Grumman Surveyor's Chain
name: label: owner
content: Ferris, John
label: maker
content: Grumman, Josiah M.
notes: label: Description
content: Josiah M. Grumman, a city surveyor in Brooklyn, N. Y., obtained a patent (#23,680) for an improved surveyor's chain on April 19, 1859, and sent this example to John Ferris, a surveyor in Dutchess County, N. Y., in October of that year.
label: Description
content: It is a short Gunter chain with 50 links measuring 33 feet (2 poles) overall. The links are made of tempered steel wire, which Grumman found to be stronger and lighter than iron. To eliminate the traditional rings between the links, Grumman formed each link with a circular eye at one end and an oval eye at the other, so designed that these eyes fit easily into one another. One end of the chain has a spring balance and level for determining if the chain is held level and the tension applied to the chain. The other end has a thermometer with a Fahrenheit scale for determining the temperature at the time of measurement.
label: Description
content: W. & L. E. Gurley purchased Grumman's patent from Grumman's estate in 1870. Gurley records indicate that Grumman's chains were made by metalworkers in Brooklyn.
label: Description
content: Ref: J. M. Grumman, <i>A Short Treatise on Surveyors' Chains and Chain Measuring</i> (Brooklyn, 1859).
label: Description
content: W. & L. E. Gurley, <i>Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying</i> (Troy, N.Y., 1871), pp. 130-131.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Surveying and Geodesy
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: W. & L. E. Gurley. Manual of the Prinicipal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying; 17th Edition
label: Related Publication
content: Grumman, J. M.. Short Treatise on Surveyors' Chains and Chain Measuring
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Conrad S. Ham
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0548.05
label: accession number
content: 1983.0548
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0548.05
objectType: label: Object Name
content: chain
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall, bundled: 1 3/4 in x 9 in x 3 in; 4.445 cm x 22.86 cm x 7.62 cm