Journal of Andrew Ellicott’s expedition surveying the western borders of New York, with first scientific measurements of Niagara Falls, 1789-1790

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2025-03-24

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A manuscript journal of Andrew Ellicott’s expedition surveying the western borders of New York, including the first scientific measurements of Niagara Falls, 1789-1790. The journal contains 60 unnumbered pages. The author of the journal is unknown. The first page begins mid-sentence with an undated series of directions along the St. Lawrence River and the New York-Ontario border. The first three pages consist of these directions and are followed by dated diary entries recording the expedition beginning on page 5 (dated November 8, 1789) and ending on page 42 (dated January 26, 1790). Entries provide details of locations, distances traveled, weather, and the work of the surveying parties. Most days contain their own individual entries.

Some notable names are included in the journal. The entry dated January 13, 1790 refers to a visit with Doctor Franklin [Benjamin Franklin] in Philadelphia. The last entry refers to a report to President Washington. Within the journal entries, six pages include readings, observations, calculations and latitude bearings related to the surveying work, as well as a two-page map sketch of an unidentified location. The remaining 19 pages contain financial accounts.

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Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820) was a mathematician, astronomer and surveyor from Buckingham, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1789 Ellicott moved to Philadelphia and was hired by the government to survey the Presqu’ Isle triangle. He was also hired to determine whether the community of Presqu’ Isle (present-day Erie, Pennsylvania) could be claimed by landowners who had purchased the Massachusetts preemption claim to western New York. While this work primarily focused on the Pennsylvania boundary, it also encompassed the lands around Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and the Niagara River. During the course of this project, Ellicott saw Niagara Falls and made the first accurate measurements of the height of the Falls and Rapids, as well as the length of the Niagara River. Aside from a widely reprinted description of Niagara Falls sent by Ellicott to Benjamin Rush, there appears to be little surviving documentation of the Niagara portion of the survey, its route, the calculations taken, or a full roster of those who accompanied Ellicott on the expedition. The numbers provided in the journal are a close match to those included in Ellicott’s letter to Benjamin Rush, though the heights given by Ellicott to Rush are given in rounded figures while the readings in the journal are more precise fractional measurements.

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https://hdl.handle.net/10464/19097

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CC0 1.0 Universal
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