Question: Dr. Harvey Harkness' Compass
My name is Jerry Williams and I'm needing some info on the laying of the last rail of the transcontinental rail, between the CPRR and the UPRR in 1869.
My Uncle, who's great uncle was Dr. Harvey Harkness, who was as I understand it was the emissary to the Governor of Utah, at the laying of the last rail and the placing of the last spike to complete the railway between east and west coast. He has a compass that is marked "Laying of the last rail of the CPRR, May 10th 1869, which was the property of Dr. Harkness. I have not seen this compass so I'm only going on the description that my uncle has given me. He is wondering how many were made and how many might be known to be left in existence. He is also wanting to know about it's approximate value for insurance purposes. Thank you for your time
Jerry Williams
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 8:25 PM
3 Comments:
Having personally seen the compass in the early 1990s when I worked at the Nevada State Railroad Museum (and the owners brought it by), I'll say that I have never seen nor heard of another one like it. I would not say that this is definitive (there could well be other objects associated with the Last Spike ceremony that I don't know if), but it is certainly not a common piece. Stanford University appears to have nothing like it shown on their web site listing for the Last Spike and associated objects.
Checking several sources, they seems to indicate that Dr. W. H. Harkness (cited as editor of the Sacramento News in one source) held one or both of the Golden Spikes in the ceremony, and handed them to Stanford for placement in the laurel tie. The Hewes spike is the well-known "Last Spike", now at Stanford University. The San Francisco News Letter paper apparently also provided a golden spike, but this was less valuable than the Hewes spike and received very little attention. It's fate is unknown, but it may have been destroyed when the San Francisco News building burned in 1906. Gov. Tritle of Nevada presented a spike of Comstock silver, and Territorial Gov. Safford of Arizona (who had not yet set foot in Arizona) presented a combination gold, silver and iron spike on behalf of Arizona Territory.
It appears that all spikes may well have been returned to their original owners after the ceremonies. Certainly the Hewes and the Nevada spikes were. David Hewes donated his spike to Stanford University in 1892. The Nevada spike is less well documented, but it may have been presented to Gov. Stanford a while after the ceremony; it received engraving after its return to Nevada.
A San Francisco News Letter article February 5, 1881, at the time the Thomas Hill painting of the Last Spike was unveiled (now displayed at the California State Railroad Museum), seems to suggest (but not clearly state) that their spike was still in the possession of the newspaper.
See also January 29, 1881 for a review of the painting with more on February 12, 1881. [Also] San Francisco News Letter articles in 1869 about their spike.
Much less is knows of the travels of the Arizona spike until about the 1920s or 30s (I think). I believe it passed through the New York Public Library and the Smithsonian Institution, and may now be on display in Omaha or Council Bluffs.
Returning to the Harkness compass, based on xeroxes I made of it in the 1990s, it is nice metal-body instrument, 2 1/2 inches in diameter with a nicely detailed and marked face (I don't see any manufacturer mark), set into a piece of wood roughly 3 inches square, with a hinged wooden top the same size, both nicely finished. Set on the outside top of the cover is a brass plaque. It is inscribed with the May 10 actual date of the ceremony, not the May 8 planned date (the Hewes spike, inscribed before the ceremony, has the planned May 8 date). This suggests that the compass was prepared and presented to Dr. Harkness after the return to Sacramento. That now withstanding, the inscription reads; "Presented at the laying of the last Rail of the C. P. R. R. May 10th 1869"
Kyle K. Wyatt
Curator of History & Technology
California State Railroad Museum
111 "I" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
My work address is: kwyatt@parks.ca.gov
My personal address is: kylewyatt@aol.com
From: Ybot19@aol.com
I find the article on the web about Dr. Harkness very interesting. My brother's name is Harvey Harkness and he has in his possession an old railroad watch that belonged to our father's Great Grandfather who I believe worked on the railroad but don't know which one. I always assumed it was the New York, New Haven, Hartford railroad as we grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. Do we possibly have another relative with the name Harvey Harkness?? My father's name was Harvey and we also had a Great Uncle with the same name.
—Lori Harkness Beubis
From: KyleWyatt@aol.com
If you are referring to the item that I think it is, the object is a compass, not a watch. (If your object is actually a watch, I'd be most interested in seeing it or a photo of it.)
In the past couple of months I've spoken by phone with the current owner of the compass (your brother?), and also by email with his nephew, Jerry Williams. I'm hoping to get email photos of the compass. ...
I also found a number of interesting articles about Dr. Harvey Wilson Harkness on the web.
Sierra Sacramento Valley Medicine
Sacramento City Unified School District
California Plant Names
Kyle K. Wyatt
Curator of History & Technology
California State Railroad Museum
111 "I" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
My work address is: kwyatt@parks.ca.gov
My personal address is: kylewyatt@aol.com
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