![]() Swick said discussions began in 2005 between the two museums about acquiring the telescope, but little progress was made initially due to the reluctance of most museums to part with items in their collections. It remained in Buffalo for over a century – unbeknownst to local historians – until an article was published in 2005 and found on the Internet about the piece. Justice lent and later donated the telescope to the Buffalo Historical Society, whose name later was changed to the Buffalo History Museum. In 1902, Justice’s grandson, a Buffalo, N.Y., businessman named William G. Justice, “a gentleman of scientific attainments and of considerable repute as an astronomer,” purchased it from an unknown person who had bid on it at one of the 1807 auctions, Swick said. It was sold at one of two forced sales of the property held in 1807 at the insistence of Blennerhassett’s creditors, Swick said.Īround 1820, a Philadelphia man named George M. ![]() In his mansion on the island, a roof platform was build over the central section where he would often use the telescope to view the night sky, Swick said.Īfter Blennerhassett was forced to leave the island in 1806 due to his involvement with Aaron Burr, knowledge of the telescope was sketchy for nearly a century. ![]() The manufacturer’s name and London address are engraved on the telescope’s optical tube. The telescope was probably purchased in 1795 or 1796 in London as he was preparing to move to America, Swick said. His collection included a chemical laboratory, the second one known to have been brought to the Ohio Valley, equipment for experimenting with electricity and devices to experiment with magnetism. It was one of Harman Blennerhassett’s most prized possessions, along with a variety of scientific equipment he brought to the island on the Ohio River at Parkersburg between 17. Ray Swick, the park’s retired historian, said museum officials have long been interested in finding out what happened to the telescope. A long-sought artifact of Blennerhassett history has found its way back home to Parkersburg, over 200 years after leaving the Mid-Ohio Valley.īlennerhassett Island Historical State Park officials and the Friends of Blennerhassett volunteer support group held a special reception Saturday at the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History in downtown Parkersburg to unveil the museum’s newest acquisition – a telescope once owned by Harman Blennerhassett. From left are retired park historian Ray Swick, Rosemary Alonzo, treasurer of the Friends of Blennerhassett, Steven McCarville, president of the Board of Managers of the Buffalo History Museum in Buffalo, N.Y., and Mark Abbott, president of the Friends of Blennerhassett. ![]() The telescope once owned by Harman Blennerhassett has become part of the permanent collection at the Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History in Parkersburg. Parkersburg News and Sentinel photo by Wayne Towner ![]()
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