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Collection: John Wise and History of Ballooning Collection

Title: John Wise and History of Ballooning Collection

Object ID: MG0019

Date Range: 1850-1993

) Letters (LHo-LOC sh 85076240) 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 �230 North President Avenue

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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.

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