Charle’s Hervey Townshend’s Double Reflecting and Repeating Circle

In a recently completed review of over 3,000 Curatorial accession files, funded by a grant awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Museum staff discovered that we have a rare navigation instrument, a “Townshend Double Reflecting and Repeating Circle.” 

A reflecting circle is a device for measuring longitude that was more accurate than the sextant. It was developed in the 18th century in England and refined by French and German instrument makers in the first half of the 19th century.  Henri-Prudence Gambey (1787-1847) was the foremost precision instrument maker in France and made devices for physicists, astronomers, surveyors and navigators, among others.  While the reflecting circle was not generally favored in England, on the Continent (and French navy) it was used well into the 1800s to measure large angles with great accuracy.  In the reflecting circle, mirrors were used to measure simultaneously the angular distance between two objects to establish longitude. 

Our instrument was made by Charles Hervey Townshend (1833-1904), both a ships’ captain and an inventor.  His “Townshend Double Reflecting and Repeating Circle”, for which he was granted a patent in 1888, was a valuable aid to maritime navigation with respect to longitude and latitude.  With it one can sight three objects and measure two angular separations simultaneously, for example, two bright stars from the moon for the lunar longitude method, or three coastal landmarks for triangulation in coastal navigation. His experiments with oyster culture after he retired from the sea were of singular importance in the development of that industry.

Written by Dr. Paul Goodwin, IMLS Project Volunteer, 2024

 

Pop-Up Exhibit in the G.W. Blunt White Library: The Snow Baby’s Mother

In a recently completed review of over 3,000 Curatorial accession files, funded by a grant awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, materials related to Josephine Diebitsch Peary (1863 – 1955) have been revealed. Josephine Diebitsch Peary, the focus of these cases, had previously been referenced in files and records as the wife of Admiral Robert E. Peary, a well-known American explorer whose Arctic accomplishments, including being the first to reach the North Pole (contested by some), are well documented and supported by Museum collection objects and manuscript materials. The information in the files recognizes Peary as a mother, author, and Arctic adventurer in her own right.

Objects in this pop-up exhibit are presented as examples of Arctic and Greenlandic culture. Most have never before been exhibited.  All are examples of objects mentioned in Diebitsch Peary’s books. 

Curated by Dr. Paul Goodwin, Project Volunteer, and Nancy Seager, Project Archivist, 2024

Fiddler : What’s In a Name?

Question: What’s in a Name? 

Answer:  Quite a bit, it turns out, as in the case of a prize vessel in the Museum’s watercraft collection, Fiddler (MSM #1959.1266) an early Buzzard’s Bay 15’ Class designed in 1898 by Nathanael G. Herreshoff. The Herreshoff name alone would call attention.  

In a recently completed review of over 4,000 Curatorial accession files, funded by a grant awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Fiddler’s file raised a question. Every file for every collection object includes a document transferring legal ownership to the Museum and for Fiddler naturally included a physical description as well as known provenance. Additionally, almost as an afterthought, the owner added a single sentence, stating that Fiddler was raced in the early 1900’s by his mother, a name omitted. Obviously important to the history of the vessel and necessary to provide as complete a record as possible, the omission could not stand. In museum-speak, this is called ‘pulling on the string.’   

Research quickly recognized Caroline Miller Dabney, mother of the donor as the woman who raced Fiddler to victory with her ‘petticoat crew’ in women’s racing regattas in the waters of Buzzards Bay, 1901-1906. 

Contemporary newspapers accounts of races in the Bay also listed the Herreshoff 25’ Terrapin, raced by her father, Lewis S. Dabney, often winning on the same day! 


MSM 1960.348 shows Fiddler, number E-11, skippered by Miss Caroline Dabney and her all-women crew. The Herreshoff 15 was a one design class with a knockabout rig, 24’ x 15’ x 6’9” x 2’3”.  The Buzzards Bay 15 Class were delivered to members of the Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, Massachusetts, for the summer of the racing season of 1899.  They were known as the E-Class at the Beverly Yacht Club.  Printed along the top edge of the print:  “Miss Caroline Dabney racing with her “petticoat crew”, 1901 – 1903.   

Further pulling on the Dabney string played out not only with rewarding connections between Fiddler and women in the world of racing and yachting but also to other Dabney family members and further links within the Museum collection.  And unexpectedly, a final tug revealed ties between the Dabney family name and the far-flung history of American whaling, a subject immanently well suited for further research in Museum resources; Records of the Holmes’ Shipyard, Manuscripts Collection 46, Dabney & Cunningham; the Kermit Family Collection, Manuscripts Collection 68, Dabney, John B.; the Records of N. & W.W. Billings, Manuscripts Collection 233, Dabney, C.H. and Dabney, Charles W.. 

 To this day, the Dabney family is credited with a cultural and historical heritage still visible on the island through publications and online by organizations such as the Portuguese Historical Museum (portuguesemuseum.org), the Massachusetts Historical Society (the Dabney family papers, diaries and letters), the American-Portuguese Genealogical and Historical Society, Inc., and the Dabney’s House Museum run by the Regional Government of Azores, in Faial. The first U.S. consulate was established in the Azores in 1795 by George Washington and from 1806 – 1892 that diplomatic post was headed by three generations of the Dabney family. In 1806, John Bass Dabney of Boston was appointed Consul by President Thomas Jefferson and settled in Faial (Fayal), where he built the estate “Bagatelle” (the name of a Herreshoff yacht as well, owned by George Dabney). Eight Dabney-owned vessels and a chandlery promoted commerce between the Azores and the East Coast, even providing support to vessels during the Civil War.  

 While pulling on this particular string may not be completely finished, the file for Fiddler now incorporates new information, extended links and broader context and information about Caroline Miller Dabney Parker.   

To that point: “History can never be truthfully presented if the presentation is purely emotional. It can never be truthfully or usefully presented unless profound research, patient laborious, painstaking, has preceded the presentation.” So said Theodore Roosevelt. 

Written by Nancy Seager, Project Archivist, 2024

 

 

 

Curatorial Files Centennial Decade Preservation & Access Project

The Curatorial Files Centennial Decade Preservation and Access Project at Mystic Seaport Museum, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) 2020-2024, was an initiative aimed at preserving and making accessible at-risk primary source materials and artifacts that had been inadvertently hidden for decades within the Museum’s Curatorial accession files.

The files, dating back to 1930, house an extraordinary and significant body of material documenting the curatorial holdings of America’s largest maritime museum. The materials within these files, and the extensive collection they represent, play a crucial role in enhancing our understanding and appreciation of the American maritime experience. The project focused on the files from 1930 to 1960, a period during which professional collections management and archival staffing at the Museum were limited.

As the project progressed, a number of manuscripts but very few artifacts were discovered. However, it successfully met the IMLS grant’s goal of preserving at-risk objects and improving access to key data, much of which had been hidden within the files. This previously unrecorded information included a wealth of details about people, vessels, subjects, and institutional history, all of which are now accessible to staff through the creation of a comprehensive finding aid.

This initiative also brought to light previously overlooked individuals, subjects, and vessels, thereby expanding the scope and impact of the Museum’s collection. In addition to the finding aid, the project discoveries led to new collections management system entries, updated records, and enhanced provenance and contextual information. This work has facilitated cross-referencing and the inclusion of new details or corrections to object records.

Notable findings and stories from the files are shared on this site.

Fiddler : What’s In a Name?

Pop-Up Exhibit in the G.W. Blunt White Library: The Snow Baby’s Mother

Charle’s Hervey Townshend’s Double Reflecting and Repeating Circle