Abel Buell

Abel Buell born in Killingworth, Connecticut, was a goldsmith, silversmith, jewelry designer, engraver, surveyor, printer, type manufacturer, mint master, textile miller, and counterfeiter in the American colonies. In 1784, Buell published A New and correct Map of the United States of North America Layd down from the latest Observations and best Authorities agreeable to the Peace of 1783; it was the first map of the new United States created by an American. He was also an inventor. He invented a lapidary machine to cut and polish gems, a minting machine that could product 120 coins per minute, and machines for planting onions and corn. He was the first man to design and cast type in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Buell's New and correct Map was the first copyrighted in the United States. According to the Library of Congress, which in 2011 was granted custody of one of the few remaining copies in existence, the map had been "the single most important American cartographic document missing from the collection." Per Curry:

"... he bounced from one ambitious project to another. On March 31, 1784, Buell placed an ad in the Connecticut Journal for the sale of his most well-known endeavor, his 'New and Correct Map.' Besides its somewhat hurried quality—he was most likely in a race with another mapmaker to produce the first map of the United States—what makes the map quintessentially 'Buell' is his characterization of it as a work in progress to be updated over time with new information. This never happened; instead, Buell bounced to another project."

Although his map is famous, not everything Buell did was considered a great accomplishment. In the words of Connecticut State Historian:

"Abel Buell was a man able to do just about anything, just not very well. ... At various times a convicted counterfeiter, goldsmith, engraver, armsmaker, inventor, textile manufacturer, packet boat proprietor, auctioneer, privateer, mint master, mapmaker, and husband to four wives, Buel[l] spent most of his 81 years pursuing a seemingly limitless array of schemes he thought would bring fame and fortune. ... Buell jumped from venture to venture and place to place, including Hartford, New York, Pensacola, Florida, Britain, and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His pursuits ranged from privateering (government-sanctioned piracy with a literal license to steal), designing and producing the first printer’s type manufactured in America, inventing agricultural tools, running a line of packet boats from New Haven to New London, auctioneering, metalwork, minting coins, silversmithing, gun-smithing and cotton manufacturing. But despite all his efforts to make his inventiveness pay off, Buell sooner or later ended up in debt, and indeed, died destitute."

In 1764, a counterfeiting conviction resulted in Buell being branded with the letter "C" on his forehead and having part of his ear cropped, after which he served a prison sentence of six months. He was pardoned and eventually joined the Sons of Liberty; some historians, including those at the Library of Congress, believe he was present for the Boston Tea Party. In 1789, he headed to England -- either to flee another counterfeiting charge in New York, to spy on the British textile trade and bring back industrial secrets, or perhaps some combination of both.

In March 1822, died penniless in New Haven, with his death notice reading:

"Died: At the Alms House in this town, on the 10th, Mr. Abel Buell, aged 81 years, an ingenious mechanic."

Sources

• "A new and correct map of the United States of North America." Library of Congress, published 31 January 2011. < link > Accessed 15 December 2021.
• "Abel Buell." Wikipedia, revision of 21 October 2021. < link > Accessed 15 December 2021.
• Curry, Kimberli. "Gallery Talk: The Libertine Life of Abel Buell." Library of Congress Blog, published 10 April 2017. < link > Accessed 15 December 2021.
• Woodward, Walt. "The Man Who Made the First Map of the United States." Today in Connecticut History, published 1 February 2021. < link > Accessed 15 September 2021.