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American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer, almanac author, clockmaker, surveyor, and anti-slavery advocate. Known for his astronomical calculations and published almanacs.
Key Dates and Places
Born Date: November 9, 1731.
Born Place: Baltimore County, Maryland, British America (now Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, USA).
Death Date: October 19, 1806.
Death Place: Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. His cabin burned down the day of his funeral; many of his papers and possessions were destroyed in the fire.
Career
Past occupations: Farmer, Surveyor, Clockmaker, Mathematician, Astronomer, Almanac Author.
Previous Place of Work: His farm in Baltimore County; surveying the boundaries for the future District of Columbia.
Achievements and Recognition
Awards: Published six annual almanacs (1792-1797) containing astronomical calculations, tidal information, and literary and miscellaneous pieces. Assisted in surveying the boundaries for the future District of Columbia.
Education
Largely self-taught. He had some formal education, attending a small Quaker school for a short time. He also learned from his maternal grandmother, Molly Welsh, who taught him to read and shared her library. His mathematical aptitude was evident early on.
Temper: Described as quiet, unassuming, and meticulous.
Life Philosophy: Belief in the power of education and intellectual pursuits; strong moral opposition to slavery; dedication to scientific accuracy and knowledge.
Residence and Financial Status
Residence: Lived on his farm in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Real Estate: Owned a farm in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Assets: His farm, clock, surveying instruments, books, and almanac publications.
Relationships
Current Romantic Relationship: Never married.
Past Marriages: Never married.
Current Marriage: Never married.
Family
Children: No children.
Parents: Robert Banneky (father), Mary Banneky (née Welsh) (mother).
Siblings: He had several siblings. Their names and exact number are not definitively documented, but historical sources suggest he had sisters. It is believed he was the oldest.
Main Milestones
Birth in Baltimore County, Maryland
November 9, 1731
Benjamin Banneker was born to Mary Banneky, a free woman of mixed African and English descent, and Robert, a former slave who had earned his freedom. His birthplace was on a tobacco farm near Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City), Maryland. Being born to a free mother ensured Benjamin was also born free, a crucial advantage in a society deeply divided by slavery.
Self-Taught and Quaker Schooling
Early Education
Banneker received some formal education at a Quaker school, where he learned to read and write. However, most of his knowledge was self-taught. He demonstrated exceptional aptitude for mathematics and quickly surpassed the standard curriculum. This early exposure and his innate curiosity laid the foundation for his later scientific pursuits.
Construction of the Wooden Clock
Circa 1753
At around the age of 22, Banneker constructed a wooden clock based on his own calculations and observations, using only a borrowed pocket watch as a model. This clock, remarkable for its accuracy and craftsmanship, is considered one of the first clocks made entirely in America. It ran accurately for over 40 years, showcasing Banneker's exceptional mechanical skills and ingenuity.
Borrowing Mathematical and Astronomical Texts
1771
Banneker met the Ellicott family, Quaker industrialists, who established a flour mill near his farm. George Ellicott, a keen amateur astronomer, lent Banneker books on astronomy and mathematics, allowing him to deepen his understanding of these subjects. This access to resources was pivotal in enabling Banneker to pursue advanced studies and calculations.
Surveying the District of Columbia
1791
Banneker was appointed by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to serve on the survey team tasked with establishing the boundaries of the new District of Columbia. His expertise in astronomy and mathematics proved invaluable in accurately mapping and laying out the city. He famously reconstructed the plans from memory after the chief surveyor, Pierre L'Enfant, abruptly left with the original blueprints, ensuring the project's continuation.
Publication of Banneker's Almanac
1792-1797
From 1792 to 1797, Banneker published his own almanac, which included astronomical calculations, tide tables, weather predictions, and literary essays. The almanac was widely circulated and praised for its accuracy and sophistication. It served as a powerful demonstration of the intellectual capabilities of African Americans, directly challenging prevailing racist beliefs about their inherent inferiority.
Correspondence with Thomas Jefferson
1791
Banneker wrote a letter to then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, enclosing a copy of his almanac and criticizing Jefferson's contradictory stance on slavery despite his advocacy for liberty. Jefferson responded, acknowledging Banneker's achievements and expressing his hope that such talent would dispel prejudices against African Americans. This exchange is a significant historical document, highlighting the complexities of the debate over race and equality in early America.
Death and Legacy
October 19, 1806
Benjamin Banneker died at his log cabin near Ellicott's Mills on October 19, 1806. A fire coincidentally destroyed many of his journals, papers, and astronomical instruments on the day of his funeral, adding to the mystery surrounding his life. Despite the loss of many of his personal documents, Banneker's legacy as a pioneering scientist, mathematician, and advocate for racial equality remains strong. He is remembered as an important figure in African American history and a testament to the power of self-education and intellectual curiosity.
Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a free African-American mother and a father who had formerly been enslaved, Banneker had little or no formal education and was largely self-taught. He became known for assisting Major Andrew Ellicott in a survey that established the original borders of the District of Columbia, the federal capital district of the United States.
Banneker's knowledge of astronomy helped him author a commercially successful series of almanacs. He corresponded with Thomas Jefferson on the topics of slavery and racial equality. Abolitionists and advocates of racial equality promoted and praised Banneker's works. Although a fire on the day of Banneker's funeral destroyed many of his papers and belongings, one of his journals and several of his remaining artifacts survived.
Banneker became a folk-hero after his death, leading to many accounts of his life being exaggerated or embellished.[2][3] The names of parks, schools and streets commemorate him and his works, as do other tributes.
Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Baltimore County, Maryland, to Mary Banneky, a free black woman, and Robert, a freed slave from Guinea who died in 1759.[4][5]
There are two conflicting accounts of Banneker's family history. Banneker himself and his earliest biographers described him as having only African ancestry.[6][7][8] None of Banneker's surviving papers describe a white ancestor or identify the name of his grandmother.[7] However, two lines of later research both suggest that Banneker's mother was the daughter of a white woman and an African slave, [5][7][9][10]: 4 although they differ as to whether the Banneker surname came from his mother or father and the origin of the name, which could be from Banaka, a small village in the present-day Klay District of Bomi County in northwestern Liberia that had once participated in the African slave trade[5][11] or "Banaka", the home of the Vai people, who have lived there since about 1500 when they left the Mali Empire.[12]
View of the Patapsco Valley from Ellicott City (June 2012)
In 1737, when he was 6, Banneker was named on the deed of his family's 100-acre (0.40 km2) farm in the Patapsco Valley in rural Baltimore County.[13][14][15][16]
In 1791, a letter writer stated that Banneker's parents had sent him to an obscure school where he learned reading, writing and arithmetic as far as double position.[clarification needed][17] In contrast, unverified accounts, first appeared in books published more than 140 years after Banneker's death suggest that, as a young teenager, Banneker met and befriended Peter Heinrich, a Quaker who later established a school near the Banneker family farm.[18][19] These accounts state that Heinrich shared his personal library and provided Banneker with his only classroom instruction.[19][20] Banneker's formal education (if any) presumably ended when he was old enough to help on his family's farm.[21]
Around 1753, at about the age of 21, Banneker reportedly completed a wooden clock that struck on the hour. He appears to have modelled his clock from a borrowed pocket watch by carving each piece to scale. The clock continued to work until his death.[21][22]
After his father died in 1759, Banneker lived with his mother and sisters.[4][10] Records indicate that in 1768 and 1773, he was living in Baltimore.[23][24]
In 1790, Banneker prepared an ephemeris for 1791, which he hoped would be placed within a published almanac.[34] However, he was unable to find a printer that was willing to publish and distribute the work.[31][35]
Survey of the original boundaries of the District of Columbia
1835 map of the District of Columbia showing Washington City in its center, Georgetown to the west of the city, and the town of Alexandria in the District's south corner.1799 portrait of Andrew Ellicott
Banneker's role in the survey isn't entirely certain. Some biographers have stated that Banneker's duties consisted primarily of making astronomical observations and calculations to establish base points, including one at Jones Point in Alexandria, Virginia, where the survey started and where the south corner stone was to be located.[36][39] They have also stated that Banneker maintained a clock that he used to relate points on the ground to the positions of stars at specific times.[31][13]
However, there is little documentation to confirm Banneker's role[40][41] and a news report covering the April 15 dedication ceremony for the first boundary stone (the south corner stone) credits Andrew Ellicott with "ascertain[ing] the precise point from which the first line of the district was to proceed" [42] and did not mention Banneker.[43]
Banneker left the boundary survey in April 1791 due to other commitments, particularly the calculation of an ephemeris for the year of 1792.[44][45] The arrival of spring also required him to direct more attention to his farm than was needed during the winter.[45] Banneker, therefore, returned to his home near Ellicott's Mills.[31][45]
Andrew Ellicott's two younger brothers, who usually assisted him, had completed the New York survey about the same time and were able to join the survey of the federal district.[45] The surveying team laid the remaining Virginia marker stones in 1791, laying the Maryland stones and completed the boundary survey in 1792.[36][37][46]
Pemberton then asked William Waring, a Philadelphia mathematician and ephemeris calculator,[48] and David Rittenhouse, a prominent American astronomer, almanac author,[49] surveyor and scientific instrument maker who was at the time serving as the president of the American Philosophical Society,[50] to confirm the accuracy of Banneker's work.[35][13] Waring endorsed Banneker's work, stating, "I have examined Benjamin Banneker's Almanac for 1792, and am of the Opinion that it well deserves the Acceptance and Encouragement of the Public."[13]
Rittenhouse responded to Pemberton by stating that Banneker's ephemeris "was a very extraordinary performance, considering the Colour of the Author" and that he "had no doubt that the Calculations are sufficiently accurate for the purposes of a common Almanac. .... Every instance of Genius amongst the Negroes is worthy of attention, because their suppressors seem to lay great stress on their supposed inferior mental abilities."[13] A biographer wrote that Banneker replied to Rittenhouse's endorsement by stating: "I am annoyed to find that the subject of my race is so much stressed. The work is either correct or it is not. In this case, I believe it to be perfect."[51]
Pemberton then made arrangements for Joseph Crukshank (a Philadelphia Quaker who was a founder of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery and who had since 1770 been publishing almanacs, including at least one that Waring had calculated) to print Banneker's almanac.[31][52] Having thus secured the support of Pemberton, Rittenhouse and Waring, Banneker delivered a manuscript containing his ephemeris to William Goddard, a Baltimore printer who had published The Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris for every year since 1782.[53] Goddard then agreed to print and distribute Banneker's work within an almanac and ephemeris for the year of 1792.[13]
Banneker's Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris, for the Year of our Lord, 1792 was the first in a six-year series of almanacs and ephemerides that printers agreed to publish and sell.[31][35] At least 28 editions of the almanacs, some of which appeared during the same year, were printed in seven cities in five states: Baltimore; Philadelphia; Wilmington, Delaware; Alexandria, Virginia; Petersburg, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; and Trenton, New Jersey.[31][54][55]
Title page of the Baltimore edition of Banneker's 1792 almanac and ephemeris.
The title pages of the Baltimore editions of Banneker's 1792, 1793 and 1794 almanacs and ephemerides stated that the publications contained:
the Motions of the Sun and Moon, the True Places and Aspects of the Planets, the Rising and Setting of the Sun, Place and Age of the Moon, &c. – The Lunations, Conjunctions, Eclipses, Judgment of the Weather, Festivals, and other remarkable Days; Days for holding the Supreme and Circuit Courts of the United States, as also the useful Courts in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Also – several useful Tables, and valuable Receipts. – Various Selections from the Commonplace–Book of the Kentucky Philosopher, an American Sage; with interesting and entertaining Essays, in Prose and Verse –the whole comprising a greater, more pleasing, and useful Variety than any Work of the Kind and Price in North America.[56][57]
Woodcut portrait of Benjamin Bannaker (Banneker) in title page of a Baltimore edition of his 1795 Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac.[58]
In addition to the information that its title page described, the 1792 almanac contained a tide table listing the methods for calculating the time of high water at four locations along the Chesapeake Bay (Cape Charles and Point Lookout, Virginia; Annapolis and Baltimore, Maryland).[59] Later almanacs contained tables for making such calculations for those locations as well as for Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Halifax, Quebec, Hatteras, Nantucket and other places.[60] Monthly tables in each edition listed astronomical data and weather predictions for each of the months' dates.[61]
A Philadelphia edition of Banneker's 1795 almanac contained a lengthy account of a yellow fever epidemic that had struck that city in 1793. Written by a committee whose president was the city's mayor, Matthew Clarkson, the account related the presumed origins and causes of the epidemic, as well as the extent and duration of the event.[62]
The title pages of two Baltimore editions of Banneker's 1795 almanac had woodcut portraits of him as he may have appeared.[58][63] However, a biographer later concluded that the portraits were more likely portrayals of an idealized African-American youth.[64]
A Baltimore edition of Banneker's 1796 almanac contained a table enumerating the population of each U.S. state and the Southwest Territory as recorded in the 1790 United States census. The table listed the number of free persons and slaves in each state and the territory according to race and gender, as well as to whether they were above or below the age of 16 years. The table also listed the number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives that each state had during the almanac's year.[65]
The almanacs' editors prefaced the publications with adulatory references to Banneker and his race.[35][66] Editions of Banneker's 1792 and 1793 almanacs contained full or abridged copies of a lengthy commendatory letter that James McHenry,[67] the Secretary of the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention and self-described friend of Banneker, had written to Goddard and his partner, James Angell, in August 1791 to support the almanac's publication.[68]
As first published in Banneker's 1792 almanac and later given an increased circulation when re-published in Philadelphia within The American Museum, or Universal Magazine, McHenry's full letter began:
Benjamin Banneker, a free Negro, has calculated an Almanack, for the ensuing year, 1792, which being desirous to dispose of, to the best advantage, he has requested me to aid his application to you for that purpose. Having fully satisfied myself, in respect to his title to this type of authorship, if you can agree to him for the price of his work, I may venture to assure you it will do you credit, as Editors, while it will afford you the opportunity to encourage talents that have thus far surmounted the most discouraging circumstances and prejudices."[69]
In their preface to Banneker's 1792 almanac, the editors of the work wrote that they:
feel themselves gratified in the Opportunity of presenting to the Public, through the Medium of their Press, what must be considered as an extraordinary Effort of Genius — a complete and accurate EPHEMERIS for the Year 1792, calculated by a sable Descendant of Africa, .... — They flatter themselves that a philanthropic Public, in this enlightened Era, will be induced to give their Patronage and Support to this Work, not only on Account of its intrinsic Merit, (it having met the Approbation of several of the most distinguished Astronomers in America, particularly the celebrated Mr. Rittenhouse) but from similar Motives to those which induced the Editors to give this Calculation the Preference, the ardent desire of drawing modest Merit from Obscurity, and controverting the long-established illiberal Prejudice against the Blacks.[70]
After Goddard and Angell had published their 1792 Baltimore edition of the almanac, Angell wrote in the 1793 edition (which he alone edited) that abolitionists William Pitt, Charles James Fox and William Wilberforce had introduced the 1792 edition into the British House of Commons to aid their effort to end the British slave trade in Africa.[71][72] However, the British Parliament's report of the debate that accompanied this effort did not mention either Banneker or his almanac.[73]
Supported by Andrew, George and Elias Ellicott and heavily promoted by the Maryland and Pennsylvania abolition societies, the early editions of the almanacs achieved commercial success.[74] Printers then distributed at least nine editions of Banneker's 1795 almanac.[75] A Wilmington, Delaware, printer issued five editions for distribution by different vendors. Printers in Baltimore issued three versions of the almanac, while three Philadelphia printers also sold editions. A Trenton, New Jersey, printer additionally sold a version of the work.[76][77]
Brood X periodical cicadaBrood X periodical cicada with Massospora cicadina infection
Banneker kept a series of journals that contained his notebooks for astronomical observations, his diary and accounts of his dreams.[31][78] The journals additionally contained a number of mathematical calculations and puzzles.[31][78][79]
On the day of his funeral, a fire destroyed all but one of which Banneker's journals.
Banneker's 1792 almanac contained an extract from an anonymous essay entitled "On Negro Slavery, and the Slave Trade" that the Columbian Magazine had published in 1790.[84] After quoting a statement that David Rittenhouse had made (that Negroes "have been doomed to endless slavery by us — merely because their bodies have been disposed to reflect or absorb the rays of light in a way different from ours"), the extract concluded:
The time, it is hoped is not very remote, when those ill-fated people, dwelling in this land of freedom, shall commence a participation with the white inhabitants, in the blessings of liberty; and experience the kindly protection of government, for the essential rights of human nature.[85]
A Philadelphia edition of Banneker's 1793 almanac that Joseph Crukshank published contained copies of pleas for peace that the English anti-slavery poet William Cowper and others had authored,[86] as well as anti-slavery speeches and writings from England and America. The latter included extracts from speeches that William Pitt, Matthew Montagu and Charles James Fox had given to the British House of Commons in 1792 during the debate on a motion for the abolition of the British slave trade,[87] an extract from a 1789 poem by an English Quaker, Thomas Wilkinson,[88] and an extract from a query in Thomas Jefferson's 1787 Notes on the State of Virginia.[89][29]
Crukshank's edition of Banneker's 1793 almanac also contained a copy of "A Plan of a Peace-Office, for the United States".[90] Although the almanac did not identify the Plan's author, writers later attributed the work to Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the 1776 Declaration of Independence.[91]
The Plan proposed the appointment of a "Secretary of Peace", described the Secretary's powers and advocated federal support and promotion of the Christian religion.[92]
On August 19, 1791, after departing the federal capital area, Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, who in 1776 had drafted the United States Declaration of Independence and in 1791 was serving as United States Secretary of State.[93][94] Quoting language in the Declaration, the letter expressed a plea for justice for African Americans.
To support his plea, Banneker included within his letter a handwritten manuscript of an almanac for 1792 containing his ephemeris with his astronomical calculations. He retained handwritten copies of the letter and Jefferson's August 30, 1791, reply in a volume of manuscripts that became part of a journal.[95]
In late 1792, James Angell published a Baltimore edition of Banneker's 1793 almanac that contained copies of Banneker's letter and Jefferson's reply.[96] Soon afterwards, a Philadelphia printer distributed two sequential editions of a widely circulated pamphlet that also contained the letter and reply.[97]
The Universal Asylum, and Columbian Magazine also published Banneker's letter and Jefferson's reply in Philadelphia in late 1792.[98] The Magazine's editors (A Society of Gentlemen) titled the letter as being "from the famous self-taught astronomer, Benjamin Banneker, a black man".[98]
In his letter, Banneker accused Jefferson of criminally using fraud and violence to oppress his slaves.[93][99][100]
Jefferson's reply did not directly respond to Banneker's accusations, but instead expressed his support for the advancement of his "black brethren". His reply, which writers have characterized as "courteous", but "ambiguous" and "noncommittal",[101][102][103][104][105] stated:
Philadelphia Aug. 30. 1791. Sir, I thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th. instant and for the Almanac it contained. no body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colours of men, & that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence both in Africa & America. I can add with truth that no body wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition both of their body & mind to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecillity of their present existence, and other circumstance which cannot be neglected, will admit. I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of the Academy of sciences at Paris, and member of the Philanthropic society because I considered it as a document to which your whole colour had a right for their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them. I am with great esteem, Sir, Your most obedt. humble servt. Th: Jefferson[106]
When writing his letter, Banneker informed Jefferson that his 1791 work with Andrew Ellicott on the District boundary survey had affected his work on his 1792 ephemeris and almanac.[93][108]
On the same day that he replied to Banneker (August 30, 1791), Jefferson sent a letter to the Marquis de Condorcet that contained the following paragraph relating to Banneker's race, abilities, almanac and work with Andrew Ellicott:
I am happy to be able to inform you that we have now in the United States a negro, the son of a black man born in Africa, and of a black woman born in the United States, who is a very respectable mathematician. I procured him to be employed under one of our chief directors in laying out the new federal city on the Patowmac, & in the intervals of his leisure, while on that work, he made an Almanac for the next year, which he sent me in his own hand writing, & which I inclose to you. I have seen very elegant solutions of Geometrical problems by him. Add to this that he is a very worthy & respectable member of society. He is a free man. I shall be delighted to see these instances of moral eminence so multiplied as to prove that the want of talents observed in them is merely the effect of their degraded condition, and not proceeding from any difference in the structure of the parts on which intellect depends.[109][110]
In 1809, three years after Banneker's death, Jefferson expressed a different opinion of Banneker in a letter to Joel Barlow that criticized a "diatribe" that a French abolitionist, Henri Grégoire, had written in 1808[111] saying that while "we know ourselves of Banneker. we know he had spherical trigonometry enough to make almanacs, but not without the suspicion of aid from Ellicot, who was his neighbor & friend, & never missed an opportunity of puffing him. I have a long letter from Banneker which shews him to have had a mind of very common stature indeed".[112][113]
For reasons that are unclear, the four editions of his 1797 almanac were the last ones that printers published.[114][115] After selling much of his homesite to the Ellicotts and others,[14][116] he probably died in his log cabin nine years later on October 19, 1806, aged 74.[117][118] (Some sources state that Banneker died on Sunday, October 9, 1806, which was actually a Thursday.)[4][119][120][118] His chronic alcoholism, which worsened as he aged, may have contributed to his death.[121]
Banneker never married.[122] An obituary concluded "Mr. Banneker is a prominent instance to prove that a descendant of Africa is susceptible of as great mental improvement and deep knowledge into the mysteries of nature as that of any other nation".[123]
The Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston holds in its collections the August 17, 1791, handwritten letter that Banneker sent to Thomas Jefferson.[128] Jefferson endorsed the letter as received on August 21, 1791.[129]
The Library of Congress holds a copy of Jefferson's August 30, 1791, handwritten reply to Banneker.[130] Jefferson produced this document on a letter copying press made by James Watt & Co. that he used before he sent his reply to Banneker.[131] He retained the copy in his files.[132]
The Library of Congress also holds a copy of Jefferson's August 30, 1791, handwritten letter to the Marquis de Condorcet that described Banneker's race, abilities, almanac and work with Andrew Ellicott.[109] Jefferson produced this document on his copying press before sending the handwritten letter to the Marquis.[133]
The Library of Congress holds a handwritten duplicate of Jefferson's letter to the Marquis de Condorcet. The pagination in the duplicate differs from that in the copy that Jefferson produced on his copying press. The Library attributes the duplicate to Jefferson.[134]
The Princeton University Library holds within its Straus Autograph Collection the recipient's copy of the handwritten letter that Jefferson sent to Joel Barlow in 1809. Jefferson's letter cited the letter that Banneker had sent to him in 1791. Barlow endorsed Jefferson's letter after he received it.[135]
The Library of Congress holds a copy of Jefferson's 1809 letter to Joel Barlow that Jefferson had retained in his files after sending his handwritten letter to Barlow.[112] Jefferson used a polygraph device that enabled him to make the copy at the same time that he was writing the original. An Englishman, John Isaac Hawkins, and an American, Charles Willson Peale, had earlier developed this device with the help of Jefferson's suggestions.[135][136]
Interior of Benjamin Banneker Museum in Oella, Maryland. A drop-leaf table that Banneker used is in the background. (2017)
In 1987, a member of the Ellicott family, which had retained Banneker's only remaining journal, donated that document and other Banneker manuscripts to the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.[137] The family also retained several items that Banneker had used after borrowing them from George Ellicott, as well as some that Banneker himself had owned.[125][138]
In 1996, a descendant of George Ellicott decided to sell at auction some of those items, including a drop-leaf table, candlesticks, candle molds, maps, letters and diaries.[139] Although supporters of the planned Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Oella, Maryland, had hoped to obtain these and several other items related to Banneker and the Ellicotts, a Virginia investment banker won most of the items with a series of bids that totaled $85,000. The purchaser stated that he expected to keep some of the items and to donate the rest to the planned African American Civil War Memorial museum in Washington, D.C.[140][141][142]
In 1997, it was announced that the artifacts would initially be exhibited in the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and then loaned to the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. After completion of the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Oella, the artifacts would be loaned to that facility for a period of twenty years.[143] The Oella museum displayed the table, candle molds and candlesticks after it opened in 1998.[144]
A substantial mythology exaggerating Banneker's accomplishments has developed during the two centuries that have elapsed since his death, becoming a part of African-American culture.[145][146] Several such urban legends describe Banneker's alleged activities in the Washington, D.C., area around the time that he assisted Andrew Ellicott in the federal district boundary survey.[41][147][148] Others involve his clock, his astronomical works, his almanacs and his journals.[147][149]
Banneker, Benjamin (1792a). Banneker's Almanack and Ephemeris for the Year of Our Lord 1793; being The First After Bissextile or Leap Year. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Joseph Crukshank, No. 87, High-Street.
^Maryland Historical Society Library Department (February 6, 2014). "The Dreams of Benjamin Banneker". H. Furlong Baldwin Library: Underbelly. Maryland Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020. Over the 200 years since the death of Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806), his story has become a muddled combination of fact, inference, misinformation, hyperbole, and legend. Like many other figures throughout history, the small amount of surviving source material has nurtured the development of a degree of mythology surrounding his story.
^ abcHeinegg, Paul (December 11, 2016). "Banneker Family". Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware: Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware: Adams-Butler. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
^(1) Banneker, 1792b, p. 6. "Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and in that color which is natural to them of the deepest dye" (2) McHenry, pp. 185-186. "BENJAMIN BANNEKER, a free Negro, has calculated an Almanack for the ensuing Year, 1792, ..... . "This Man is about fifty-nine years in age; he was born in Baltimore county; his father was an African, and his mother, the offspring of African parents." (3) Latrobe, p. 6. "His father was a native African, and his mother the child of natives of Africa; so that to no admixture of the blood of the white man was he indebted for his peculiar and extraordinary abilities."
^Johnson, Richard (January 18, 2018). "Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)". Black Past. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Benjamin seems to have served as an indentured laborer on the Prince George's County plantation of Mary Welsh, who had dealings with the Bannaky family and in 1773 executed her dead husband's instructions to release several of her labor force including "Negro Ben, born free age 43." Walsh was surely not Banneker's grandmother, as argued by many biographers, but she did leave him a substantial legacy. He then lived alone as a tobacco farmer near the Patapsco River.
^(1) "Banaka Map — Satellite Images of Banaka". maplandia.com: google maps world gazetteer. 2016. Archived from the original on May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020. This place is situated in Klay, Bomi Terr., Liberia, its geographical coordinates are 6° 49' 44" North, 10° 46' 21" West and its original name (with diacritics) is Banaka. (2) "Banaka / Bomi County". getamap.net. 2020. Archived from the original on May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020. Banaka (Banaka) is a populated place .... in Bomi County (Bomi), Liberia (Africa) .... . It is located at an elevation of 117 meters above sea level. (3) "Where is Banaka in Liberia Located?". GoMapper. 2020. Archived from the original on May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020. Banaka is a place with a very small population in the country of Liberia .... . Cities, towns and places near Banaka include Bonja, Kuodi, Wuefa and Fassa. The closest major cities include Monrovia, Freetown, Conakry and Daloa. (4) Coordinates of Banaka: 6°49′43″N10°46′19″W / 6.828698°N 10.7719071°W / 6.828698; -10.7719071 (Banaka)
^Heinegg, Paul (2021). "Banneker Family". Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware: Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware: Adams-Butler. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
^Glawe, Eddie (February 13, 2014). "Feature: Benjamin Banneker". xyHt. Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2025. This indenture made this tenth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred thirty seven between Richard Gist... of the one part, Robert Bannaky and [his son] Benjamin Bannaky... of the other part
^Facsimile of handwritten deed conveying property from Richard Gist to Robert Bannaky and Benjamin Bannaky. In Clark, James W., Maryland Commission on Afro-American and Indian History and Culture, Annapolis, Maryland (June 14, 1976). "Benjamin Banneker Homesite"(PDF). Maryland State Historical Trust: Inventory Form for State Historic Sites Survey. Annapolis, Maryland: Maryland State Archives. p. 16. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^(1) McHenry, pp. 185-186. "This man is about fifty-nine years of age; he was born in Baltimore county; his father was an African, and his mother the offspring of African parents. His father and mother having obtained their freedom, were enabled to send him to an obscure school, where he learned, as a boy, reading, writing, and arithmetic, as far as double position. (2) "Double position". Webster's 1913 Dictionary. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020. (Arith.) the method of solving problems by proceeding with each of two assumed numbers, according to the conditions of the problem, and by comparing the difference of the results with those of the numbers, deducing the correction to be applied to one of them to obtain the true result. (3) Adams, Daniel (1807). "Section III. § 10. Position: Double Position". The Scholar's Arithmetic; or, Federal Accountant (4th ed.). Keene, New Hampshire: Printed by and for John Prentiss, (proprietor of the copy-right) and sold at his book-store, wholesale and retail.--Sold also by the principal booksellers in New-England, and at the Rensselaer book-store, Troy, N.Y. pp. 201–202. LCCN38021948. OCLC1153971636. Retrieved June 22, 2020 – via HathiTrust Digital Library.
^(1) Graham, 1949, p. 45. Not until all the tobacco was in and "the Christmas" over was the school opened. Among the boys who sat on the smooth log facing Peter Heinrich was the dark boy. .... The dark boy's name seemed rather long. For Peter Heinrich wrote "Benjamin Banneker". .... And thus the spelling was changed from that in the earliest records. (2) Bedini, 1972, p. 300. "Martha Tyson's posthumous book was the last work about Banneker to be based on original materials. During the next several decades, numerous articles in periodicals and newspapers mentioned Banneker's life and works, but each was based on earlier publications without contributing new materials. .... Finally, in 1949 another biography of Banneker appeared. This work by Shirley Graham was highly fictionalized and written for young people. It became popular, but the lack of distinction between fact and fiction in its presentation, while a compliment to the writing skill of Shirley Graham, has resulted in yet more confusion concerning Banneker's achievements and their importance."
^Graham, 1949, p. 52. "The school was now housed in a building all its own and was supported by the Society of Friends. Though Ben was no longer a regular attendant he still considered himself a pupil. Very often when his days work was done he rode over to Master Heinrich's house for talk or to exchange a book"
^ ab"Historic Ellicott City's History". ellicottcity.net. Ellicott City, Maryland: Ellicott City Graphic Arts. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
^McHenry, p. 186. "He (Banneker) now took up the idea for calculations for an almanac, and actually completed and entire set for the last year, upon his original stock of arithmetic. Encouraged by this first attempt, he entered upon his calculation for 1792, which as well as the former, he began and finished without the least information, or assistance, from any person or other books, than those that I have mentioned; so that, whatever merit is attached to his present performance, is exclusively and peculiarly his own."
^"Text of Residence Act". American Memory: A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875: Statutes at Large, 1st Congress, 2nd Session, p. 130, July 16, 1790: Chapter 28: An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
^Bedini, 1972, p. 137. "He (Banneker) served in the true sense of an assistant to Ellicott himself, making notes for him, making calculations as required, and using the astronomical equipment for establishing base points."
^Bedini, 1972, p. 103. "Curiously enough, the record of Banneker's participation rests on extremely meager documentation, consisting of a statement written in a letter by Thomas Jefferson and two statements made by Banneker himself."
^(1) "New Federal City"(PDF). Columbian Centennial. No. 744. Boston, Massachusetts: Benjamin Russell. May 7, 1791. Archived(PDF) from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016 – via boundarystones.org. (2) Bedini, 1972, pp. 124, 314
^(1) Bedini, 1969, p. 25. (2) "New Federal City"(PDF). Columbian Centennial. No. 744. Boston, Massachusetts: Benjamin Russell. May 7, 1791. Archived(PDF) from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016 – via boundarystones.org.
^Banneker, 1792b, pp. 9–10. "And altho I had almost declined to make my calculation for the ensuing year, in consequence of that time which I had allotted therefor being taking up at the Federal Territory by the request of Mr. Andrew Ellicott, yet finding myself under several engagments to Printers of this state, to whom I had communicated my design, upon my return to my place of residence, I industriously applied myself thereto, ....".
^(1) Davis, Nancy M. (August 26, 2001). "Andrew Ellicott: Astronomer…mathematician…surveyor". Philadelphia Connection. Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation: Philadelphia Chapter. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2019. After the war, he (Ellicott) returned to Fountainvale, the family home in Ellicott Upper Mills, and published a series of almanacs, The United States Almanack. (The earliest known copy is dated 1782.) (2) Drake, p. 214. "The MARYLAND, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North-Carolina Almanack and Ephemeris for 1781. By Andrew Ellicott. Baltimore: M. K. Goddard: Philadelphia: Benjamin January." (3) Drake, p. 511. "UNITED States Almanack for 1782. By Andrew Ellicott. Chatham: Shepard Kollock." (4) Drake, p. 215. "ELLICOTT'S Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris for 1786. Baltimore: Goddard and Langworthy." (5) Drake, p. 216. "ELLICOTT'S Maryland and Virginia Almanack, and Ephemeris for 1787. Baltimore: John Hayes." (6) Drake, p. 216. "The MARYLAND and Virginia Almanack, and Ephemeris for 1788. By Andrew Ellicott. Baltimore: John Hayes." (7) Drake, p. 216. "POOR Robin's Almanac for 1788. By Andrew Ellicott. Frederick-Town: Matthias Bartgis. .... 2112" (8) Drake, p. 217. "ELLICOTT'S Maryland and Virginia Almanack, and Ephemeris for 1789. Baltimore: John Hayes." (9) Drake, p. 217. "ELLICOTT'S Maryland and Virginia Almanack, and Ephemeris for 1790. Baltimore: John Hayes." (10) Drake, p. 217. "ELLICOTT'S Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris for 1791. Baltimore: John Hayes." (11) Bedini, 1999, pp. 97, 109, 210.
^(1) Morrison, p. 70. "The New-Jersey almanack for 1788. The astronomical calculations by Wm. Waring. Trenton: Isaac Collins." (2) Morrison, p. 138. "Poulson's town and country almanac for 1789. The astronomical calculations by Wm. Waring, teacher of mathematics in the Friends' academy. Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson, junior". (3) Morrison, p. 70. "The New-Jersey almanack for 1789. By Wm. Waring. Trenton: Isaac Collins." (4) Morrison, p. 70. "The New-Jersey almanack for 1790. By Wm. Waring. Trenton: Isaac Collins." (5) Morrison, p. 139. "Poor Will's almanac for 1790. The astronom. calculations by Wm. Waring. Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank." (6) Morrison, p. 139. "Poulson's town and country almanac for 1790. By Wm. Waring. Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson, jr." (7) Morrison, p. 139. "Poulson's town and country almanac for 1791. By Wm. Waring. Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson, jr."
^(1) Morrison, p. 156. "The Virginia Almanac for 1774. By the celebrated Mr. Rittenhouse, Philomath. Williamsburg: William Rind." (2) Morrison, p. 157. "The Virginia Almanac for 1780. By David Rittenhouse, Philo. Williamsburg: J. Dixon & T. Nicolson." (3) Drake, p. 214. "The MARYLAND, Virginia and Pennsylvania Almanack and Ephemeris for 1780. By David Rittenhouse. Baltimore: M. K. Goddard." (5) Morrison, p. 132. "The Continental almanac for 1781. By Anthony Sharpe, Philom. Philadelphia: Francis Bailey." (6) Morrison, p. 132. "The Continental pocket almanac for 1781. By Anthony Sharpe (i.e., David Rittenhouse). Philadelphia: Francis Bailey. 1780."
^Cerami, p. 150. "I am annoyed to find that the subject of my race is so much stressed," he (Banneker) remarked. "The work is either correct or it is not. In this case, I believe it to be perfect."
^(1) Drake, pp. 214–218. (2) Bedini, 1972, pp. 164–173. (3) "Almanac". In Pursuit of a Vision: Two Centuries of Collecting at the American Antiquarian Society. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society. 2012. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018. Benjamin Banneker. Holographic manuscript of his 1792 almanac and ephemeris, with the published edition: Benjamin Banneker's Almanack. Baltimore: William Goddard and James Angell …, both 1791. Manuscript: Gift of William Goddard, 1813. Published almanac: Gift of Samuel L. Munson, 1925
^(1) List of Banneker's almanacs: Bedini, 1999, pp. 393–396. "Banneker's Letters and Almanacs" (2) List of Banneker's almanacs, with links: "Benjamin Banneker". Shakeospeare. The University of Iowa Libraries. March 3, 2017. Archived from the original on March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
^(1) Bedini, 1972, p. 276. "The woodcut represents a representation of Banneker with a tendency to idealize his appearance. It represents a Negro male in his late youth or early middle age, of medium frame. At this time, Banneker was sixty-three years of age and his physical appearance undoubtedly reflected to some degree his past illnesses and discomfort. He was described as being relatively fleshy, which leaves no doubt that the portrait was in fact no more than an artist's conjecture of his appearance." (2) Bedini, 1999, p. 290. "The woodcut appears to have been drawn by an artist who had neither seen Banneker nor heard a description of him but who obviously intended to render an idealized portrait of a black man. It represents a Negro male of medium frame in his late youth. At this time, Banneker was in fact sixty-three years of age, suffering from arthritis or rheumatism, and his physical appearance may have reflected to some degree his past illnesses and disabilities. He was described as being relatively fleshy, with a stocky build, which leaves no doubt that the portrait was in fact no more than an artist's conception of a young male Negro youth."
^(1) Banneker, 1791, pp. 2, 3, 4 (2) Banneker 1792a, p. 2. (3) Latrobe, p. 9: "In their editorial notice, Messrs. Goddard and Angell say, "they feel gratified in the opportunity of presenting to the public, through their press, what must be considered as an extraordinary effort of genius – a complete and accurate Ephemeris for the year 1792, calculated by a sable descendant of Africa," &c. And they further say, that "they flatter themselves that a philanthropic public, in this enlightened era, will be induced to give their patronage and support to this work, not only on account of its intrinsic merits, (it having met the Approbation of several of the most distinguished astronomers of America, particularly the celebrated Mr. Rittenhouse,) but from similar motives to those which induced the editors to give this calculation the preference, the ardent desire of drawing modest merit from obscurity and controverting the long established illiberal prejudice against the blacks."
^(1) Bedini, 1999, p. 151. ".. in 1789 he (Goddard) took as his partner ... James Angell. The partnership continued until August 1792, during the period that Banneker's almanac was being considered for publication." (2) Letter from James McHenry regarding Benjamin Banneker. Baltimore. April 20, 1791. InPhillips, pp. 115–116. "The following notice of Banneker is found, first published in his almanac for 1792, and republished with some abridgement in the one of 1793, from which we are making extracts. It was written by Banneker's esteemed admirer, James McHenry, who was afterward senator of Maryland, and evidently a man who appreciated intellect whether in the soul of the black or white. ..." (3) Banneker, 1791, pp. 2, 3, 4. (4) Banneker 1792a, p. 2. "Baltimore, August 20, 1791. BENJAMIN BANNEKER, a free black, is about fifty-nine years of age... It is about three years since Mr. George Ellicott lent him Mayer's Tables, Ferguson's Astronomy, Leadbeater's Lunar Tables, and some astronomic instruments, but without accompanying them with either hint or instruction, that might further his studies, or lead him to apply them to any useful result. These books and instruments, the first of the kind he had ever seen, opened a new world to Benjamin, and from thenceforward he employed his leisure in astronomical researches. He now took up the idea of the calculations for an Almanack, and actually completed an entire set for the last year, upon his original stock of arithmetic. Encouraged by this first attempt, he entered upon his calculation for 1792, which, as well as the former, he began and finished without the least information of assistance from any person, or other books than those I have mentioned; so that whatever merit is attached to his present performance, is exclusively and peculiarly his own. I have been the more careful to investigate those particulars, and to ascertain their reality, as they form an interesting fact in the History of Man; and as you may want them to gratify curiosity, I have no objection to your selecting them for your account of Benjamin."
^Bedini, 1999, pp. 195–197. "The almanacs for 1795 enjoyed a substantially increased circulation. .... The total of at least nine known editions of Banneker's almanac for the same year was remarkable, ....".
^Tise, 1998, p. 215. "The 1795 edition saw three separate versions (of Banneker's almanac) published in Baltimore alone; a Wilmington publisher produced five editions for various distributors; and three Philadelphia printers offered editions, as did another in Trenton, New Jersey."
^"A Great Man, but Flawed". OP/ED. The Washington Post. October 31, 1992. p. A.21. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2010. Wefald writes that when Jefferson received a letter and almanac from Benjamin Banneker, Jefferson was "honest enough to change his position." [However,] Jefferson did not say that he had changed his opinion of the intellectual abilities of blacks.... Jefferson merely said: "No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit... Closely read, Jefferson's letter is only an indication that he "wishes to see such proofs", but there is no definite indication that he changed his mind. On Banneker's abilities Jefferson was ambivalent.
^Johnson."Banneker sent a manuscript copy of his work to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson along with a plea against the continuance of black slavery and received a courteous, if evasive, reply."
^(1) Allaben, pp. 67–68. "..., but that having taken up my pen in order to direct to you as a present a copy of my Almanac which I have calculated for the Succeeding year, ..... and altho I had almost declined to make my calculation for the ensuing year, in consequence of that time which I had allotted therefor being taking up at the Federal Territory by the request of Mr. Andrew Ellicott, yet finding my Self underal several engagements to printers of this State to whom I have communicated my design, on my return to my place of residence, I industrially applied my Self thereto, ...." (2) Banneker, 1792b, pp. 9–10. "And altho I had almost declined to make my calculation for the ensuing year, in consequence of that time which I had allotted therefor being taking up at the Federal Territory by the request of Mr. Andrew Ellicott, ....".
^(1) Bedini, 1999, pp. 241–251. (2) Clark, James W., Maryland Commission on Afro-American and Indian History and Culture, Annapolis, Maryland (June 14, 1976). "Benjamin Banneker Homesite"(PDF). Maryland State Historical Trust: Inventory Form for State Historic Sites Survey. Annapolis, Maryland: Maryland State Archives. p. 16. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^(1) "Almanac"(15 digitized images). In Pursuit of a Vision: Two Centuries of Collecting at the American Antiquarian Society. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society (www.americanantiquarian.org). 2012. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2020. Benjamin Banneker. Holographic manuscript of his 1792 almanac and ephemeris, with the published edition: Benjamin Banneker's Almanack. Baltimore: William Goddard and James Angell …, both 1791. Manuscript: Gift of William Goddard, 1813. Published almanac: Gift of Samuel L. Munson, 1925. Note: This web page contains links to three digitized images of pages in the manuscript for the almanac and to 12 digitized images of printed pages of the published almanac. (2) Banneker, Benjamin. GIGI: The AAS Digital Archive(19 digitized images). Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society (www.americanantiquarian.org). OCLC950911530. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020. Note: This manuscript, attributed to Banneker by Baltimore printer William Goddard (1740–1817), was printed as Banneker's Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris for the Year of Our Lord 1792, Baltimore: Printed and Sold, Wholesale and Retail, by William Goddard and James Angell, at their
Printing-Office, in Market Street. The web page contains 19 links to digitized images of handwritten editorial notes describing the provenance of the manuscript, sequential digitized images of each page in the manuscript, and additional digitized images of pages in the manuscript. (3) Bedini, 1999, p. 181 "First page of manuscript original, with calculations for the month of January 1792 for his first almanac. From the manuscript of his ephemeris for 1792 that he had submitted to Goddard & Angell in 1791. Found among the papers of William Goddard. American Antiquarian Society."
^(1) "Kaplan"(1 digitized image). 1989. pp. 140–141. (2) "I. Correspondence, 1705–1826". Collection Guides: Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts. Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Historical Society. October 2016. Archived from the original on November 26, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2020. Volumes 8–12 (1790–1793) contain papers covering Jefferson's service as secretary of state, including letters from Jefferson to his daughters at Monticello and many promissory notes demonstrating the degree of his indebtedness. (3) Bedini, 1999, p. 378. "17. Banneker to Thomas Jefferson, August 19, 1791, 7S. I. 38–43, Jefferson-Coolidge Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society."
^Banneker, Benjamin (August 19, 1791). "To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Banneker, 19 August 1791". Founders Online: Thomas Jefferson. National Historical Publications & Records Commission: National Archives. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019. Footnote: RC (MHi); at head of text: "Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State"; endorsed by TJ as received 26 Aug. 1791 and so recorded in SJL." (Abbreviations: "MHi": "Massachusetts Historical Society"; "RC": Recipient's Copy"; "SJL": "Jefferson's "Summary Journal of Letters" written and received"; "TJ": "Thomas Jefferson"). (Original source: Cullen, Charles T., ed. (1986). The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 22: 6 August 1791 – 31 December 1791. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 52. ISBN9780691184654. LCCN50007486. OCLC1043555596. Retrieved August 31, 2019. Footnote: RC (MHi); at head of text: "Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State"; endorsed by TJ as received 26 Aug. 1791 and so recorded in SJL.)
^Bedini, 1999, p. 378. "18. Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Banneker, August 30, 1791, .... Jefferson's file copy is in the Thomas Jefferson Papers f. 11481, Library of Congress."
^(1) "Polygraphs". Antique Copying Machines. Early Office Museum (www.officemuseum.com). 2016. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020. Hawkins & Peale patented a polygraph in the US in 1803, and beginning in 1804 Thomas Jefferson collaborated with them in working on improvements in the machine. Jefferson used a polygraph for the rest of his life. (Reference: Bedini, Silvio A., Thomas Jefferson and His Copying Machines, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1984.) (2) Thomas Jefferson. "Polygraph". Charlottesville, Virginia: Th: Jefferson's Monticello. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2020. Historical Notes: Marked "Hawkins & Peale's Patent Polygraph No. 57," this machine was used by Jefferson from 1806 until his death. Jefferson first acquired the letter-copying device he called "the finest invention of the present age" in March of 1804. Invented and named by Englishman John Isaac Hawkins, the polygraph used the principles of the pantograph, a draftsman's tool for reducing and enlarging drawings. The writer's hand moves one pen whose action is duplicated by the second one, producing a copy strikingly like the original. Before he returned to England in 1803, Hawkins assigned his American patent rights to Charles Willson Peale, who developed and marketed the invention. Jefferson was one of his most eager clients, purchasing one for the President's House and one for Monticello. He soon exchanged these machines for new ones, as Peale continued to perfect the design — often according to Jefferson's suggestions. By 1809 Jefferson wrote that "the use of the polygraph has spoiled me for the old copying press the copies of which are hardly ever legible . . . . I could not, now therefore, live without the Polygraph." (3) Jefferson, Thomas (January 15, 1809). "Thomas Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale, January 15, 1809"(1 digitized image). The Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress: Manuscript/Mixed Material. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Retrieved May 12, 2020. (4) Jefferson, Thomas (January 15, 1809). "From Thomas Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale, 15 January 1809". Founders Online. National Archives. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020. the use of the polygraph has spoiled me for the old copying press the copies of which are hardly ever legible, ... I could not, now therefore, live without the Polygraph. .... (5) Miller, Lillian B., ed. (1983). "From Thomas Jefferson to Charles Willson Peale, 15 January 1809". The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family: Volume 2, Part 2, The Artist as Museum Keeper, 1791–1810. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press for the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. pp. 1168–1169. ISBN978-0300034226. OCLC557596227. Retrieved May 12, 2020 – via Google Books.
^(1) Maryland Historical Society Library Department (February 6, 2014). "The Dreams of Benjamin Banneker". H. Furlong Baldwin Library: Underbelly. Baltimore, Maryland: Maryland Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020. The astronomical journal is the only remaining artifact written in Banneker's hand, as his cabin and most of his belongings burned down in a fire as his body was being laid in the ground in 1806. On his instruction, the astronomical journal and some other loose manuscripts were removed upon his death and left to George Ellicott (1760–1832). The journal stayed in the hands of the Ellicott family until 1844 when it was deposited here at MdHS, where it was used by John H.B. Latrobe the following year. Quaker philanthropist and MdHS member Moses Sheppard (1771–1857) had the book rebound in Russian leather in 1852, and at this date most likely combined the astronomical journal with some of Banneker's loose manuscripts as well as a day book. At some unknown date the astronomical journal left MdHS and returned to the hands of the Ellicott family. It stayed there, away from the public's eye until 1987 when Ellicott family descendant Dorothea West Fitzhugh donated it in honor of her late husband Robert Tyson Fitzhugh. In 1999 MdHS sent the journal to the Center for Conservation in Philadelphia where it was rebound, deacidified, and given full conservation treatment. (2) "Banneker Astronomical Journal, 1781; 1790–1802; 1806". H. Furlong Baldwin Library. Baltimore, Maryland: Maryland Historical Society. February 2020. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020 – via EOS.Web® Enterprise, OPAC Discovery: Sirsi Corporation. (3) Tyson, pp. 2, 18.
^(1) Respers, Lisa (August 1, 1996). "18th-century Banneker items to be auctioned: Museum organizers hope to buy rare artifacts". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017. A selection of rare items used by Benjamin Banneker, noted black American scientist, is to be auctioned early next month, but organizers of the planned Banneker museum and park in Baltimore County hope to raise money to buy the artifacts first. The items – which include a William and Mary drop-leaf table, candlesticks and molds, and several documents – are scheduled to be put on the block at Sloane's Auction House in Bethesda. Jean Walsh, a member of the Friends of Benjamin Banneker Historical Park, said the items had been in the possession of a descendant of George Ellicott, who at age 17 befriended the much older Banneker – known as "the first black man of science." "George was interested in astronomy, and he loaned a number of things to Banneker, including the table and several books," Walsh said.... Groundbreaking is planned for September for the long-awaited Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Oella, and Walsh and other supporters would like to exhibit the items there. Gwen Marable, president of the organization, said an attempt had been made to persuade the owner, Elizabeth Wilde of Indianapolis, to donate or sell some of the artifacts to the museum. "We want to spearhead an effort to keep these things here in Maryland," said Marable, a descendant of one of Banneker's three sisters. Samuel Hopkins – a descendant of the Ellicott family, who were mill owners and co-founders of Ellicott City – said he encouraged Wilde to turn the artifacts over to the museum. "I spoke to her some time ago and told her I thought it would be fine if she gave some of the stuff to the museum," Hopkins said. "I suggested to her that, if she did not give it to the society, that she might let the society make copies of the documents for display." Patrick O'Neill, who is helping to arrange the auction for Sloane's, said the items are being appraised. Appraisal of historic pieces can be difficult, though officials expect the table to sell for $10,000 to $30,000. .... According to Silvio A. Bedini, author of The Life of Benjamin Banneker, the scientist instructed his nephews to return the table and books to the Ellicott family and give them some of his effects. The day of his funeral in 1806, Banneker's log cabin burned to the ground. It is on that site where the museum and park are to be built. Bedini said the artifacts are especially valuable because they are among the few remaining privately owned Banneker items.. (2) Saulny, Susan (August 16, 1996). "Banneker Kin Decry Auctioning Of His Artifacts". Politics. The Washington Post. Retrieved October 19, 2020. (3) "The Banneker Artifacts". Opinion. The Washington Post. August 22, 1996. Retrieved October 19, 2020. (4) McNatt, Glenn (August 25, 1996). "Banneker items close to being auctioned". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017. Elizabeth Wilde, the Ellicott family member who inherited the Banneker-related items, plans to sell more than 20 Banneker artifacts and documents next month through C. G. Sloan auction house in Bethesda. Wilde, who lives in Indianapolis, has rebuffed appeals from Banneker historians, relatives and admirers to donate the artifacts to the new Banneker museum or give the sponsoring group more time to raise money so it can buy the items itself. (5) Respers, Lisa (August 29, 1996). "$50,000 donated to Banneker museum 'Friends' hope to keep rare artifacts in Md". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017. (6) "For sale: Benjamin Banneker's legacy: Artifacts on the block: Business leaders should help bring rare items home". The Baltimore Sun. September 4, 1996. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2015. (7) Levine, Susan (January 4, 1997). "A Banneker Plan". Local. The Washington Post. Retrieved October 10, 2020. The items, including a drop-leaf table, candlestick and candle mold, maps, letters and diaries, .... .
^Respers, Lisa (September 9, 1996). "Coveted Banneker items going, going . . . gone: Dismayed local group outbid by Va. banker". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017. Emanuel Friedman, an investment banker and chairman of Friedman, Billings and Ramsey in Rosslyn, Va., made winning bids of $32,500 for the table, $7,500 for letters, a scrapbook and personal papers from the Ellicott estate, $6,000 for the candlesticks, and $3,750 for the ledger. .... Friedman said he planned to keep some for a personal collection and donate the rest to a new African-American Civil War Foundation museum being planned in Washington, which he believed would be willing to share the artifacts with the Banneker museum.
^Jeter, Jon (September 9, 1996). "A Mystery Bidder Buys The Show At Banneker Auction". Local. The Washington Post. Retrieved October 19, 2020. The stranger with the deep pockets was Emanuel Freedman, and, when the auction was over, he had dropped a cool $85,000 on the collection of artifacts.
^"A look into Benjamin Banneker's 1793 Almanac". Book of the Month: Banneker's Almanac. Haverford, Pennsylvania: Haverford College. April 18, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2020. In 1806, shortly after Banneker's death, a fire at his home destroyed most of his personal papers (Gillispie). This gap in substantial archival material has hardly hindered the development of the Benjamin Banneker legend; perhaps it has even aided its growth. ..... The narrative that tells of Banneker's life as one of mythical success and unprecedented exceptionalism easily draws an audience, but it washes over what might be more intellectually rewarding questions about the man's life. .... For now, the legend of Benjamin Banneker will continue to exist in his old almanacs and in present culture, serving as an inspiring enigma for those who wonder what lies beyond the surface-level stories of the past.
^ Keene, Louis. "Benjamin Banneker: The Black Tobacco Farmer Who The Presidents Couldn't Ignore". The White House Historical Association. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2020. Perhaps owing to the scarcity of recorded fact about his remarkable life, and because he was often invoked symbolically to advance social causes like abolition, Banneker's story has been susceptible to mythmaking. He has been incorrectly credited with drawing the street grid of Washington, D.C., making the first clock on the Eastern seaboard, being the first professional astronomer in America, and discovering the seventeen-year birth cycle of cicadas.
^ abShipler, David K. (1998). "The Myths of America". A Country of Strangers: Blacks and Whites in America. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 196–197. ISBN0679734546. LCCN97002810. OCLC39849003 – via Google Books. The Banneker story, impressive as it was, got embellished in 1987, when the public school system in Portland, Oregon, published African-American Baseline Essays, a thick stack of loose-leaf background papers for teachers, commissioned to encourage black history instruction. They have been used in Detroit, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Newark, and scattered schools elsewhere, although they have been attacked for gross inaccuracy in an entire literature of detailed criticism by respected historians. ....
^(1) Bedini, 1969, p. 7. "The name of Benjamin Banneker, the Afro-American self-taught mathematician and almanac-maker, occurs again and again in the several published accounts of the survey of Washington City [D.C.] begun in 1791, but with conflicting reports of the role which he played. Writers have implied a wide range of involvement, from the keeper of horses or supervisor of the woodcutters, to the full responsibility of not only the survey of the ten-mile square but the design of the city as well. None of these accounts has described the contribution which Banneker actually made." (2) Bedini, 1972, p. 126. "Benjamin Banneker's name does not appear on any of the contemporary documents or records relating to the selection, planning, and survey of the City of Washington. An exhaustive search of the files under Public Buildings and Grounds in the U.S. National Archives and of the several collections in the Library of Congress have proved fruitless. A careful perusal of all known surviving correspondence and papers of Andrew Ellicott and of Pierre Charles L'Enfant has likewise failed to reveal mention of Banneker. This conclusively [sic] dispels the legend that after L'Enfant's dismissal and his refusal to make available his plan of the city, Ellicott was able to reconstruct it in detail from Banneker's recollection.” (3) Bedini, 1972, p. 403, Item 85 "William Loren Katz. Eyewitness, the Negro in American History. New York. Putnam Publishing Corp., 1967 pp. 19–31, 61–62. Among the misstatements are the claims.... that George Ellicott worked with Banneker in the survey of Washington, that Banneker was appointed to the Commission at a suggestion made by Jefferson to Washington, and that Banneker selected the sites of the principal buildings. The fiction that Banneker re-created L'Enfant's plan from memory is again presented, and his almanacs are said to have been published for a period of ten years." (4) Toscano, 2000.Archived September 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine "Some writers, in an effort to build up their hero, claim that Banneker was the designer of Washington. Other writers have asserted that Banneker's role in the survey is a myth without documentation. Neither group is correct. Bedini does a professional job of sorting out the truth from the falsehoods." (5) Martel, Erich (February 20, 1994). "The Egyptian Illusion". Opinions. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018. Had the author consulted "The Life of Benjamin Banneker" by Silvio Bedini, considered the definitive biography, he would have discovered no evidence for these claims. Jefferson appointed Andrew Ellicott to conduct the survey; Ellicott made Banneker his assistant for three months in 1791. (6) Bedini, 1999, p. 132-136. "An exhaustive search of government repositories, including the Public Buildings and Grounds files in the National Archives, and various collections in the Library of Congress, failed to turn up Banneker's name on any of the contemporary documents or records related to the selection, planning and survey of the City of Washington. Nor was he mentioned in any of the surviving correspondence and papers of Andrew Ellicott and of Pierre Charles L'Enfant.... Although the exact date of Banneker's departure from the survey is not specified in Ellicott's report of expenditures, it occurred sometime late in the month of April 1791, following the arrival of one of Ellicott's brothers. It was not until some ten months after Banneker's departure from the scene that L'Enfant was dismissed, by means of a letter from Jefferson dated February 27, 1792. This conclusively [sic] dispels any basis for the legend that after L'Enfant's dismissal and his refusal to make available his plan of the city, Banneker recollected the plan in detail from which Ellicott was able to reconstruct it." (7) Cerami, 2002, pp. 142–143. (8) Levine, Michael (November 10, 2003). "L'Enfant designed more than D.C.: He designed a 200-year-old controversy". History: Planning Our Capital City: Get to know the District of Columbia. DCpages.com. Archived from the original on December 6, 2003. Retrieved December 31, 2016. (9) Weatherly, Myra (2006). "An Important Task". Benjamin Banneker: American Scientific Pioneer. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Compass Point Books. pp. 76–77. ISBN0756515793. LCCN2005028708. OCLC61864300. Retrieved August 27, 2019 – via Google Books. The conflicts surrounding L'Enfant gave rise to an often—repeated story that involved Banneker. According to the story, Banneker, having seen the original design for the city only once, re-created it in detail after L'Enfant returned to France with the original plans. This legend has led some people to credit Banneker with a greater role in creating the capital city. However, there is no evidence that Banneker contributed anything to the design of the city or that he ever met L'Enfant. Modern historians acknowledge that the inaccurate information—the myths surrounding Banneker—resulted in his contributions to the city being overvalued. Unfortunately, those myths sometimes obscure Banneker's greatest contribution to society—the almanacs that he would publish in his later years.. (10) Bigbytes. "Benjamin Banneker Stories". dcsymbols dot com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2017. (11) Keene, Louis. "Benjamin Banneker: The Black Tobacco Farmer Who The Presidents Couldn't Ignore". The White House Historical Association. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2020. Perhaps owing to the scarcity of recorded fact about his remarkable life, and because he was often invoked symbolically to advance social causes like abolition, Banneker's story has been susceptible to mythmaking. He has been incorrectly credited with drawing the street grid of Washington, D.C.
^(1) Whiteman, Maxwell (1969). BENJAMIN BANNEKER: Surveyor and Astronomer: 1731–1806: A biographical noteInWhiteman, Maxwell (ed.) "The plan for a "Peace Office" in the Government of the United States, which also appeared in this issue (Banneker's 1793 Philadelphia almanac) has been attributed to Banneker. According to Edwin Wolf 2nd, Librarian of the Library Company of Philadelphia from whose institution these copies have been made, the "Peace Office" is the work of Dr. Benjamin Rush." (2) Bedini, 1972, p. 186. "Another important item in the 1793 almanac was "A Plan Of a Peace-Office for the United States," which aroused a good deal of comment at the time. It was believed by many to have been Banneker's own work. Even within recent decades its authorship has been debated. In 1947 it was identified without question as the work of Dr. Benjamin Rush, in a volume of his writings that appeared in that year." (3) Bedini, 1972, p. 403, Item 85 "William Loren Katz. Eyewitness, the Negro in American History. New York. Putnam Publishing Corp., 1967 pp. 19–31, 61–62. Brief account of Banneker's career and contributions, which are stated to have been in "the fields of science, mathematics, and political affairs, .... ." Among the misstatements are the claims that Banneker produced the first clock made entirely with American parts, .... ." (4) Martel, Erich (February 20, 1994). "The Egyptian Illusion". Opinions. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018. .... "Banneker "wrote a proposal for the establishment of a United States Department of Peace," according to the essay on African American scientists. Had the author consulted "The Life of Benjamin Banneker" by Silvio Bedini, considered the definitive biography, he would have discovered no evidence for these claims. .... Benjamin Rush authored the Department of Peace proposal; the confusion arose among earlier biographers because the proposal appeared in Banneker's 1793 almanac. (5) Bedini, 1999, p. 43. "Banneker's clock was by no means the first timepiece in tidewater Maryland, as occasionally has erroneously been claimed. Timepieces were well known and available from the very earliest English settlements, ...." (6) Keene, Louis. "Benjamin Banneker: The Black Tobacco Farmer Who The Presidents Couldn't Ignore". The White House Historical Association. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2020. Perhaps owing to the scarcity of recorded fact about his remarkable life, and because he was often invoked symbolically to advance social causes like abolition, Banneker's story has been susceptible to mythmaking. He has been incorrectly credited with ......, making the first clock on the Eastern seaboard, being the first professional astronomer in America, and discovering the seventeen-year birth cycle of cicadas.
^"Comprehensive Biography of Rita Dove". The Rita Dove Home Page. University of Virginia. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018. In 1993 Rita Dove was appointed Poet Laureate of the United States and Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, making her the youngest person — and the first African-American — to receive this highest official honor in American poetry.
Glawe, Eddie (February 13, 2014). "Feature: Benjamin Banneker". Professional Surveyor Magazine. 39 (6). Flatdog Media, Inc. Archived from the original on January 30, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2018 – via xyHt.
Johnson, Richard (January 18, 2018). "Banneker, Benjamin (1731–1806)". Black Past. BlackPast.org. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
Perot, Sandra (January 2008). Introduction and abstract. Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 (Thesis). Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015 – via ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst.
Full text (Thesis). Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2018 – via ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst.
Resource guide linking to digital files and further resources about Banneker, from the Library of Congress
Bragg, George F. Jr. (1914). "Benjamin Banneker". Men of Maryland. Church Advocate Press, Baltimore, Maryland. pp. 29–34. OCLC4346580. Retrieved February 1, 2010 – via Internet Archive.
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