In early June 1769, the Reverend Doctor Ezra Stiles (1727-1795) was compiling his “to do” list, reviewing sermons at his Second Congregational Church and, of course, preparing for the Transit of Venus. Newport’s greatest multi-tasker had transformed his quiet Clarke Street residence into a bustling astronomical observatory to watch the tiny dot of Venus pass across the disc of the sun, a rare lifetime event. His friends and parishioners had specific assignments throughout the house and shouted observations from basement to attic throughout the day: Benjamin King with his sextant, William Vernon with his perpendicular plumb and weights, Henry Marchant with a telescope borrowed from Abraham Redwood and Christopher Townsend with two clocks. William Ellery and Caleb Gardner recorded longitude measurements previously made by Peter Harrison. Meanwhile, the event was also being observed by David Howell at the College of Rhode Island in Warren, by Capt. James Cook in the South Pacific and by others in dozens of sites worldwide.
The great event (“Moment of Immersion”) occurred at sunset on Saturday, 3 June 1769. Dr. Stiles’ account of the Transit included over 200 pages of notes and calculations
Above: Many 18th-century Newporters paid close attention to the movement of celestial bodies and corresponding special days on the calendar; this December calendar page from a 1752 almanac includes notations for Venus throughout (Venus’s symbol looks like a circle with a tiny cross at its base). NHS Collection.
A c.1920s photo of Ezra Stiles’ house on Clarke Street, NHS Collection.