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Library 1994.WHERE IS BUFFALO?WHERE IS BUFFALO?
The Determination of Its Latitude and
Longitude in 1861.
As is to be expected, there is much discrepancy in the
earlier surveys, as to the exact location of Buffalo. In
comparatively recent years, engineers of the United' States
Bake Survey have determined the location by observations
and calculations with base at Buffalo Plains; an ‘4East-
base, ’7 presumably the eastern boundary of the city; the
Buffalo lighthouse; the Horseshoe lighthouse; and the
intersection of Michigan and Exchange streets ; calculating
from these as a mean result for Buffalo city, the latitude
42° 53' 03.18"; and longitude west of Greenwich 78° 52'
41.83".
For one or more earlier surveys the lighthouse at the
harbor entrance was used to designate Buffalo and as late
as 1861 its position was reported at lat. 42° 50', long.
78° 59'.
In 1857, and again in 1858, appropriations were made by
the Legislature of New York State to defray the cost of
ascertaining the true meridian of such localities as the
Board of Regents might designate. By 1862, the location
of four points in the State had been determined under
this provision: the Dudley Observatory, Albany; the
Hamilton College Observatory near Clinton; the court-
house, Syracuse; and the lighthouse in Buffalo harbor.
The following correspondence and reports relating to the
work done in Buffalo is deemed appropriate for preserva-
tion in the Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society.
The documents are drawn from the records of the Board of
Regents of the University of the State of New York.
335336
WHERE IS BUFFALO?
JUDGE WILLIAMS TO PROF. WOOLWORTH.
Treasurer’s Office, Hamilton College:
Clinton, Oneida County, (N. Y.), July 23, 1861.
Dr. S. B. Woolworth, Secretary, &c.
Dear Sir:	In pursuance of a resolution adopted by our Board of
Trustees at its annual meeting held on the 17th instant, I transmit to
the Regents of the University Dr. Peters’ Report on the longitude of
Buffalo. It is a learned and elaborate paper, and I trust will prove
satisfactory.
And remain your obedient servant,
O. S. Williams, Secretary.
REPORT OF DR. PETERS, ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL
POSITION OF THE CITY OF BUFFALO, IN AUGUST, 1860.
Hon. O. S. Williams, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Hamilton
College.
Dear Sir:	The Regents of the University, in confiding to thfe.
Hamilton College Observatory the work of determining the longitude
of the City of Buffalo (forming part of the longitude determinations
ordered by the State Legislature), were desirous that at the same
time also the latitude of that important lake port, on the terminus of
the Erie Canal and of the New York Central Railroad, might be
accurately fixed, and requested that the final result should be referred
to the lighthouse in the harbor. Consequently the work to be per-
formed was three-fold:	1st, the longitude, to be obtained, of course,
by the telegraphic method; 2d, the latitude; and 3d, the transforma-
tion of these coordinates from the observing station to the lighthouse.
The instrument at our disposition, both for time determinations and
for observations in the prime vertical, was the 32-inch portable
Transit, which, as will be seen below, has proved very suitable for the
purpose. It permits, by its optical power, a sufficient number of stars
to be taken in daytime, while its weight and bulk are not too cum-
bersome in transporting and mounting.
In July I went to Buffalo the first time, in order to select a con-
venient station, and to put the same, by a temporary wire, into con-
nection with the great telegraph line, the use of which has been con-
ceded by the Superintendent, J. D. Reid, Esq., with his customary
liberality. In the more densely built business portion of the city,WHEME IS BUFFALO?
337
however, where the telegraph line passes, no locality was found com-
manding sufficient range of the sky both in the meridian and in
the direction perpendicular to it, suiting at the same time the con-
dition of stability for the instrument, and offering the necessary
security against injury and disturbance. It was, therefore, with the
greatest pleasure that I accepted the very kind offer of Dr. W. S.
VanDuzee, who put at our free disposition his private observatory at
his residence on Main Street, and deserves our best thanks for the
effective aid given with so great amiability to our enterprise. The
nearest distance, however, of Dr. Van Duzee's observatory from the
telegraph line being about one mile and a half, the expense of a
temporary connecting wire of such a length seemed unauthorized;
and therefore another mode of transmitting Buffalo time to Hamilton
College was hit upon, which although not equally direct, and giving
some more work to the observer, has proved entirely successful, as
will be seen from the results.
To explain this mode:	I remarked, that there was only one
observer, with one transit and one clock and chronograph, besides
a chronometer. The quality of our clock permits a reliance upon
the invariability of its rate for several successive days without sen-
sible error. Therefore, after having determined its correction to true
time; then making a quick journey to Buffalo, mounting here the
transit instrument, and recording by means of the telegraph the
transits of a number of stars upon the chronograph at Hamilton
College; and finally returning with the Transit and ascertaining
without delay the clock-error anew, the readings of the chronograph
sheets would furnish a knowledge of the two local times simultan-
eously existing, or rather a comparison of the corrections of the
clock in regard to each of the two meridians, and hence the difference
in longitude.
Such was the plan proposed, which now was modified in so far
that not the star-signals themselves were transmitted by the tele-'
graph, but the breaks made at certain seconds of the chronometer.
This latter was regulated by transits at Dr. Van Duzee 7s observa-
tory; then carefully carried to the telegraph office; here a number
of seconds were signalled by means of taps upon a break-circuit
key, and, after returning to the observatory, another set of transits
was observed, for the purpose of eliminating the influence of any
change in the chronometer-rate by transportation. The taps can
be made to coincide far more accurately with the chronometer beats
than with the transits of a star behind the wires; and moreover as
in the former circumstance they may easily be multiplied to an338
WBEBE IS BUFFALO.
almost unlimited extent, no sensible increase of the probable error
in the transmitted time is to be feared as arising from this additional
source.
The time of the transits in Buffalo being noted on the chronometer
by ear and eye, those at the Hamilton College Observatory were
observed exactly in the same manner; and likewise the chronometer
was compared with the clock in a corresponding way, viz., chrono-
graphically. Thus it is evident that any discrepancy arising from a
different mode of determining the time at the two places, or any
personal equation, was avoided.
After I made a good set of time determinations on the 6th
August, I started again for Buffalo on the 7th, this time accompanied
by the transit instrument and the sidereal chronometer. The follow
ing day, the former was mounted on the fixed pier under the meridian
slot of Dr. Van Duzee’s observatory. The observations were begun
immediately, and time-signals sent to Hamilton College that same
evening; they were repeated on the following evening. On the 10th
August I returned with the Transit, and made time determinations
on the 11th again at the Hamilton College Observatory. Here, on
both the evenings when time-signals were transmitted, Prof. O. Root
had the kindness, at a concerted hour, to prepare and put the chrono-
graph in motion.
The success in arriving at a good and accurate result by the method
described, depending essentially on the uniformity of the clock-rate,
it was necessary, in order to obtain full evidence of such uniformity,
to observe transits in the week following the 11th August, as had
been done during the week preceding the 6th. By combining the
time determinations made on July 28 and 30, and1 August 5, 6, 11,
16 and 19, I have obtained' only a confirmation of the excellency of
the clock.
The armature and wave-time of the electric current cannot be
determined but by means of two chronographs simultaneously re-
cording. Either the correction for it may be entirely neglected on
account of its smallness, or it may be inferred from other observa-
tions. It is subtractive in our ease, the signals being sent from the
western station; and from the operations between the Harvard and
Hamilton College observatories, I have assumed three hundredths of
a second for its amount.
Between the 21st and 30th August, by forming a small triangula
tion, the connection of the observing station with the lighthouse was
effected. The lighthouse is not visible from Dr. Van Duzee's observ-
atory; but, in reconnoitering, it was ascertained that by only twoWHERE IS BUFFALO?
339
DIAGRAM ACCOMPANYING PROFESSOR PETERS’ REPORT340
WEEBE IS BUFFALO.
intermediate points, viz., the steeple of Westminster Church and a.
station on the Reservoirl, that is, by no more than two triangles,,
the lighthouse might be reached. A base-line of exactly 1,700 feet
was measured near the observatory; and the azimut of Westminster
steeple from the observatory was determined by means of the sun,,
a small theodolite serving both for this determination and for meas-
uring the triangles. This instrument, however, could not be placed,
in Westminster steeple; and the third angles at this point, therefore,,
have been supplied from the triangles.
The latitude was determined on the nights of the 27th and 29thi
August; a temporary brick-pier, and a small wooden building with
an opening in the prime vertical for placing there the Hamilton,
College Transit^ having been erected in Dr. Van Duzee’s garden, 24,
feet north and 73 feet east from the center of the dome of the*
observatory. In the mean time, to regulate the chronometer, a small
portable transit instrument, owned by Dr. Van Duzee, was replaced
in the meridian. Instead of making a previous selection of stars*
for the prime vertical transits, I preferred to observe all those con-
veniently entering the field in moderate zenit-distances; taking care*
to obtain for each position (north and south) of the instrumental
axis a nearly equal number of stars in east and in west, and so great
a number that the errors of the individual declinations (sometimes;
found only in Lalande’s Catalogue) might sufficiently compensate?
each other.
Having finished the observations for latitude and the trigono-
metrical operations, I intended to improve the occasion by sending,
the evening before my departure, a few confirmatory signals for
longitude. The weather, however, which had been highly favorable*
during our previous operations, now had changed; and finally when
on the 13th September I had obtained an unobjectionable set of time
determinations, it was ascertained that the wires between IJtica and
Clinton were out of repair; wherefore I closed my journeys by
returning home on the 15th September.
Dr. Peters’ report continues with tables of transit obser-
vations and other details of the work not necessary to
record here. Having determined the latitude and longitude
of the lighthouse, he remarked on the discrepancy of his
result and the figures published in the American Almanac
1. At Niagara and Connecticut Streets.WHERE IS BUFFALO?
341
for 1861, apparently compiled with care, which gave the
location as lat. 42° 50', long. 78° 59'. These figures, wrote
Dr. Peters in concluding his report, “differ from our re-
sults respectively by 2' 46" and 5' 25",” both in plus, that
is, the City of Buffalo hitherto has been set down about 2%
miles too far south and 4 miles too far west. Especially the
latter change, that of the longitude, is not only interesting,
but of some administrative importance. For if, together
with the meridian of Buffalo (as is probable), the meridian
of the whole western portion of the State henceforth ought
to be removed eastward by four miles, then it follows that
the area of the State of New York is in reality from 300
to 400 square miles smaller than has been assumed. ’ ’2
Dr. William S. Van Duzee, who is still remembered by
older residents of Buffalo, dwelt for many years at the
comer of Main and Riley streets, where his observatory
and telescope—an exceptional scientific equipment for such
a town as Buffalo was in 1861—were objects of great in-
terest to townspeople and to visitors. He removed from
Buffalo to Lancaster, Erie County, where he died, February
1, 1883, aged 71.
Christian Henry Frederick Peters, whose work in deter-
mining the geographic location of Buffalo has been indi-
cated, was an astronomer of considerable distinction. Bom
in Coldenbuttel, Schleswig, September 19, 1813, he studied
at the universities of Berlin and Copenhagen. He accom-
panied the Baron Sartorius von Walthershausen to Sicily
and made a topographical survey of Mount Etna. His
scientific work being interrupted by the outbreak of the
Italian revolution, he joined the insurrectionists under
Garibaldi, won honors on the field and was made major of
artillery. On the suppression of the insurrection, in 1848,
he fled to Turkey, where he met the United States Minister,
2. N. Y. Senate Doc. 95, April 5, 1862.342
WEEBE IS BUFFALO.
George P. Marsh, who advised him to seek his fortune in
America. Peters followed this advice, and coming to thi&
country, first made his home at Cambridge, Mass., and was
soon employed by the U. S. Geological Survey, retiring
from that service in 1857. The next year began his long
connection with Hamilton College, which lasted until his
death in 1890.
On numerous occasions the work of Dr. Peters as director
of the Litchfield Observatory at Clinton, and professor of
astronomy in the college, was varied by special services. He
headed the expedition sent by the United States Govern-
ment to New Zealand to observe the transit of Yenus, De-
cember 9, 1874. He proved and registered more than
112,000 stars, and discovered many new stars and nearly
50 asteroids. In 1887 he attended the International Con-
gress of Astronomers, at Paris, on which occasion he was
made by the French Government a Chevalier of the Legion
of Honor. After his death an appropriation was made
by the Carnegie Institute to publish work left by him.
During his active years he had contributed to various
scientific periodicals; the greater part of his research work
is recorded in the Astronomische Nachrichten.
Such, in brief, was the career of the distinguished astron-
omer who more than a half century ago, determined the
latitude and longitude of Buffalo.