Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-01-12
BENJAMIN BANNEk Err,
THE NEGRO ASTRONOMER.

/ [By Rev. John X. Slsttery, In the Catholic
! World
iContinued.)
! He WAS never msrried, aud. after his pa
rents death, WAS the sole occupant 81 nis
! little cabin. Though obliged to labor for
his bread. and being besides his own COOK,
/ chanbermaid and hostler. Banneker, by
retrencbing his wants made little serve hlm,
every ingenuity being exercised to secure
/ more leisure to devote to his books ana ms
! observations. His favorite time for study
was OF course, at night, when he could look
J out upon the stars and planets, whose laws
! !, e was gradually but surely m mastering. A.
! it was during the hours of darkness that
! Banneker was at kis real labors, and as he
was forced to sleep during the greater part
of the day, he lost among his less appreci.
ative acquaintances the reputation for in
dustry that he had won in earlier nfe
Those who saw little of him in his fields.
and found him sleeping when visiting his
house. sci him down rs q lazy fellow who
would come to no good, and whose old age
would disappoint the promises of youth.
This dislike was followed by attempts to
impose on the humble genius, and even by
attacks on his property, with various threats
against his person. A memorandum IN his
handwriting, dated December 18, 1880,
states:
E-;- informed me that - stole my
horse and greatcoat, and that the said -
intended to murder me when opportunity
to let no one come into my house after
dark
The names of the parties were originally
written in full; but they were Afterwards
carefully erased, as though Banneker had
reflected that it was wrong to leave an un-
authenticated assertion on record against
any one.
ever, because of his studies, cease to visit
the mills. He is described by q gentleman
who frequently met him at this time ''as of
q black compile xion, medium stature, of
nv,lyv onFf 10 Il of
pleasing colloquiaf powers" Whatever
others thought of him, the friendship Of
George Ellicott, the owner of the mills,
himself man Of high literary attainnents,
never faltered. Ellicott's visits to Banne-
ker were frequent. Finally he Induced our
timid star-gazer to venture such calcula-
tiOns as are set down in almanacs. But
what was Ellicott's chagrin to find that his
was false: an error had slipped into his cal
calations. Eliicott drew his attention to it.
To his mingled surprise and delight. Ban
neker answered by letter, pointing out that
lie had been misled by q discrepancy be-
tween the two authors, Ferguson and Lead.
beater. "Now, Mr.. EIlicott," runs the let
ter. 'two such learned gentlemen as the
above mentioned, one in direct opposition
to the other, stagnate young beginners.
But l hope the staYnation will not be of
long duration" In the same letter, speak
ing OF the greatness of the task. he thus
writes: alt is an easy matter for ua, when .
diagram is laid down before US, to draw one
in resemblance OF it; but it is hard matter
for young tyro in astronomy, when only
the elements for the prediction are laid
down for him, to draw his diagram with
any degree OF certainty.'
OF tie labor OF his W Ork few of those can
form n idea who would nowadays attempt
such n task with all tue assistance afforded
by accurate tables and weli-diYested rules.
B.nneke er had no aid whatever from men
or tables; and Mr. George EilicOtt, who
pfoms ed him SCEle astronomical tables acd
took them 10 him. declares that he had al
vansed uraitled far in the preparation of
the garithms necessary for his purposes.
4 meb bOrandum in his caiculatIOus poll to
out Oti CT errors Of Ferguson and Of Lei ead-
beateT, both of whom no doubt, would have
been amazed had they been informed that
their elaborate works mad been reviewed
aud corrected by negro i'll the then un-
heard-of valley of the Patapsco.
The first almanac prepared by BanneEer
for publication was for the year 1892. The
almanac publishers # Baltimore gave very
Il .itering praise TO the compiler:
They the publishersl feel gratiied in
.hs opportunity or presenting to the public
3 through IL eir press what mast be consid-
cred an extraordinary effort of genius
u complete and accurate ephemeris for the
year 1892, calculated by sable son of
Africa" etc.
And they further say:
.sThev hatter themselves that a philan-
thrOpc public, in this enlightened era. will
be induced to give their patronage and sup
port to this work. not only on account OF its
intrinsic merits lit having met the app Oba-
ton OF the most distinguished astronomers
of Amer lea, particularly the celebrated Mr..
Rttenhouse), but from similar motives to
those which induced the editors to give
this calculation the prcference-the ardent
desire OF drawing modest merit from OBJ
security and controverting the long estab-
lished illiberal prejudice. against :he
blacks