Surveyor's Vernier Compass
name: label: maker
content: Young, William J.
notes: label: Description
content: Surveyor's vernier compass marked "Wm. J. Young Maker Philadelphia." William J. Young began using this particular signature around 1840, and began putting serial numbers on his instruments in the early 1850s. The variation arc on the north arm extends 27 degrees either way. The vernier is moved by rack and pinion located on the south arm and hidden under a brass plate, and reads to 5 minutes. There is a circular level vial on the south arm and an outkeeper on the north arm. The face is dark, and the needle ring was probably silvered originally.
label: Description
content: This compass belonged to David Newton Ellis (1850-1926), the County Surveyor of Monroe County, West Virginia.
label: Description
content: Ref.: D. J. Warner, "William J. Young. From Craft to Industry in a Skilled Trade," <i>Pennsylvania History</i> 52 (1985): 53-68.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Surveying and Geodesy
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Elizabeth Ellis Miller and J. Vance Miller in Memory of David Newton Ellis
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1981.0648.02
label: accession number
content: 1981.0648
label: catalog number
content: 1981.0648.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Surveyor's Compass
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall length: 14 in; 35.56 cm
label: Measurements
content: needle: 5 in; 12.7 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 5/8 in x 13 5/8 in x 6 1/4 in; 21.9075 cm x 34.6075 cm x 15.875 cm