Joseph Saxton (March 22, 1799 – October 26, 1873) was an American inventor, watchmaker,

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

, and photographer from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. A

daguerrotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwide in 1839, t ...

taken by Saxton in 1839 is one of the oldest surviving photographs taken in the United States.

Early life

Saxton was born in

Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Huntingdon is a borough in and county seat of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in the Middle Atlantic states region of the Northeastern United States. It lies along the Juniata River about east of larger Altoona and west of the state capita ...

, and first entered as an apprentice to a watchmaker when he was twelve years old. Saxon was the son of a Mr. Saxton, a mechanic, and Elizabeth Ashbaugh, daughter of John Ashbaugh Sr.

Career

Philadelphia

In 1817, aged 18, Joseph Saxton moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he found employment as a watchmaker, engraver, and apprentice in the machine shop of

Isaiah Lukens Isaiah Quinby Lukens (24 August 1779 – 12 November 1846) was an American clockmaker, gunsmith, machinist, and inventor from southeastern Pennsylvania. He was a founding member and first vice president of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. ...

. During this time, he made his first inventions: a machine for cutting the teeth of

marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and the time at t ...

wheels and an

escapement An escapement is a mechanical linkage in mechanical watches and clocks that gives impulses to the timekeeping element and periodically releases the gear train to move forward, advancing the clock's hands. The impulse action transfers energy to t ...

and compensating pendulum for clocks. He also helped Lukens with the construction of a clock for the newly rebuilt steeple of the

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...

. In 1884, an anecdote about Saxton's apprenticeship was published by George Escol Sellers, who worked with him in Lukens' shop:

"From the time of Saxton's coming to Philadelphia we were intimate and warm friends until his death. The first summer vacation of Lukens' after Saxton commenced to work with him, his shop was not closed as usual, but Saxton was left in charge, "to tinker," as Lukens said, with anything he liked. He planned, and was making for himself a cane gun. My elder brother and myself each concluded to make one ... I was in his shop beside Saxton doing that little job, when Lukens, who had unexpectedly returned from his summer trip, came in. He looked at, and asked what I was doing. On examining the plan, he suggested some slight alterations. Saxton showed his gun that was completed. He had worked out the plan himself and Lukens was greatly pleased with its simplicity."

England

Looking to further his education, Joseph Saxton traveled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in 1828 and resided there nine years. For most of his stay he was employed by the Adelaide Gallery of Practical Science, a museum for the public that demonstrated new inventions and scientific principles. While working for the gallery, Saxton invented the magneto-electric machine, an apparatus for measuring the velocity of vessels, a device for measuring the height of water in a steam boiler, the

riflescope A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical instrument, optical sight (device), sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a frame of reference, referencing pattern – known as ...

, and the

fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument that uses a metal nib (pen), nib to apply Fountain pen ink, water-based ink, or special pigment ink—suitable for fountain pens—to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal r ...

prototype.

Return to the US

After almost a decade abroad, Saxton returned to Philadelphia in 1837 and accepted a position at the

Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint is a branch of the United States Mint in Philadelphia. It was built in 1792 following the Coinage Act of 1792, in order to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States, and is the first and ...

, first as superintended the making of machinery and then as curator of weights and measures, accurate sets of which were furnished to national and State governments. Among his inventions of this time may be mentioned a mirror

comparator In electronics, a comparator is a device that compares two voltages or currents and outputs a digital signal indicating which is larger. It has two analog input terminals V_+ and V_- and one binary digital output V_\text. The output is ideally ...

for comparing standards of length and a new form of

dividing engine A dividing engine is a device employed to mark graduations on measuring instruments. History There has always been a need for accurate measuring instruments. Whether it is a linear device such as a ruler or vernier or a circular device such ...

; a self-registering

tide gauge A tide gauge is a device for measuring the change in sea level relative to a vertical datum. It is also known as a mareograph, marigraph, and sea-level recorder. When applied to freshwater continental water body, water bodies, the instrument may ...

, and an immersed

hydrometer A hydrometer or lactometer is an instrument used for measuring density or relative density of liquids based on the concept of buoyancy. They are typically Calibration, calibrated and Graduation (instrument), graduated with one or more scales suc ...

. In the fall of 1839, either around September 25 or October 16, Saxton took what is one of the oldest surviving photographs (

daguerreotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photography, photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwid ...

) taken in the U.S. There were earlier photographs taken in the United States by the

calotype Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. Paper texture effects in calotype photography limit the ability of this early process to record low ...

process during spring 1839 and daguerreotypes in September of that year. The image was taken from the window of his office at the Philadelphia Mint and captured the cupola of Central High School and a portion of the State Armory building. It was taken on a sheet of polished metal. A seidlitz powder box with a few flakes of iodine answered for a coating box, while a cigar box and burning glass were improvised for a camera. An iron spoon served to heat the mercury to develop the plate. The picture which was produced is owned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.The Public Schools of Philadelphia: Historical, Biographical, Statistical by John Trevor Custis, Burk & McFetridge Co. Publisher, 1897, Pg. 132
/ref> The first reference to the photograph appeared on 24 October 1839 in the ''United States Gazette''. After Saxton took his first experimental images, he approached

Robert Cornelius Robert Cornelius (; March 1, 1809 – August 10, 1893) was an American photographer and pioneer in the history of photography. His daguerreotype self-portrait taken in 1839 is generally accepted as the first known photographic portrait of a pers ...

to supply him with better photographic plates. Cornelius took up an interest in photography and opened one of the first daguerreotype studios in May 1840.

Later life

From 1843 until his death, three decades later, he was superintendent of weights and measures for the

United States Coast Survey United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. He died in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on October 26, 1873. He was a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

and the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

. In 1843 he was awarded the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium by the Franklin Institute for the invention of his reflecting

pyrometer A pyrometer, or radiation thermometer, is a type of remote sensing thermometer used to measure the temperature of distant objects. Various forms of pyrometers have historically existed. In the modern usage, it is a device that from a distance de ...

External links

Smithsonian Institution Press, 1978, Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, Number 40: ''United States Standards of Weights and Measures, Their Creation and Creators'', by Arthur H. Frazier

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxton, Joseph 1799 births 1873 deaths People from Philadelphia 19th-century American inventors Members of the American Philosophical Society