Dear Doug: Pictured below are two pieces of surveying equipment my father acquired at an estate sale in Davenport in the early 1980s. The compass is marked "G. F. Heisely Harrisburg," and the transit is marked "W. J. Young maker Philadelphia." They both appear to be brass, and the original wood boxes are present. My dad thought these were the instruments that were used in the original survey of Davenport. Any information or authentication you could provide would be appreciated.

Best Regards,

DC

Dear DC: Well, this is certainly a compelling story - the actual tools used to plat the proposed town of Davenport? This might be a bit presumptuous, but, at any rate, it implores a response.

Your vernier compass was made by George (J)acob Heisely of Harrisburg, Pa. He was what was known at that time as a mathematical instrument maker. George was taught the craft by his father, Frederick Heisely, and entered into business with him beginning in 1811 under the name of Heisely & Son.

After his father retired, George produced instruments like yours under his own name from about 1839 until his death in 1880. Interesting perhaps, yet the better story here is not about George the instrument maker, but George Heisely the soldier.

Heisely served in the War of 1812, spending much of his time in defense of Baltimore. While holed up outside the city in 1814, copies of a poem were circulating throughout the camp. Fellow soldier Ferdinand Durang, who followed in his father's footsteps as a singer and theatrical actor, thought the poem had the makings of a good song. Well, Heisely just happened to play the flute and possessed the sole instrument and music book of any kind in the entire company. With Durang's encouragement, Heisely leafed through his songbook until he found a tune with a meter suitable to the poem lyrics. The melody he chose was an old English drinking song titled "To Anacreon in Heaven."

Pleased with their collaboration, Ferdinand actually performed the song in public a few days later at the Holliday Street Theater in Baltimore. Little could they have known that their vision and intervention transformed the words of Francis Scott Key into our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Heisely had another interesting military encounter when the Civil War broke out. He and 16 other veterans of the War of 1812 took up the tattered remnants of their old company flag and reported to the governor of Pennsylvania to offer their services to the state militia. Their proposal was proffered with one condition, however: that they all would be properly outfitted with the same type of flintlock muskets they had used some 50 years earlier. The governor obliged, and Heisely was once again in service to his country at the sprightly age of 74.

The face of your compass is very simple and unadorned. Normally, one would suppose this suggests it was made early in a maker's career, but in this case, Heisely's work became less fanciful over time. Perhaps he could no longer justify the time required to produce decorative artwork since it obviously wasn't functionally necessary and only served to increase costs.

Thus, this particular piece is more likely an example from later in his career, possibly made decades after Davenport was sketched out. It could be dismantled by an expert to search for further clues as to its date of origin. Although these tools were found in Davenport, I'm afraid they could have traveled great distances over the past 150 years or so.

The device you refer to as a transit is actually called a wye-level. The purpose of a wye-level is to determine elevations by measuring a level line of sight to a rod that allows you to determine elevation differences from one point to another. A "transit," on the other hand, is used to measure horizontal and vertical angles.

This piece likely predates 1840, and its maker, William J. Young, is credited with inventing the surveyor's transit. Also, he was hired in 1835 by William Austin Burt to make the very first solar compass. It's hard to overstate his contributions as a pioneer in the field. He was a true genius and a master craftsman.

Davenport was originally laid out May 14, 1836, by Maj. William Gordon, a U.S. surveyor by profession and one of the eight members of the town founders group. Furthermore, Gordon likely brought along older equipment, which he had been using in his vocation. An eyewitness claimed that Gordon was drunk when he made the survey, and errors in the original plat didn't reckon, making a re-survey necessary on April 3, 1841.

Tying either of your devices to the original town survey is an untenable argument - impossible to prove even if it were true.

You should not be downhearted, however, as both instruments are of museum caliber. The level is probably worth less than $500, but the compass could bring up to $5,000, based on recent sales that I have seen. Both estimates are based only on the one picture provided, and a closer examination might change my opinion. But unless your dad paid more than $5,000 for these at the local estate sale, I'd say he did alright.

Contact Doug Smith with your collectibles questions by e-mailing him at DougsQCCollecting@hotmail.com or visiting his Web site, DougsQCCollectibles.com. Comment on this column at qctimes.com.