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A name that is too often ignored in the history of science in colonial America is that of a free Negro, Benjamin Banneker (c. 1734–1806) of Baltimore. A farmer by occupation, Banneker was the son of a native African slave and a free mulatto woman. In his spare time he attended the school of a Quaker farmer; the only book he owned was the Bible. When he was a young man he acquired a watch from a trader, and from it he developed his love of science and instruments. Although he had never seen a clock, he constructed one based on drawings he made from the watch. Banneker was called upon to assist in the construction of the mills for the Ellicotts, and it was natural that his clock, which was the marvel of the Negro settlement, should come to the attention of Joseph Ellicott. Ellicott became interested in Banneker's thirst for knowledge and allowed him the use of his tools, scientific instruments, and technical books. Among the books were Mayer's Tables, James Ferguson's Astronomy, and Leadbeater's Lunar Tables. Banneker absorbed these and other works that he borrowed and went on to explore the wonderful new world they opened up for him. He pursued astronomical studies, and within three years he began to make calculations (fig. 12) for an almanac. After completing the calculations for the year 1791, he went on to produce a set of calculations for 1792. During this period he mastered the use of surveying instruments and made a firsthand study of tides in the region. His great opportunity came when Andrew Ellicott was chosen to make a survey for the city of Washington and hired Banneker as an assistant. While thus employed, Banneker completed his almanac and gave it to George Ellicott, Andrew's cousin, as a subject of possible interest. Apparently George Ellicott turned it over to the Honorable James McHenry of Baltimore, who in turned submitted it to the Philadelphia firm of Goddard & Angell, who published it (fig. 13). Banneker mailed a copy of his Benjamin Banneker's Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia And Maryland Almanac and Ephemeris For the Year of Our Lord, 1792 to Thomas Jefferson, who was so impressed with it that he forwarded it to the Marquis de Condorcet, secretary of the French Academy of Sciences. After his work with Ellicott had been completed, Banneker retired to his farm to produce almanacs annually until 1802. When he died in 1806 he was eulogized before the French Academy by the Marquis de Condorcet, and William Pitt placed his name in the records of the English Parliament.[11]

Figure 12.—Letter from Benjamin Banneker to George Ellicott dated October 13, 1789, regarding astronomical data for the compilation of Banneker's almanac. Photo courtesy Maryland Historical Society.

Figure 13.—Title page of one of Banneker's almanacs. The portrait of Banneker was made by Timothy Woods in 1793 for the publisher and reproduced by woodcut. Banneker's first almanac was published in Philadelphia in 1792.