Amos Doolittle

Background

Amos Doolittle was born on May 18, 1754 in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States. He was the son of Ambrose and Martha (Munson) Doolittle, being next to the eldest in a family of thirteen.

Career

From a craftsman in his native town Doolittle began to learn the trade of silversmith, but for some reason turned his attention to engraving on copper. In this he seems to have been his own instructor. While still a young man he left Cheshire, and made his home in New Haven, where he lived the rest of his life. He was one of a number of citizens who memorialized the General Assembly “to construct them a district military company by the name of the Governor’s Second Company of Guards, ” and thus he became a charter member of that famous organization which is known today as the Governor’s Foot Guards. When, in the spring of 1775, news came of the battle of Lexington, Doolittle was one of those who under Capt. Benedict Arnold marched to Cambridge. Their services, however, were not needed there at the moment, and they soon returned to New Haven. Doolittle was a practical patriot, and made the expedition serve him to good purpose, for in December of the same year he was advertising in the Connecticut Journal four copper plates depicting “the battle of Lexington, Concord, ” etc. , from paintings made by Ralph Earle. As representations of what actually took place they can hardly be regarded as of much value. It has been said of them that they are “not to be held amenable to any canons of art, except those formulated and adopted by the artist of his own sweet will”.

He was an indefatigable worker, turning out from his little shop on the college square a great variety of plates. He seems not to have depended entirely upon the burin for his livelihood, for advertisements in the local papers inform us that he dealt in varnishing, enameling, etc. , and that he made silver and metal eagles, and one of his own prints tells us that he had a rolling press.

His work as an engraver shows a wide variety of subjects. He furnished numerous portraits and illustrations for books, engraved music, money, and diplomas, and made a number of bookplates. He is said to have assisted Abel Buell in engraving the latter’s wall map of the territories of the United States according to the Peace of 1783, and he engraved the two maps included in Jedidiah Morse’s Geography Made Easy (1784). One of Doolittle’s principal works, which has received high commendation is his “Display of the United States of America, ” in which Washington is the central figure surrounded by the coats of arms of the states. There are several variations of this plate. It was followed by a “New Display, ” in which John Adams was the central figure, and yet again by another “New Display, ” which carried the portrait of Jefferson.

Achievements

• Doolittle is known for such works as “Display of the United States of America”, copper plates depicting “the battle of Lexington, Concord, ” etc.

Connections

Doolittle was twice married. Regarding his first wife information is lacking, save that her first name was Sally, and that she died January 29, 1797, in her thirty-eighth year. His second wife was Phebe Tuttle, whom he married on November 8, 1797, and who died in 1825.

Father:

Ambrose Doolittle

Mother:

Martha (Munson) Doolittle

Second wife:

Phebe Tuttle

First wife:

Sally

References

• Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society
• Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 5: Pickering-Sumter (Classic Reprint)