In a letter written 17 May 1803, surveyor and scientist Isaac Briggs reports to President Thomas Jefferson that he met with Meriwether Lewis in Philadelphia May 10 and 11.
Sextant
© 2010 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Sharon, 17th. of the 5th. Month 1803
My Dear Friend
I saw Captain M. Lewis, in Philadelphia, on the 10th. & 11th. instants.
Permit me to repeat assurances of my esteem and respect, and that I am Thy friend,
Isaac Briggs[1]Isaac Briggs to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0290 accessed 12 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, … Continue reading
Isaac Briggs (1763–1825) had recently been appointed Surveyor General of the Mississippi Territory. He was a friend of Jefferson and fellow member of the American Philosophical Society. Just days after Robert Fulton plied his new steamboat on the Hudson, Briggs and William Longstreet powered a five-mile stint on the Savannah River powered by their recently patented steam engine. Throughout his life, he was a devout Quaker and active abolitionist.[2]“Isaac Briggs,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Briggs accessed 2 June 2022.
Briggs had been working with Jefferson to develop the technology to calculate longitude without the need for a chronometer (see March 1, 1803) and was the secretary of the American Board of Agriculture of which Meriwether Lewis was also a member (see also March 2, 1803).
Notes
| ↑1 | Isaac Briggs to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0290 accessed 12 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 40, 4 March–10 July 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, p. 383.] |
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| ↑2 | “Isaac Briggs,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Briggs accessed 2 June 2022. |
