page_title: Archibald Spencer
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Archibald Spencer / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Archibald Spencer advertisement of course on electricity as a lecturer called Experimental Philosophy
context_page_description: Archibald Spencer was a businessman, scientist, doctor, clergyman, and lecturer. He is noted for introducing the phenomenon of electricity to Benjamin Franklin.
context_section_description: Spencer was a businessman in the British Colonies of America. From 1743 to 1751 he professionally conducted scientific lectures and demonstrations. These were popularized in the colonies after Professor Isaac Greenwood started them in Boston in 1727. Spencer's first lecture advertisements are in the May 30 issues of the Boston Evening Post and the Boston Weekly Post-Boy. Spencer's charge for attending his course was expensive, £6, but was popular nevertheless. Spencer's science and mechanical lectures at first were on Isaac Newton's theory of light and state-of-the art techniques in medicine. Benjamin Franklin attended one of Spencer's dramatic lecture illustrations in Boston in 1743 and was not only amazed but amused. He then acted as Spencer's agent when he came to Philadelphia in 1744 for his lectures, selling tickets and advertising them.  Advertisement were run in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
  The Leyden jar capacitor for high-voltage storage was invented in 1746 by Pieter van Musschenbroek, whom Franklin would meet later. Then Spencer's Philadelphia lecture demonstrations on science included more electrical demonstrations and became elaborate with showmanship static electricity illustrations using the Leyden jar. In 1746 Franklin bought all of Spencer's electrical equipment for his own personal use and experimentation. Spencer introduced Franklin to the study of electricity through experimentation and was his mentor. Franklin then trained three of his associates on Spencer's Philadelphia electrical illustrations, Samuel Domjen in 1748, Ebenezer Kinnersley in 1749, and Lewis Evans in 1751.
  Spencer lived in and helped form Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He made investments when he lived in the county. One such investment, with a group of other businessmen, was a supply of tobacco that was kept at Howard's Point Warehouse in the county.  It totally burned up in an accidental fire in October 1758. Spencer petitioned the Province of Maryland government on November 29, 1758, that public funds be used to compensate the businessmen and himself for this loss. This request was turned down and no public funds were furnished.
caption: May 30, 1743, advertisement promoting his first lecture in Boston
exif: {}