Surveyor's Vernier Compass
name: label: owner
content: Johnson, John
label: maker
content: Patten, Richard
notes: label: Description
content: This compass belonged to John Johnson (1771-1841), the Surveyor-General of Vermont, and the American Commissioner for the survey of the boundary between Maine and Canada in 1817-1820. From correspondence in the John Johnson papers at the University of Vermont Library, we know that Johnson purchased several instruments from Richard Patten in New York. In March 1820, Johnson ordered two compasses, specifying in great detail which features he wanted on each. For himself he wanted a compass "of at least 7-inch Needle with a tangent Screw and Nonius as to turn it upon minutes." Johnson also ordered a $35 plain compass with a 6-inch needle, for a gentleman of his acquaintance.
label: Description
content: The face of this compass is marked "Richard Patten. N. York" and reads clockwise. The vernier appears on a slit cut into the face, while the variation arc, which extends some 20 degrees either way, is located below. This vernier is moved by a rack and pinion on the north arm, and reads to 10 minutes.
label: Description
content: Ref: Deborah J. Warner, "Richard Patten (1792-1865)," <i>Rittenhouse</i> 6 (1992): 57-63.
label: Description
content: "John Johnson" in Abby M. Hemenway, ed., <i>The Vermont Historical Gazeteer</i> (Burlington, Vt., 1868), vol. 1, pp. 596-599
label: Description
content: "John Johnson" in <i>National Cyclopaedia of American History</i>, vol. 17, pp. 290-291
label: Description
content: Johnson's report on and correspondence relating to the Maine-Canada boundary survey, in University of Vermont Library.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
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: Rittenhouse
label: Related Publication
content: Hemenway, Abbey Maria. Vermont Historical Gazetteer
label: Related Publication
content: National Cyclopedia of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: John Johnson Allen
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.309544
label: accession number
content: 95588
label: catalog number
content: 309544
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Surveyor's Vernier Compass
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall length: 13 in; 33.02 cm
label: Measurements
content: needle: 6 in; 15.24 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall in case: 2 15/16 in x 14 1/2 in x 7 13/16 in; 7.46125 cm x 36.83 cm x 19.84375 cm