Robert Lincoln’s Observatory at Hildene

Robert Lincoln got his initial interest in astronomy from his father. Abraham Lincoln was fascinated by astronomy, as I discuss in my book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, and in a previous post. Robert did him one better – he built his own observatory at Hildene, which I saw on a recent visit to Robert’s Vermont summer home.

As I crested the hill walking from Hildene’s welcome center to house, my eyes immediately gravitated to the odd-looking domed structure standing at the edge of the woods. Robert’s observatory. About 12 feet in diameter and maybe 20 feet tall, the observatory was much smaller than I expected. Whereas his father had a fascination with astronomy, Robert had made it into a deep hobby. Robert had a habit of diving into his avocations – he surveyed all of Hildene as it was being built and did math problems in the evenings “to relax” – and astronomy was no exception. It was Robert who selected and surveyed the site for the observatory not far from the main house.

In addition to his father’s influence, Robert’s interest was likely expanded by his mentor and benefactor Jonathan Young Scammon, who besides being a lawyer, banker, and newspaper publisher was a dedicated amateur astronomer. Robert frequently used the large telescope at Dearborn Observatory on the campus of Chicago University (now Northwestern), often accompanied by close friend, and later renowned astronomer Shelbourne Wesley Burnham. According to Robert Lincoln biographer, Jason Emerson, Robert became a voracious reader of books on astronomy, about thirty of which still remain in his library at Hildene. “I belong to the class of old-young amateurs in astronomy, but I enjoy my study of it very much,” Emerson says Robert wrote to the director of the Lick Observatory in California. Before building the observatory, he used his telescope on a tripod, and would synchronize his stopwatch every day at the Manchester telegraph office to ensure the precision of his astronomical calculations. Later, he installed a relay at Hildene so he could get exact noontime readings via telegraph without having to go into town.

Originally, Robert’s telescope was a four-inch diameter Bardon, which in the observatory on a high point overlooking the “dene” gave a wonderfully unobstructed view of the sky. As his expertise and interest grew, however, the Bardon proved inadequate, so in 1909 he commissioned construction of a six-inch refracting telescope as a replacement. He became quite proud of the observatory and often bragged about it to his friends.

Being a scientist myself, I lingered at the observatory for a while, fascinated by the existing telescope. Whether it still worked or not was somewhat moot, as it was locked behind a metal gate to protect it from tourists. It was also time to go inside the main building to meet the archivist. More on that soon. As fascinating as it was inside the mansion, I couldn’t help but look back at the mini-dome as I strolled back down the hill. I would have loved to hang out with Robert gazing at the stars.

[Photos by David J. Kent]

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David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.