Amasa Holcomb

Background

Amasa Holcomb was born on June 18, 1787 in Granby, Connecticut (now Southwick, Massachussets). He was the son of Elijah and Lucy (Holcomb) Holcomb. The father worked as a farmer and cooper.

Education

Holcomb's father was able to afford his son only the scantiest education in the common school, but the family came into possession of the extensive library of an uncle who was lost at sea, and Amasa with this help was able to gain a working knowledge of the mathematical sciences.

Career

Holcomb applied himself so intensively that at fifteen he obtained the position of teacher in the district school at Suffield, Connecticut. Continuing his study of mathematics and astronomy, in which he was particularly interested, he observed the solar eclipse in 1806, with an apparatus of his own manufacture, and a year or two later undertook the computation and publication of a series of almanacs. He subsequently took students into his home for instruction in advanced studies and for a time supplemented this work with surveying to gain a livelihood. To supply the needs of his students as well as to equip himself, he entered upon the making of compasses, dividers, scales, and other instruments as a business, and soon enjoyed more than a local reputation for the quality of his products.

Some time after 1825 he began the manufacture of telescopes, first for his own and his students' use, and later, as his reputation grew, for general sale. Up to this time most of the precision and optical apparatus in use in America was made in Europe, and of telescopes very few, if any, were of domestic manufacture. In the American Journal of Science and Arts of January 1833, Professor Benjamin Silliman of Yale announced that Holcomb was making spyglasses of every description, and achromatic and reflecting telescopes. These latter were of the type perfected by Sir William Herschel. They were from eight to twelve feet in focal length, and would "perform more than the imported instruments of the same prices. " Professor Olmsted, also of Yale, lent his name to the announcement. In the same Journal for 1835, Silliman added that Holcomb had "prosecuted his enterprise with great diligence and ingenuity, " and had brought his instruments "to a degree of perfection, which enables them to sustain a very honorable comparison with the large telescopes imported from abroad. "

The simple mounting was especially remarked. In the same year Holcomb submitted two telescopes to the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia for examination. The committee on science and the arts reported them very favorably. The following year the same committee reported upon a telescope made by Holcomb for Delaware College. This instrument, which had a focal length of fourteen feet, was described as superior to any that Holcomb had hitherto made, and as having "every attribute of excellence which the best optical skill could give to an instrument of these dimensions. " With the introduction of the Daguerreotype, Holcomb experimented in photography and added cameras to the instruments which he made.

He was active in public affairs, serving many terms after 1816 as a selectman and assessor of Southwick, Massachussets. In 1832-1833 he represented the town in the Massachusetts House, and from 1834 until his death he served as justice of the peace for Hampden County. He also served a Methodist minister. He died at Southwick.

Achievements

• Holcomb is widely known as a self-taught astronomer, surveyor and photographer, as well as a prominent manufacturer, engineer and businessman. He is now best remembered as the first American to make telescopes for sale. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia once reported that Holcomb's reflecting telescopes compared favorably with instruments imported from Europe at much greater cost. The committee on science and the arts awarded Holcomb an award and medal from the John Scott legacy fund.

Religion

Holcomb was a Methodist.

Connections

Holcomb was married in November 1808 to Gillett Kendall, by whom he had seven children. After her death in 1861, he married Maria Holcomb.

Father:

Elijah H. Holcombe

Spouse:

Gillett (Kendall) Holcomb

Spouse:

Maria Holcomb

Spouse:

Lucyna Holcomb

Brother:

Silas Holcombe

Brother:

Chandler Holcombe

Sister:

Violet Holcombe

Sister:

Lucy Holcombe

Son:

Milton Holcomb

Son:

Franklin Holcombe

References

• Holcomb, Fitz and Peate: Three 19th-Century American Telescope Makers (Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology: Paper 26) (United States National Museum Bulletin 228)