Skip header and navigation
  Revise Search

Revise Search

5 records – page 1 of 1.

Archive

https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/89baf468-c5e9-41c1-8be3-814758295981
Collection
John Wise and History of Ballooning Collection
Title
John Wise and History of Ballooning Collection
Object ID
MG0019
Date Range
1850-1993
September 1955. Insert 7 Letter from Robert C. Batchelder of Saint James’ Church to John Andrews commenting on the paper he wrote on John Wise. Invitation to the Lancaster Public Library. 2-21 April 1956. �230 North President Avenue • Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603-3125 717.392.4633
More detail
  1 document  
Collection
John Wise and History of Ballooning Collection
Title
John Wise and History of Ballooning Collection
Description
The John Wise and History of Ballooning Collection contains material about John Wise, a pioneering balloonist from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and the history of ballooning. Articles written by and about John Wise provide information about the man and his career. The bulk of Series 1 is correspondence, research notes, and drafts of "The John Wise Story," by John H. Andrews. Series 2 contains material about the ballooning hobby, other early aircraft, and the history of air mail.
Admin/Biographical History
As an adventurous and inquisitive young boy, John Wise was drawn to the skies above his native Lancaster County. He was fascinated by aerial pursuits and began to conduct experiments. He tied his cat to his homemade parachute and observed the cat's safe descent from a local church steeple.
A keen interest in ballooning developed and Wise became a famous aeronaut. Although balloon ascensions were common at county fairs and carnivals he had never observed an ascension before he made his first one in Philadelphia in 1835. John Wise completed 462 balloon ascensions including Lancaster ascensions from Penn Square and the prison yard.
In the nineteenth century many ascensions were made just for the novelty of the event, but John Wise's approach was from a scientific perspective. Each ascension gave him a chance to conduct scientific investigations of the atmosphere, pneumatics and hydrostatics.
It also gave him the opportunity to develop a more advanced flying machine. Wise was the first to observe the "great river of air which always blows from west to east" in the higher regions of the atmosphere. Today we call this phenomenon the jet stream. He also developed the ripcord safety mechanism.
John Wise promoted the advantages of balloon transportation. In 1843 he conceived a project for crossing the Atlantic Ocean and asked Congress to appropriate $15,000 for the project. Congress rejected the appropriation. Wise suggested a plan to bomb the Castle at Vera Cruz during the Mexican War and during the Civil War the Bureau of Topographical Engineers requested his services as a balloonist. He is credited with the first airmail transportation in 1859.
Detailed descriptions of his ascensions and experiments are found in his book, Through the Air, published in 1873. The last ascent of John Wise took place on September 29, 1879 from St. Louis, Missouri. This flight ended disastrously in Lake Michigan where his balloon fell and his remains lie.
Prepared by the Lancaster County Historical Society, ca. 1995.
System of Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1 John Wise
Series 2 History of Ballooning
Date Range
1850-1993
Creation Date
1850-1993
Year Range From
1850
Year Range To
1993
Date of Accumulation
1850-1993
Creator
Andrews, John H.
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives South
Storage Wall
Side 01
People
Albertson, Catherine
Andrews, John Henry
Atkinson, S. C.
Bache, Hartman
Ball, Charles I.
Bartlett, Mrs. R. A.
Batchelder, Robert C.
Beckwith, A.
Beller, William
Black, J. W.
Blanchard, Jean Pierre
Blitzstein, Madelin
Bradbury, Ray
Brown, Elizabeth B.
Bruce, George
Burlingame, Roger
Burr, George
Byars, W. W.
Casey, Louis
Cessna, Clyde
Coffman, Ramon
Cornish, Joseph Jenkins, III
Cox, Palmer
Douty, Esther
Douty, Esther M.
Drepperd, Carl W.
Edwards, Vincent
Elvin, Thomas
Evans, William
Field, Francis J.
Fischer, Hans
Fleck, Glen
French, Melvin
Galzer, Emmett J.
Gambetta, Francis Leon
Greeley, A. W.
Grimm, Janet
Gryzewski, Tad
Halmi, Robert
Harrell, D. Tudor
Hautrive, M.
Hayden, F. Stansbury
Hopkins, Philip S.
Hunt, E. F.
Ingle, Harold E.
Kehr, Ernest A.
Keith, Barbara
Kessler, F. W.
Klein, Frederic S.
Kouwenhoven, John A.
Kreider, Ira
Kriebel, Robert C.
Kriebel, Robert G.
Lamorisse, Albert
LaPaz, Lincoln
Lindbergh, Charles
Lindquist, H. L.
Long, Elmer R.
Lundgren, Laura May Gross
Madsen, Peter
Maier, Alfred D.
Maxwell, George T.
McCloskey, Lores
McDevitt, William
Mills, James
Myers, Wilfred
Naves, Glen W.
Nicklin, John
Pasquarella, Gus
Peers, W.
Prevost, John W.
Roland, John
Rosenfeld, Albert
Sanabria, Nicolas
Schatvet, H. C.
Serviss, Garrett P.
Smith, Philip R., Jr.
Stehling, Kurt R
Steinmetz, Rollin
Stilphen, George F.
Taylor, Florence
Thompson, Howard
Topping, A.D.
Waitt, Robert
Warner, B. H.
Watson, Marion A.
Wetherill, Richard B.
Whipple, A. W.
Wilbur, W. H.
Wise, John
Wiseman, Frederick J.
Wolcott, Charles
Wolf, Constance
Woodruff, J. C.
Wright, Wilbur
Young, Pearl
Other Creators
Lancaster County Historical Society (Pa.)
Subjects
Hot air balloons
Hot air balloons--Launching
Airships
Aeronautics
Letters
Air mail service
Hindenburg (Airship)
Reconnaissance aircraft
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Search Terms
Aeronautics
Air mail service
Airships
Aviation
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Finding aids
Hindenburg (Airship)
Hot air balloons
Letters
Manuscript groups
Newspaper clippings
Obituaries
Reconnaissance aircraft
Extent
3 boxes, 40 folders, 1 scrapbook, 1 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
MG0019
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-19
Classification
MG0019
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
This collection was cataloged prior to 1997; added to database on 28 February 2018.
Documents
thumbnail

Finding Aid

Read PDF Download PDF
Less detail

James Buchanan, the squire from Lancaster

https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo14756
Author
Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.
Date of Publication
1931.
Call Number
905.748 HSP v.55
More detail
  1 website  
Responsibility
by Philip G. Auchampaugh.
Author
Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.
Place of Publication
Philadelphia, Pa
Publisher
Historical Society of Pennsylvania ,
Date of Publication
1931.
Physical Description
pp. 288-300 ; 23 cm.
Notes
In: Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, v. 55.
Regards Buchanan's relationship to Lancaster. Includes a detailed description of Lancaster in his day.
This record provides a link to this resuorce on the publisher's official online repository.
Subjects
Buchanan, James, - 1791-1868.
Lancaster (Pa.) - History - 19th century.
Location
Lancaster History Library - Periodical Article
Call Number
905.748 HSP v.55
Websites
https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/view/28232/27988
Less detail

James Buchanan during the administrations of Lincoln and Johnson

https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo3722
Author
Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.
Date of Publication
1939
among the Buchanan Papers. H. S. P. In this study H. S. P. indicates that the mate- rial has been taken from the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The letters L. C. indicate that the mate- rial is to be found in the Library of Congress. "On the
More detail
  1 document  
Responsibility
by Philip G. Auchampaugh, Ph.D.
Author
Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.
Place of Publication
Lancaster, Pa
Publisher
Lancaster County Historical Society,
Date of Publication
1939
Physical Description
[67]-110 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Series
Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society ; v. 43, no. 3
Subjects
Buchanan, James, - 1791-1868.
Lincoln, Abraham, - 1809-1865.
Johnson, Andrew, - 1808-1875.
United States - Politics and government - 1861-1865.
Contained In
Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society. Volume 43, number 3 (1939), p. 67-110Lancaster History Library - Journal974.9 L245 v.43
Documents
thumbnail

edit_vol43no3pp67_110.pdf

Read PDF Download PDF
Less detail

James Buchanan, the squire in the White House

https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo15285
Author
Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.
Date of Publication
1934.
Call Number
905.748 HSP v.58
More detail
  1 website  
Responsibility
by Philip G. Auchampaugh.
Author
Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.
Place of Publication
Philadelphia, Pa
Publisher
Historical Society of Pennsylvania ,
Date of Publication
1934.
Physical Description
pp. 270-285 ; 23 cm.
Notes
In: Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, v. 58.
This record provides a link to this resuorce on the publisher's official online repository.
Subjects
Buchanan, James, - 1791-1868.
Location
Lancaster History Library - Periodical Article
Call Number
905.748 HSP v.58
Websites
https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/view/28321/28077
Less detail

James Buchanan, the squire from Lancaster (concluded)

https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo15288
Author
Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.
Date of Publication
1932.
Call Number
905.748 HSP v.56
More detail
  1 website  
Responsibility
by Philip G. Auchampaugh.
Author
Auchampaugh, Philip Gerald.
Place of Publication
Philadelphia, Pa
Publisher
Historical Society of Pennsylvania ,
Date of Publication
1932.
Physical Description
pp. 15-32 ; 23 cm.
Notes
In: Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, v. 56.
Describes Buchanan and Wheatland.
This record provides a link to this resuorce on the publisher's official online repository.
Subjects
Buchanan, James, - 1791-1868 - Homes and haunts - Pennsylvania - Lancaster.
Wheatland (Lancaster, Pa.)
Location
Lancaster History Library - Periodical Article
Call Number
905.748 HSP v.56
Websites
https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/view/28240/27996
Less detail