1700's Surveying Instrument Handmade by Goldsmith Chandlee Winchester! Museum Quality!

Up for auction today we have a really amazing piece!! It's a Surveying Instrument handmade by Goldsmith Chandlee Winchester back in the late 1700's!

As you can see in the pictures below, this museum quality piece is a really spectacular item that any true historical enthusiast or collector would Love to own!

There is a chapter about Goldsmith Chandlee Winchester in a book called "Six Quaker Clockmakers" by Edward E. Chandlee -- The Historical Society of Pennsylvania Philadelphia 1943.

Personal history about this piece:

The man who is having me sell this for him has owned it for close to 15 years. He aquired the instrument from a gentleman who had had it passed down from 4 generations in his family. His great grandfather had it.

The only other Surveying Instrument of this caliber we have seen or know of is in a museum.

This piece is protected in a walnut case. It is not the original box but was made specially to protect it and has green felt cushioning around sensitive parts of the instrument. The case has two closings on either side and a leather belt that wraps around the box and buckles at the top.

It's made of brass and everyhing is totally in tact and in perfectly great condition. All of the markings and designs are totally visible and not faded in the least.

The case IS included. There is ALSO a staff that comes along.

The staff is made of Oak and is 56 inches long. It IS original. The top of the staff -- the brass end is 6 inches in length an the bottom of the staff which spears into the ground is 7 3/4 inches long.

The Surveying Instrument itself is 13 1/2 inches long. The face of the surveyor is 5 1/2 inches wide.

The two sights that attach to the sides are 5 1/2 inches long and 1 1/4 inches wide.

The name G Chandlee Winchester is engraved on the side. It's perfectly readable and in perfect shape.

The pictures below are: The surveyor instrument in the walnut case, the side of the instrument showing G. Chandlee's engraved name, the back of the surveyor, a close-up picture of the face of the surveyor, a shot showing the staff next to the instrument in its box and a close-up picture of the spear end of the staff that has some wear on it.

If you would like to see additional photos -- just ask.

Here is some information from the chapter in the book "Six Quaker Clockmakers":

The oldest of Benjamin Chandlee Junior's four sons was Goldsmith. He served his apprenticeship of clockmaking with his father in Nottingham, and at twenty-four years of age he was an experienced craftsman. Living on a farm did not appeal to him, so that, along with his young friends, Jonathan Ross and Edward White, he resolved to leave Nottingham for Virginia. The usual petition for removal was presented to the Nottingham Monthly Meeting by Goldsmith Chandlee; Elisha Browne and George Churchman were appointed to make necessary inquiry, according to the custom of Friends.

The Quakers no longer dominated the political and religious life instituted by William Penn in Pennsylvania, and many families settled in the lower Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where they could attend meetings and live their own lives without interference.

The first mention of Goldsmith Chandlee in Virginia appears in the Hopewell Monthly Meetings Minutes under the date of June 5, 1775, when he presented his certificate of removal. An uncle, Abel Chandlee, had been living in Virginia since 1760. This may have influenced Goldsmith to settle near Stephensburg (now Stephens City). It is probable that he became associated with a silversmith, William Richardson, whose shop was located between Stephensburg and Winchester. The earliest clock illustrated in this chapter is signed G. Chandlee. Stephensburg. That he lived near Stephensburg is further corroborated by the minutes of Crooked Run Monthly Meeting and Fairfax Quarterly Meeting which appeared for a number of years in his handwriting.

Hopewell Meeting under the date, November 15, 1776, records Goldsmith Chandlee's marriage to Ann, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary White. Ann died on August 30, 1781, leaving three children. Goldsmith Chandlee married secondly, Hannah Yarnall, on October 28, 1784, at Brick Meeting House, Maryland. Four children were born, and Hannah died about 1809.

A purchase by Goldsmith Chandlee from Dolphin Drew of lot No. 63, measuring 118 feet of Piccadilly Street and extending 202 feet on Cameron Street in Winchester, is recorded in the City Clerk's Office. On this property Chandlee built a brass foundry and a shop in which he made clocks, surveyors' and surgeons' instruments, compasses, sundials and many other items of silver, brass and iron. A telescope about six inches in diameter and six feet long was signed G. Chandlee, and presented to John Griffith (b. 1777; d. 1870). Apothecary and money scales, and steel yards for weighing heavier articles, were much in demand, and orders for these were taken by Goldsmith. It is said that no matter how busy he was with other duties, he personally supervised his business and engraved the more important items with his own hands.

He lived over his shop for a few years; but feeling the need of more substantial quarters, he built a brick house. This building still stands on the northwest corner of Cameron and Piccadilly Streets in Winchester, Virginia. The Virginia Gazette and Winchester Advertiser of November 26, 1791, mentions a John Hatley Norton of the firm, J. H. Norton & Sons, of London and Williamsburg, offering for sale a lot on Piccadilly Street, Winchester. The advertisement ends with the sentence: "For particulars apply to Mr. Goldsmith Chandlee near the premises."

A search of Quaker records finds Goldsmith a witness to several marriages and wills. He was a trustee of Hopewell Meeting, and in charge of organizing smaller meetings in the country districts. He was a charter member of the Volunteer Fire Company of Winchester, as well as a conveyancer and writer of deeds, mortgages, trusts and other legal papers. He became a Justice of the Corporation of Winchester and sat on the Bench of Justices of the Hustings Court in that city. He was a recognized leader in financial circles of northern Virginia. Except for coach, carriage and wagon works, Goldsmith Chandlee owned the largest single industry for manufacturing articles in Winchester at this period. The Frederick County records of 1795 contain a reference to Chandlee as an attorney.

An indenture dated June 25, 1798, reveals that two hundred and seven acres, located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, were sold by Jacob Fry of Woodstick, Shenandoah County, Virginia, to Goldsmith Chandlee for sixty-three pounds, six shillings. Goldsmith alos owned a farm in Frederick County, several thousand acres in Harrison and Randolph Counties (now West Virginia) and five hundred acres in Logan County, Kentucky.

Goldsmith Chandlee was a small, spare man with dark brown eyes, and fond of company. He was much given to hospitality and entertaining, and possessed a local reputation for a kind of sly humor.

He died in Winchester in 1821, and was buried in Center Meeting graveyard on the Valley Pike.

Please feel free to email us with ANY questions you may have! We will send you any additional pictures you want and provide any additional information you may need.

Please be aware that this is a MUSEUM QUALITY PIECE and we want you to let us know if you have any inqueries whatsoever.

Auction Terms: We accept personal checks, money orders and paypal. Insurance on this auction is Required as it's an outstandingly valuable piece! Winning bidder to pay actual shipping charges based on calculated postage from USPS.com and the weight of the package. Please *ONLY* bid if you are SERIOUS about owning this piece. Payment must be received within 2 weeks of auction end. Again, if you have any questions just ask.

Thanks so much and Happy Bidding!

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