Compass Made by Rittenhouse & Company (RC1)

Per my dad's circa 1990 notes:

"A vernier compass signed Rittenhouse and Compy (see pic above), said to have been used by Abraham Lincoln, is kept in the Lincoln Park Museum at Petersburg, Illinois (Gum, 1865).  One investigator suggests that this compass may have been made by Benjamin Rittenhouse and his son David (Forman, 1988a & b).  County tax records show David (DNR) worked with his father from 1800 to 1802.  The instrument lacks the decorated compass rose typically found on Benjamin's instruments, but that might be expected on a piece made primarily by a young man whose skills were only moderately advanced.  Signing the instrument David Rittenhouse would be misleading, as that would suggest it was made by young DNR's well-known uncle."

Maybe. (Family Name and Company) is an unusual way of saying (Father and Son). Looking thru Smart's Book, I don't see any Father & Son teams called Family Name & Company (I might have missed one or two). "And Company" usually means unrelated people. For example, William Young turned into Young & Company when Young added unrelated partners, and then later evolved into Young & Sons.

Additionally, the vernier mechanism on this compass (RC1) is different than every other vernier system I've seen on a Rittenhouse Compass. Looking at the pics below, the vernier on the left (BR8) has the Thumsbcrew coming up from the bottom thru the vernier mechanism on the top. The other vernier compasses made by BR and his various partnerships all have the same design. The RC1 vernier doesn't have that design. Which is surprising if BR was actually involved in its construction.

So, while BR and his son might have created a brand "Rittenhouse & Company", I personally think the question of who actually made RC1 is still unresolved.