Early Work of the HCO under the Bond Adminstrations, 1848-1877, bulk: 1848-1866

Biography of William Cranch Bond

William Cranch Bond (1789 – 1859) left school at ten years old to work in his father’s Boston shop as a clockmaker. As an amateur astronomer, Bond was the first observer in the United States to spot the Great Comet of 1811, an accomplishment which attracted the attention of scholars at Harvard University. Four years later, Bond traveled to Europe on a Harvard commission to research European observatories. After returning to Boston, Bond transformed his living room into a makeshift observatory, even while he continued his career as a professional clock-maker. His astronomical calculations for latitude and longitude were so accurate that the U.S. Navy’s 1838 exploration of the South Pacific referenced the geographic coordinates of foreign ports in relation to Bond’s house. In 1839, Josiah Quincy, then the president of Harvard University, invited Bond to move his family and his private observatory to the Dana House (now Lamont Library). Thus, Bond’s front parlor became Harvard’s de facto observatory, though he worked without pay until 1846. The Comet of 1843 incited public interested in astronomical study and Harvard raised enough funds to purchase the Great Refactor, a 15-inch telescope, which marked the official establishment of the Harvard College Observatory. Bond remained the director until his death in 1859.

Biography of George Phillips Bond

George Phillips Bond (1825 – 1865), the third son of William Cranch Bond, succeeded his father as Director of the Harvard College Observatory in 1859. Prior to the elder Bond’s death, the younger Bond worked as an assistant astronomer at the H.C.O. His later employment as Director was marked by difficulty. In the months before he accepted the position, Bond’s wife and young daughter died, as did his father. At thirty-four years old, he contracted tuberculosis, and his health gradually declined over his short tenure. The onset of the Civil War, less than two years after his appointment, resulted in a near complete loss of funding for the H.C.O. and left the building in perpetual disrepair for years. Bond kept the observatory running, and reportedly worked up until his death in 1865. Among other accomplishments, he was later called “the father of celestial photography,” though there is no known image of Bond today.

Biography of Joseph Winlock

After graduating from Shelby College in 1846, Joseph Winlock (1826 – 1875), then only nineteen years old, was invited to remain at the institution as a Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy. In 1852, Winlock moved from Kentucky to Cambridge to work as a computer for the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac. Five years later, he was appointed a Professor of Mathematics in the United States Navy, became an assistant in the Naval Observatory in Washington, and was eventually, appointed Director of the Mathematical Department at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Winlock returned to Boston and became the Superintendent of the American Ephemeris. He held that position until he was appointed Director of the Harvard College Observatory after George Phillips Bond died in 1865. As Director, Winlock is often credited with the complete re-equipment of the H.C.O. after the war, and for inventions related to instrumental astronomy.