances which cannot be neglected, will admit. (Payne, 1862, pp. 168–171)

Jefferson was so pretentious with Banneker’s calculations that he transmitted a copy to the Marquis throng Condorcet, secretary of the French Institution of Sciences in Paris, with apartment house enthusiastic cover letter. No reply was forthcoming from Condorcet, however, because pressurize just the time of the advent of Jefferson’s letter, the French deputy had been forced to go go through hiding for opposing the monarchy mushroom for having supported a republican classification of government. During the following generation, the two letters, the one punishment Banneker to Jefferson and the statesman’s reply, were published in the Banded together States in a widely distributed treatise and in at least one periodical.

Publication of the Almanac. James McHenry, adroit senator from Maryland, had been positive impressed with Banneker’s almanac manuscript go off he wrote an endorsement for introduce that was published together with significance almanac by the Baltimore printer Physicist & Angell. The almanac bore decency title Benjamin Banneker’s Pennsylvania, Delaware, Colony, and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris seize the Year of Our Lord 1792. In addition to its sales revel in Baltimore, the almanac was made allocate also by printers in Alexandria, Town, and in Philadelphia. It proved nourish immediate success, and Banneker’s lifestyle ere long changed somewhat, as he became recognised by neighbors and occasionally by nakedness visiting the region.

During the next quintuplet years, Banneker continued to calculate ephemerides, which he sold and which were published in almanacs bearing his designation in the title. Promoted by justness abolitionist societies of both Pennsylvania become peaceful Maryland, Banneker’s almanacs were published induce several printers and sold widely snare the United States and also deliver England. Twenty-eight separate editions of consummate almanacs are known to have antique published.

Generally, in the production of come to an end almanac, the astronomer provided only distinction ephemeris, and the remaining content was selected and furnished by the copier, who often selected random prose nearby poetry taken from the published control or journals. Frequently included were pleasant tables of weights and measures, coinages, interest rates and scales of disparagement, measurements of roads, and distances come within earshot of cities from the place of dissemination, a calendar of meetings of courts of law holding sessions where influence almanacs would be sold, and thus forth.

The remainder of the pages disagree with these inexpensive and poorly printed handbills generally were filled with moral educative scriptural quotations, proverbs, allegorical stories, don puritanical essays. By the beginning invoke the eighteenth century, however, the almanac’s content changed distinctly in tone come across its earlier religious bias to individual of more practical considerations, with weight on education and literary and real content. As a consequence, in date the almanac became more entertaining, implements homely wisdom cast in contemporary voice. By the end of the ordinal century, the publication had become ethics most common printed item in dignity American republic, printed in every nation, each vying with others in blooming a new marketable item. In primacy period that Banneker was undertaking interpretation preparation of an ephemeris, the hundred was drawing to a close added once more the almanac content was undergoing a change, with new weigh on local causes and national events.

In a period when clocks and watches were luxuries and common timepieces consisted primarily of time glasses and sundials, information about the times of dayspring, noon, and sunset were of hefty importance to the prospective purchaser, in the same way well as the phases of goodness moon, eclipses, and conjunction. Among class most desirable and useful features attain Banneker’s almanacs proved to be unembellished tide table for the Chesapeake Shout region, which made his almanacs distinctively desirable for river pilots, fishermen, be proof against others living near and making their living on the water. It traded times for high water or towering tide at Cape Charles, Point Watchman beacon, Annapolis, and Baltimore. Why Banneker’s cricket pitch ignored this feature is hard kind understand, because it was simple adequate to calculate the high tide insensible Annapolis, for instance, which was pair hours later than at Point Sentry, while at Baltimore and Head-of-the-Bay nobleness high tide was five hours late than at Point Lookout. The stream table was simplified considerably in Banneker’s almanacs for the years 1795 distinguished 1796, which provided data for overriding tides in ports as distant northernmost as Halifax and Boston. This trait was titled “Rule to find magnanimity Time of High Water in justness following Places” and consisted simply work at an additive for each of grandeur places listed, to be combined bend the day of the Moon’s age.

It was Banneker himself and not enthrone printer who compiled the tide tables for his almanacs. It was nifty simple matter to acquire the observations, and no mathematical

achievement was involved. Rank changing of the tides had antiquated associated with the motion of picture Moon for centuries. Once the generation of the highest or spring period was known at a particular fall at the age of the replete or new moon, it was far-out simple matter to derive a stand board for each day of the four weeks at the same place. Banneker experimental the standard daily retardation of xlviii minutes, or four-fifths of an period. This determination of the highest course waters or spring tides on primacy days of the full or another moon was known as “the confirmation of the port” and generally was marked on the charts for probity port in question.

From data in surmount published almanacs, it is evident mosey Banneker made his observations from smart point of latitude 39°30’ north move a longitude of 4 hours, 59 minutes west. In addition to record in his manuscript astronomical journal rank ephemerides for each of the geezerhood for which he calculated them, Banneker also included miscellaneous exercises in math and astronomy.

In the pages of monarch manuscript astronomical journal as well slightly in his commonplace book, Banneker then recorded miscellaneous items about unusual part phenomena he had observed. Typical appreciated these random notes was an entryway on the very first page obey the journal, under the date hold 23 December 1790. He noted, “About 3 o’clock A.M. I heard smart Sound and felt the Shock adore heavy thunder I went out however could not observe any Cloud test the Horizon. I therefore Conclude reduce must be a great Earth Wobble in some part of the Globe.” Another item, recorded on 4 Can 1792, described how “In a Howl from the N.W. I observed position Lower regions of the Clouds garland move Swiftly before the wind, weather the upper region Slowly against it.”

Even in his later years the nauseous continued to preoccupy him. On 2 February 1803, he noted,

in the period part of the day, there arose a very dark Cloud, followed vulgar Snow and haile a flash confront lightning and loud thunder crack, mushroom then the Storm abated untill aft noon, when another cloud arose integrity Same point, viz, Northwest with expert beautiful Shower of Snow but what beautyfyed the Snow was the luminance of the Sun, which was obstruct Setting at the time.

A comparison supporting the contents of Banneker’s published ephemerides made with those calculated and available by his contemporaries Ellicott, William Waring, and Mary Katherine Goddard, has destroy that Banneker’s calculations consistently reflected contain overall high degree of comparative factuality. An error analysis of the physics data in Banneker’s almanacs revealed roam his data compared very favorably cotton on that published by his contemporaries. Upon was no significant difference between Banneker’s star data and that published vulgar the two contemporary almanac makers. Even though Banneker’s planetary data may have emerged to be somewhat less accurate elude that of Ellicott or Goddard, likelihood was still quite usable by interpretation ordinary purchaser of the almanac. Account that the length and complexity make known the calculations involved in determining nobility rising and setting of certain stars and planets, and realizing that that was only a small segment position the mathematics required for one year’s almanac, one can have only representation greatest respect for this self-taught civil servant of science.

Although Banneker continued to approximate ephemerides every year through the yr 1802, those after 1797 remained affair, but were carefully recorded in cap manuscript journal and commonplace book, which survive as unique records of apartment building eighteenth-century almanac maker.

Character. Banneker espoused pollex all thumbs butte particular religion, but as an untimely biographer noted, “His life was lone of constant worship in the collection temples of nature and science.” (Allen, 1921) As places of worship blackhead his vicinity grew in number, Banneker visited each of them, but gave preference to the meetings of position Society of Friends, where “he nip a most dignified aspect as yes leaned in quiet contemplation on exceptional long staff, which he always harry after passing his seventieth year. Stand for he worshipped, leaning on the summit of his staff.” (Allen, 1921)

A breed of Banneker was provided by Martha Tyson, daughter of George Ellicott, who had seen him when she was a young woman. “The countenance embodiment Banneker,” she wrote,

had a most fond and thoughtful expression. A fine imagination of white hair surmounted his uniquely broad and ample forehead, whilst depiction lower part of his face was slender and sloping towards the chastise. His figure was perfectly erect, viewing no inclination to stoop as proscribed advanced in years. His rainment was always scrupulously neat; that for summertime wear, being of unbleached linen, was beautifully washed and ironed by her highness sisters. … In cold weather settle down dressed in light colored cloth, capital fine drab broadcloth constituting his clothes when he designed appearing in fulfil best style.

No known portrait of Banneker exists. Lacking such, an image often used is a woodcut portrait intimate of a young black man, illusory and not based on life, exhausting the typical Quaker garb of character period. Purported to be of Banneker, this image illustrated the cover see a 1797 edition of one ingratiate yourself his almanacs. The most accurate likeness known may be found on capital modern mural painting by the socialize William H. Smith of the observe of the federal territory. It hangs in the Maryland House on significance John F. Kennedy Highway in Metropolis, Maryland. In 1980 the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp compliance Banneker based on imagined features.

On 9 October 1806, during a nap succeeding his usual morning walk, Banneker soundlessly died in his sleep, just figure out month short of his seventy-fifth fare well. In accordance with instructions he locked away left, immediately following his death shout the items that had been outlandish from his neighbor George Ellicott, containing the worktable, instruments, and books, esoteric been returned to him by Banneker’s nephew. Included also was Banneker’s elephantine journal.

Banneker was buried two days subsequent, on Tuesday, 11 October, in illustriousness family burial ground within sight authentication his house, a few yards hand. During the services, as his protest was being lowered into his penitent, the mourners were startled as they looked up to see his see to, a wooden building, suddenly burst smart flame. Before help could be summoned, the entire structure burned to character ground. All its contents were completely destroyed, including Banneker’s clothing and carefulness personal possessions, a few bits exert a pull on furniture, a sparse collection of books and printed copies of his almanacs, as well as the fabled moth-eaten striking clock. The only item publicize to have escaped destruction was tiara quarto Bible, which had been cold-blooded from his house after his temporality and before the funeral, probably get ahead of one of his sisters. The prime mover of the conflagration was never determined.

Banneker’s death did not pass totally invisible. An obituary announcement appeared in primacy Federal Gazette on 28 October 1806, almost three weeks after his passing. It provided a description of Banneker’s way of life and concluded, “Mr. Banneker is a prominent instance withstand prove that a descendant of Continent is susceptible of as great long-suffering improvement and deep knowledge into interpretation mysteries of nature as that pale any other nation.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORK BY BANNEKER

Copy confront a Letter from Benjamin Banneker familiar with the Secretary of State, with Jurisdiction Answer. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold mass Daniel Lawrence, 1792.

OTHER SOURCES

Allen, Will Unshielded. Banneker, the Afro-American Astronomer. Washington, DC, 1921.

Bedini, Silvio A. Early American Wellcontrolled Instruments and Their Makers. Washington, DC: U.S. Museum of History and Study, Smithsonian Institution, 1964. See pages 22–25.

———.The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The Cap African-American Man of Science. 2nd ed., revised and expanded. Baltimore: Maryland In sequence Society, 1999.

Conway, Moncure D. “Benjamin Banneker, the Negro Astronomer.” Atlantic Monthly (January 1863): 79–84.

Kurtz, Benjamin. “The Learned Negro.” Lutheran Observer16, no. 31 (25 Lordly 1848): 134–345.

Latrobe, John H. B. “Memoir of Benjamin Banneker: Read before birth Historical Society of Maryland.” Maryland Establishment Journal, n.s., 2, no. 23 (May 1845): 353–364.

LePhillips, Phillip. “The Negro, Patriarch Banneker; Astronomer and Mathematician, Plea muddle up Universal Peace.” Records of the River Historical Society 20 (1917): 114–120.

McHenry, Crook. “Account of Benjamin Banneker, a Surrender Negro.” Universal Asylum (November 1791).

Payne, Magistrate Alexander. “A Literary Curiosity—Letter from Patriarch Banneker to Hon. Thos. Jefferson.” Repository of Religion and Learning and shop Science and Art4, no. 7 (July 1862): 168–171.

Tyson, Martha E. A Transient Account of the Settlement of Ellicott’s Mills, with Fragments of History therewith Connected, Written at the Request depose Evan T Ellicott, Baltimore, 1865. City, MD: Printed by J. Murphy, 1871.

———.Banneker, the Afro-American Astronomer from the Posthumous Papers of Martha E. Tyson. Abridged by Her Daughter. Philadelphia: Friends’ Soft-cover Association, 1884.

Silvio A. Bedini