Background

Ambrose Swasey was born on December 19, 1846 in Exeter, New Hampshire, the sixth of seven sons and the ninth of ten children of Nathaniel and Abigail Chesley (Peavey) Swasey. His family traced its descent from John Swasey, who came from England and settled in Salem, Massachussets, in 1629. Nathaniel Swasey owned a 250-acre farm and seems to have been reasonably well-to-do, since Ambrose later stated that all his brothers and sisters had attended academies and colleges.

Education

His father owned a 250-acre farm and seems to have been reasonably well-to-do, since Ambrose later stated that all his brothers and sisters had attended academies and colleges. His own formal education was limited to the public schools of Exeter.

Career

Probably because Ambrose Swasey displayed a strong mechanical bent early in life, he was apprenticed at the Exeter Machine Works in 1865. The Exeter shop made engines and boilers for George B. Brayton, an engineer who is best known for his invention of a two-cycle internal combustion engine. At the time Swasey began to work there, Worcester R. Warner was transferred to Exeter from Brayton's Boston office, and this marked the beginning of a lifelong association between Warner and Swasey.

On completion of his apprenticeship Swasey worked briefly in the Grant Locomotive Works in Paterson, New Jersey, and then in 1869 joined Warner at the Pratt & Whitney Company of Hartford, Connecticut Within two years both had risen to the rank of foreman, and by 1878 Swasey was head of the gear-cutting department. His reputation as a designer of precision tools had become so great that he was offered the chair of mechanic arts at Cornell, which he declined.

In 1880 Warner and Swasey decided to go into the machine-tool manufacturing business for themselves. Established first in Chicago, they discovered that they were too far from their markets and sources of skilled labor and moved to Cleveland in 1881. It was characteristic of the relationship between the two men that they operated for years without any written partnership agreement. Growth of the business eventually made necessary the incorporation of the Warner and Swasey Company in 1900.

Swasey served as vice-president until 1912, president from 1912 to 1923, and chairman of the board from 1923 until his death. From the beginning the company specialized in the manufacture of hand-operated turret lathes, and these continued to be the mainstay of its business. The operation in making of astronomical instruments was a sideline, growing out of Warner's interest in astronomy and Swasey's genius in the design of precision instruments.

Their first major achievement in this field was the mounting for the 36-inch refracting telescope installed at the University of California's Lick Observatory in 1887. Although the partners were then unknown in astronomical circles and had submitted the highest bid, they were given the commission because their design was so clearly the best of those proposed. Other major installations followed.

In addition, Swasey in 1898 produced what he considered to be his greatest achievement, a "dividing engine" first used for the meridian circle at the United States Naval Observatory. This instrument for graduating circles had a maximum error of less than one second of arc--in rough terms less than an inch in a radius of three miles.

In view of these achievements, it was natural for the government to turn to Warner and Swasey at the time of the Spanish-American War for help with range-finders and gun-sights, and the firm became an important producer of instruments of this type. As far as Swasey was concerned, these enterprises were undertaken less for business reasons than because he was fascinated by intricate technological problems.

He once remarked that the lathes made the money but the corner of the shop devoted to astronomical instruments provided the glory, and in the 1920's he refused to expand the plant because he did not want added managerial responsibilities to cut into the time he could give to his technical and philanthropic interests.

In 1915 Swasey established a fund of $300, 000 for ministerial relief in memory of his wife, and he contributed generously to Baptist missions, particularly in China. Among his many other philanthropies, he and Warner together gave observatories to Denison University, Granville, Ohio, to Western Reserve University, and to the Case School of Applied Science (later Case Institute of Technology), the last two both in Cleveland.

When a cold began to develop into pneumonia in 1937, Swasey insisted on being taken back to the family home in Exeter. He died in the farmhouse where he had been born ninety years before. He was buried in the Exeter Cemetery.

Achievements

• Ambrose Swasey has been listed as a noteworthy manufacturer by Marquis Who's Who.

Works

More photos

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  • The Golden Book: Selections from the Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

    (Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)

  • A Few Astronomical Instruments From The Works Of Warner And Swasey (1900)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Marcus Aurelius' Golden Book - Primary Source Edition

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Turret Lathe Tools Catalog and Manual no. 38. Warner & Swasey Company
  • Carved Ivory

Religion

Ambrose Swasey was deeply religious and gave active support to the Baptist Church.

Membership

Ambrose Swasey was a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and an officer of the French Legion of Honor. He was also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Connections

On October 24, 1871, Ambrose Swasey had married Lavinia Dearborn Marston of Hampton, New Hampshire, who died in 1913. They had no children.

Sister :

Abbie Swasey Young

1835–1919

Sister :

Hannah Emily Swasey Day

1839–1914

wife :

Lavinia Marston Swasey

1842–1913

mother :

Abigail Chesley Peavey Swasey

1809–1886

Partner:

Worcester R. Warner

American mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, manager, astronomer, and philanthropist.

Brother:

Jewett Peavey Swasey

1841–1910

Brother :

Benjamin Franklin Swasey

1837–1914

Father :

Nathaniel Swasey

1800–1890

References

• The Reformation Era Pamphlet in the Ambrose Swasey Library: An Annotated Bibliography
• Ambrose Swasey, Second Hoover Medalist