John Gummere

John Gummere (1784-1845) was an American astronomer and one of the founders of Haverford College in Pennsylvania.[1] He was born in 1784 near Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.[2] His son Samuel James Gummere (1811-1874) was the first president of Haverford College, and his grandson Francis Barton Gummere (1855-1919) was an influential scholar of folklore and ancient languages and an alumnus of Haverford College.

In 1814, Gummere was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society.[3]

Gummere built the first observatory at Haverford College (erected about 1834), now commemorated by a plaque at its original location, after being replaced by the Strawbridge Observatory in 1850.[4]

A plaque commemorating the location of the Gummere Observatory on the Haverford Campus. It reads "This stone marks the site of the Observatory of John Gummere (1784-1845). Erected about 1834."

Bibliography
  • Practical Astronomy, 1812
  • Mathematical Tables, 1822
  • A Treatise on Surveying, 1822
  • An Elementary Treatise on Astronomy, 1842

References
  1. "Francis Barton Gummere", John Matthews Manly, Modern Philology, September 1919, p. 241-246
  2. John Gummere day book (MC.975.11.013), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.
  3. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  4. Hayton, Darin. "Strawbridge Observatory". Retrieved 27 February 2018.


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