Surveyor's Compass
name: label: maker
content: Chandlee, Goldsmith
notes: label: Description
content: This compass bears two distinct inscriptions: "G*CHANDLEE W." refers to the maker, and "J:J: WELSH" refers to the owner (as yet unidentified). Goldsmith Chandlee (1751-1821) was born in Nottingham, Md., and apprenticed with his father Benjamin Chandlee, a notable clock and instrument maker. Goldsmith moved to Stephensburg, Va., in 1775. The W on this compass refers to Winchester, Va., where Chandlee settled in 1783.
label: Description
content: Some 22 Goldsmith Chandlee compasses are known today, and almost all have an L/T table. In this example, the table appears on the south arm. This L/T table converts links of a chain to tenths of perches, and vice versa, thus helping the surveyor determine the length of the line that had been run. A perch, in England and the United States, was equal to 16.5 feet.
label: Description
content: All Goldsmith Chandlee compasses have an outkeeper (an attachment to keep a tally in chaining). In this example, the outkeeper appears at the south end of the face. Most Goldsmith Chandlee compasses were made to order, and the name of the original owner is engraved on the face.
label: Description
content: Ref: Edward E. Chandlee, ed., <i>Six Quaker Clockmakers</i> (Philadelphia, 1943), pp. 105-146.
label: Description
content: Richard Elgin, "On Goldsmith Chandlee," <i>Professional Surveyor</i> 21 (December 2001): 16-26.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Virginia, Winchester
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: Professional Surveyor Magazine
label: Related Publication
content: Chandlee, Edward E.. Six Quaker Clockmakers
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Clarence H. and Frances Keirn Moore in the name of the Family of Major General Donald J. Keirn D.S.M, O.B.E.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1980.0809.01
label: accession number
content: 1980.0809
label: catalog number
content: 1980.0809.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Surveyor's Compass
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall length: 14 1/2 in; 36.83 cm
label: Measurements
content: needle: 6 in; 15.24 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 14 3/8 in x 7 1/8 in; 20.32 cm x 36.5125 cm x 18.0975 cm