Formation of a Newtonian Culture in New England, 1727--1779 Frances Herman Lord University of New Hampshire, Durham
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University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Fall 2000 Piety, politeness, and power: Formation of a Newtonian culture in New England, 1727--1779 Frances Herman Lord University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Lord, Frances Herman, "Piety, politeness, and power: Formation of a Newtonian culture in New England, 1727--1779" (2000). Doctoral Dissertations. 2140. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/2140 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has bean reproduced from the microfilm master. 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Higher quality 6" x 9* black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PIETY, POLITENESS, & POWER: FORMATION OF A NEWTONIAN CULTURE IN NEW ENGLAND 1727-1779 BY FRANCES HERMAN LORD AB., Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pa., 1965 M A , University of New Hampshire, 1991 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History September, 2000 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9983716 Copyright 2000 by Lord, Frances Herman All rights reserved. UMI* UMI Microform9983716 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED c 2000 Fiances Herman Lord Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. Dissertation Director, Jan Golinski Professor of History £ -C J Z J Charles E. Clark, Professor Emeritus of History Ehga H. Gould, Associate Professor of/Hi story sard M Candee, Professor of American and New England Studies ston University L Bernard Cuhtu, PI WEssrxEmmtus of History of Science Harvard University 19 irfL 2*** Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For my parents, Francis Joseph and Anna Hoffinan Herman, who inspired my love of learning, and for my husband, Robert Anthony Lord, who inspired my love of history. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Like the “preceptors” of two of this history’s protagonists, the members of my dissertation committee have been generous in “forming ideas & Communicating Intellectual Pleasure.” I give heartfelt thanks to my director, Jan Golinski who introduced me to the wonders of eighteenth- century science and whose steadfast belief in my capabilities fostered the development of my own point of view and voice. I thank Eliga Gould for his cogent critiques and encouragement to stretch the intellectual bounds of this study. I thank Charles Clark for his early introduction to the intellectual and print cultures of New England and to Thomas Prince, and for his example as a word smith of skill and exactitude. I thank Richard Candee for his introduction to the Portsmouth Athenaeum with its wealth of early science books and its kinship with the Portsmouth Social Library, and for his encouragement of various research projects on the material culture of the Piscataqua region, many of which have added to this dissertation. I thank I. Bernard Cohen who—to paraphrase Jane Franklin Mecom (the sister of his philosophical friend, Benjamin Franklin)—helped me beat through impediments and arrive at a degree of understanding of the various strains of Newtonian thought that are the themes of this study. I also gladly acknowledge here the influence of Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, the preceptor under whose guidance I began my graduate studies and this dissertation. I am especially indebted to Beth Nichols for her perceptive reading of the fifth chapter. I also thank the history department faculty, especially Lucy Salyer, Janet Polasky, Cathy Frierson, William Harris, and Jeffrey Bolster, whose example and kind interest were a spur to my efforts; staff members Jeanne Mitchell and Lee Szeliga; and the cadre affellow graduate students. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the University of New Hampshire in providing a Dissertation Year Fellowship. I gladly thank the inter- v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. library loan and reference librarians upon whose services I depended, but most especially Patricia Irwin of the micro media staff whose cosseting and coddling kept the Evans’ microprint printer alive for the duration. For the handsome appearance of the illustrations, I thank Gary Samson and Douglas Prince of Photograph Services and also Beverly Samson and Lisa Nugent.. I am happy to thank the staff members of various archives and museums who have made much of this research possible: Thomas Johnson and Virginia Spiller of the Old York Historical Society; Jane Porter and Lynn Aber, as well as the rest of the staff of the Portsmouth Athenaeum; John Adams of the Salem Athenaeum; and Sarah Grindlay of the Harvard University Art Museums. I also thank Cindy Young-Gomes of Old York, David Smollen of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Jenna Gaudette of the American Antiquarian Society, Nicole Wells of the New York Historical Society, and Nicholas Graham of the Massachusetts Historical Society who provided invaluable assistance in obtaining the images from their collections that enliven these pages. It is impossible to adequately thank the many friends who have lightened the task by their interest, conversation, and material help. Thanks, in particular to Deborah Child and Hollis Brodrick for sharing their personal libraries, to Ann Flentje for providing provided bed and board during research trips, and to Andrew Howitt for copy-editing early drafts, and most especially to Mary Mills for her unwavering and affectionate inspiration. I have relied on my family—my husband, children, and extended family by birth and marriage of parents, sisters, brothers, and nieces and nephews— for their support, forbearance, and affection. Loving thanks especially to my sisters, Ellen Herman and Mary Emmett, and the sisters of my heart, Faith Dearborn, Jody Hailing, and Virginia Lord, and to my children Nathan and Ellen and their spouses Sarah Guy Lord and John Michniewicz. My gratitude for allowing me to trade on their goodwill and understanding is matched only by the anticipation of days of visiting, home-building, and grandmothering. To my parents and my husband, I lovingly dedicate this work. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION iv AKNOWLEDGEMENTS v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS ix ABSTRACT xii INTRODUCTION 1 I. BOOKSELLERS, SOCIAL LIBRARIES, AND SCIENCE DEVOTEES: TRAFFICKING IN NEWTON’S IMAGE AND NEWTONIAN LITERATURE 19 n. THE AMES'S ALMANACK: ACCOMMODATING NEWTONIAN METAPHYSICS AND TRADITIONAL LORE 73 m . THE PUBLIC PRINTS: APPROPRIATING NEWTONIAN NATURAL POWERS 121 IV. INFORMAL AND FORMAL SCIENCE DEMONSTRATIONS: PERFORMING NEWTONIAN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY 154 V. SCIENCE OBSERVATIONS AT HOME: “DOMESTICATING” NATURAL PHILOSOPHY 211 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. VI. CONCLUSION 232 APPENDICES 239 PRIMARY SOURCES 246 BIBLIOGRAPHY 254 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS