Compass, Surveyor's - Julius H. Adams

Object number2015.002.02.1-2

Date1885-1915

MediumBrass, Glass, Metal, Ink, Liquid

DimensionsExtended: 2 × 4 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (5.1 × 11.4 × 14 cm)

Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection

Terms

DescriptionA Surveyor’s Compass used by Julius H. Adams, a self-taught surveyor who helped distinguish the land lines in Bradley and Calhoun counties, Arkansas. Adams was born March 6, 1847 in Coosa County, Alabama. In 1864, he joined Company “B” Flippin’s Battalion and served in the Civil War until the surrender in 1865. After the Civil War, Adams married Nancy Hargis on January 4, 1866 in Bradley County, Arkansas and worked as a self-taught surveyor and eventually as a Timber Estimator for the Arkansas Lumber Company in Warren, Arkansas. He and his family lived in a residence built by Adams near Warren. Adams died January 27, 1927 in Bradley County.

The compass is made of brass, glass, liquid, and metal. The compass is composed of a circular brass box containing a magnetic needle, which is designed to move freely around the circle that has been divided into 360 degrees. The needle and a brass bar are protected by a glass covering, and a pair of collapsible sights is located at the North-South axis of the compass. Compasses were typically mounted on tripods or staffs and rotated on a ball and socket joint. The Surveyor’s Compass is an instrument used to measure horizontal angles and for determining the magnetic bearing of a line sight. Surveyors would use this type of compass to help determine land lines, property boundaries, and other information useful to mapmaking, construction, and engineering.

This compass was distributed by A.S. Aloe and Company in St. Louis, Missouri, as indicated by the "A.S. Aloe & Co. St Louis" trademark on the face of the instrument.
A.S. Aloe and Company was founded by Albert Sidney Aloe in 1860 and by the early 1900s, it was the largest supplier of surveying, mathematical instruments, and allied goods in St. Louis. During the first twenty-five years of manufacturing, the company was also known as “Aloe & Hernstein” and “Aloe, Hernstein & Company”, but adopted “A.S. Aloe & Company” in 1885 and kept the name for 76 years and two generations of Aloes. The production of surveying equipment, however, ended in 1930 due to the Great Depression.

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