John Dupee

John Dupee of Boston apparently was another instrument maker of the pre-Revolutionary period actively engaged in producing wooden surveying compasses. Three wooden instruments with his compass card exist in private and public collections. The instruments are quite similar: the wood in each case is walnut or applewood, with an engraved paper mariner's compass card; a schooner at sea is figured within the central medallion, and inscribed within the riband enclosing it are the words "Made and Sold by John Dupee Ye North Side of Swing Bridge Boston New Eng." One of the instruments is owned by the South Natick [Massachusetts] Historical Society; a second example is in the[Pg 105]collection of the Bostonian Society; and a third is owned by a private collector.

There is no record of a maker of scientific instruments or clocks by the name of Dupee, although the name John Dupee occurs in the city records of Boston during the early decades of the 18th century. An advertisement in the February 9, 1761, issue of The Boston Gazette states that Isaac Dupee, Carver, Advertises his Customers and others, that since the late Fire (on Dock Square) he has opened a shop the North side of the Swing-Bridge, opposite to Thomas Tyler's, Esq.; where Business will be carried on as usual with Fidelity and Dispatch.

The natural assumption would be that the three instruments were produced in Isaac Dupee's shop after 1761, perhaps by the carver's son. The use of an engraved compass card indicates that the instruments were not unique, and that a number of others were produced or contemplated. On the other hand, it is likely that the maker produced other types of instruments utilizing such a card, such as mariner's compasses.

Other than four surviving instruments, nothing is known about Dupee's career except that he maintained his shop on "Ye North Side of Swing Bridge, Boston." It is believed he was the son of the French Huguenot wood carver, Isaac Dupee, who opened a shop on the North Side of Swing Bridge after the fire of Dock Square. John Dupee (I) had three sons, all named John, the first two of which died in infancy. The third son, John Dupee (IV) (1729-1) also was a maker of mathematical instruments, and Newell may have been apprenticed to either the father or the son.