Thomas S. Negus (manufacturer)

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Thomas S. Negus
T.S. & J.D. Negus.jpg
T.S. & J.D. Negus Company
Born(1828-05-01)May 1, 1828
New York City
DiedMarch 17, 1894(1894-03-17) (aged 65)
Jersey City, New Jersey, US
NationalityAmerican
Occupationmanufacturer
Known forMarine chronometer

Thomas S. Negus (May 1, 1828 – March 17, 1894) was a 19th-century American businessman. He was well known for the manufacture and sale of maritime chronometers and nautical instruments in New York City under the name T.S. & J.D. Negus Company. He served on the Board of Pilot Commissioners for New Jersey. He died on March 17, 1894, in Jersey City, New Jersey. The firm continued in New York under the trade name "Negus" as a nautical instrument manufacturer and retailer into the 20th century.

Early life[]

Thomas S. Negus was born in New York City on May 1, 1828. He was the son of Thomas S. Negus, Sr., and Jane Davidson, both from England.[1] He married Lydia L. Reynolds in New York City on December 22, 1849, and had six children.[2] His brother, John Davidson Negus (1832–1890) was a partner in the T.S. & J.D. Negus Company.[3]

Career[]

T.S. and J.D. Negus[]

In 1848, Negus and his brother John D. Negus founded the firm of T.S. & J.D. Negus, which manufactured and sold maritime chronometers and nautical instruments at 140 Water Street, New York City near the East River. The firm made chronometers for the United States Navy as well as shipmasters and yachtsmen. Their instruments were among the best manufactured in the country. The firm traded as T. S. Negus & Co. in 1864 and as T.S. & J.D. Negus in 1869. The firm was described as "probably the most prolific American Chronometer manufacturer" up through the first quarter of the 20th century.[4] From 1886 to 1887, in competitive trials of chronometers at the United States Naval Observatory, located in Washington, D. C., their chronometers passed first place in a list of 45 chronometers submitted for testing.[5][6] Sea captains came to the shop to purchase and have their chronometers tested, rated and certified.[7]

Thomas's brother, John D. Negus, died on September 26, 1890.[8] John's son, John S. Negus continued in the firm under the T.S. & J.D. Negus name until his death on July 14, 1944.[9] His son, John C. Negus, from Brooklyn, continued with the firm as senior partner until his death on December 15, 1961.[10] His son, John S. Negus II, ran the family business until his death in 1963.[11] On March 8, 1964, the New York Daily News announced that John C. Negus II bequeathed to the Museum of the City of New York a 19th century ship's binnacle that the Negus firm made.[12]

On May 1, 1931, the firm moved to 69 Pearl Street, New York. They had a five-story building with the words "Negus" on the front window. On the office safe was the gold lettering that said: "T. S. & J. D. Negus, Est. 1848." A Negus chronometer went with Robert Peary to the North Pole. Another was with Richard E. Byrd at the south Pole.[11] When John Mercer Brooke was on the North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition in 1852, he said the best chronometer on the expedition proved to the one made by T. S. Negus and Company, which was purchased by the government for $325. The Negus chronometer was thought to be a district advantage compared to the those made in Europe.[13]

Instruments[]

Negus instruments for sale included: alidades, binnacles, barometers, binoculars, chronometers, clinometers, clocks, compasses, lamps, lanterns, megaphones, octants, peloruses, sextants, telescopes, and quadrants. Below are two examples.

Taffrail Logs, operating on principles in a manner similar to a car's odometer by towing a rotor from the stern (or taffrail) by a long line.[14] Negus boasted that their improved Taffrail Log was "the best ever manufactured." It featured a swivel-bearing mount for the recording element that was designed by John S. Negus and intended to reduce the irregularities encountered in rough seas. It the time it cost $27. The U.S. Navy transferred this example to the Smithsonian in 1950.[15]

Box Chronometer, a 56-hour marine chronometer with a spring detent escapement, and indications for hours, minutes, seconds, and up and down. Weston College donated it to the Smithsonian in 1967. It the 1930s it cost $450.[6]

Publications[]

  • T. S. & J. D. Negus, Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of Nautical & Optical Instruments (New York, 1899).[6]
  • T. S. & J. D. Negus, Illustrated Catalogue of Nautical Instruments (New York, ca. 1938).[4]

Pilots Commissioner[]

Negus was named Pilots Commissioner of the New Jersey board by Governor Parker of New Jersey. He was president of the New Jersey board for 15 years. He was a member of Holland Lodge of Free Masons and belonged to the Seventh Regiment for 14 years.[16]

Death[]

Negus died on March 17, 1894, at age 66. His funeral was at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey on March 20. His was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.[5][16]

Legacy[]

The pilot-boat Thomas S. Negus was named in honor of Negus in 1873.[17] On October 9, 1873, the pilot boat Thomas S. Negus won a notable victory over her competitors in the Cape May Regatta, which was a race from Owl's Head Point around to Cape May Lighthouse in New Jersey, and back to the Sandy hook Lightship. Thomas S. Negus, of the N. J. Pilots' Commissioners, was one of the invited guests onboard the Negus during the race. Negus later wrote: "Arrived at the Lightship off Sandy Hook at 8 h. 49 m. 30s. A. M. Hailed Judges on board, who informed us we were the second boat in, The Enchantress only being ahead of us."[18]

Gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "England Births and Christenings, 1538–1975". FamilySearch. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "Year: 1870; Census Place: Jersey City Ward 1, Hudson, New Jersey; Roll: M593_866; Page: 29B; Family History Library Film: 552365". Ancestry.com. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  3. ^ "T.S. & J.D. NEGUS COMPANY, C. 1845". lannangallery.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Negus". amhistory.si.edu. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Obituary. Thomas S. Negus". New-York Tribune. New York City. March 18, 1894. p. 7. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "Illustrated catalogue and price list of nautical & optical instruments". amhistory.si.edu. New York. 1899. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  7. ^ "Chronometer Rating". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. April 25, 1896. p. 7. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  8. ^ "Negus". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. September 28, 1890. p. 5. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "John S. Negus". Daily News. New York City. July 14, 1944. p. 386. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  10. ^ "John C. Negus". Daily News. New York City. December 15, 1961. p. 50. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Manhattan Kaleidoscope by James R. Daniels". The News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. January 17, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "Jinx Binnacle On Exhibit at City Museum". Daily News. New York City. March 8, 1964. p. 580. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  13. ^ Brooke, George M. (1980). John M. Brooke, Naval Scientist and Educator. Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia. Virginia. p. 83. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  14. ^ Broelmann, J (1998). Robert Bud and Deborah Warner (ed.). Instruments of Science. An Historical Encyclopedia. Science Museum, London, and National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. New York, London. pp. 361–363.
  15. ^ "Taffrail Log". amhistory.si.edu. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Death of Thomas S. Negus". Jeweler's Circular and Horological Review. New York City. Vol. 28 (Part 1): 375. 1894. Retrieved November 10, 2020. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  17. ^ "T.S. & J.D. NEGUS – New York" (PDF). Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  18. ^ Loubat, Joseph Florimond (1887). A yachtsman's scrap book: or, The ups and downs of yacht racing. New York, Brentano Brothers. p. 71.
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