Carey, Charles Henry.  "History of Oregon." Vol. 2. Chicago-Portland: Pioneer
Historical Pub. Co., 1922.  p. 160-164
Includes portrait

HORACE SEELY BUTTERFIELD

Horace Seely Butterfield was an honored pioneer of the northwest who won
prominence as an inventor and merchant, his activities along the latter line
contributing in substantial measure to the growth of Portland, while as an
inventor he made valuable contributions to the world's work. He was born in
Hokah, Minnesota, August 16, 1860, a son of Hiram and Levisa Ann (Seifridge)
Butterfield, the former a native of Albany, New York, while the latter was of
English parentage.

Horace S. Butterfield was a youth of fifteen years when in 1875 he came to
Oregon in company with his father, his mother having previously passed away in
Minnesota. He had acquired his education in the schools of his native state and
with his father came to the northwest, the family home being established at
Eugene. The father there engaged in farming but passed away about a year after
reaching Oregon. Horace S. Butterfield became an apprentice to H. N. Crane, a
jeweler of Eugene, and in 1878 removed to Portland, where he entered the employ
of John A. Beck, a prominent jeweler. He thoroughly acquainted himself with
every phase of the business and in 1880 the firm of Butterfield Brothers was
organized by Horace S. and A. E. Butterfield, who opened the first exclusive
wholesale jewelry and optical goods store established on the Pacific coast. For
twenty-five years the firm conducted business at First and Morrison streets and
afterward removed to Third and Morrison, occupying space in the Mohawk building.
Not only did Mr. Butterfield attain skill in jewelry manufacturing and repairing
and win substantial success as a jewelry merchant, but he also made valuable
contribution to the science of navigation through his inventions. In 1912 he
brought forth an invention known as the Butterfield azimuth chronometer, the
value of which met with instant recognition. It was designed to show
automatically the momentary azimuths, or bearings of the sun and other
celestial objects under observation, continually through the day, night and
year, eliminating the use of azimuth tables and all mathematical calculations
incident to navigation, geodetic and magnetic problems. Under date of July 19,
1913, the Scientific American Supplement said: "Readers of the Scientific
American Supplement this week have the privilege of examining the first
published description of an invention which is remarkable for being
fundamentally new, both in regard to the results secured by its use and to the
mechanism involved, as it is the only thing of its kind and is capable of
securing, automatically and immediately, results which have hitherto been
obtained only through long and difficult mental labor. This invention, or
discovery, conceived by Horace S. Butterfield, of Portland, Oregon, has been
embodied, with the assistance of Olof Ohlson, in a scientific instrument which
is called the Butterfield azimuth chronometer. The value of the instrument will
be at once apparent to navigators particularly and also to surveyors and others
who have occasion to determine terrestrial positions and directions from
astronomical observations, when it is realized that by its use the following
determinations may be made instantly and automatically, without calculation or
reference to tables and with great accuracy. The position of a ship at sea may
be found or the latitude and longitude of any spot on the surface of the earth
determined. The true directions may be determined independent of the compass
and compass errors detected and corrected. Local time may be accurately
determined. These determinations may be made at any hour of the day or night
when the sun or a known star is visible, even though the period of visibility is
very short. Anyone who has even the most elementary knowledge of navigation, or
who has ever tried to work out the position of a ship from the usual
observations, or who has known the anxiety caused by the uncertainties of the
magnetic compass, will understand the inestimable benefit which such an
instrument, which saves the time and mental labor, and above all, eliminates the
liability of error involved in these determinations, must be.

"The need of an instrument of some sort for simplifying the processes of
applying astronomical observations correctly to the uses of navigation became
apparent to Mr. Butterfield through information obtained on shipboard, when he
became deeply impressed by the facts, well known to all navigators, that an
immense amount of time and labor is required to take observations of the sun and
stars and work out the position of the ship from these observations, and that
errors are liable to occur at all stages of the calculations; that long periods
of time frequently elapse in cloudy weather when observations at noon and at the
other usual fixed times cannot be taken, and that brief intervals of clearing at
other times, when the sun is visible for a few moments, cannot conveniently be
made use of for taking observations, and above all, that magnetic compasses are
far from reliable, and that the adjustment of their errors is a tedious
proceeding and one of constantly recurring necessity.
"The same need has also been given official recognition by the United States
navy department. In a circular letter of February 26, 1912, from the acting
secretary to all the officers of the navy, attention was called to the fact that
the science of nautical astronomy has not advanced as rapidly as other sciences
in recent years and that the department was desirous of developing new nautical
instruments and new ways of using instruments and principles already available
so as to increase the accuracy and ease of determining positions at sea from
observations of heavenly bodies; and the officers were urged and encouraged to
bring all available new ideas and information relating to new instruments and
methods to the attention of the department.

"The methods heretofore necessary and now generally practiced for determining
compass errors and adjusting compasses and for determining the position of the
observer on the earth's surface by astronomical observations, involve a
cumbersome series of observations by the aid of different instruments and
complicated calculations, Including the solution of a spherical triangle, with
reference to numerous tables of constant and variable values. Even certain
recently devised methods of simplified navigation, by which more or less close
approximations of the true position at sea are obtained, involve a considerable
amount of calculation and reference to tables. The use of the Butterfield
instrument greatly simplifies the use of the observations to be taken for these
purposes and wholly eliminates all calculations, securing results fully as
accurate as can be obtained by the most careful observations with the best
instruments correctly worked up, and much more accurate than are usually
obtained by navigators.

"The salient features of the instrument are, sighting vanes mounted to rotate
horizontally on ball bearings in the center of a pelorous plate (which is itself
adjustable about the same axis), a timepiece furnished with the usual hands, and
a transmission mechanism through which motion is imparted from the timepiece to
the sighting vanes at a variable rate, corresponding at each instant to the
momentary rate of change in the bearing of the sun or other heavenly body.

"The Butterfield instrument may also be incorporated with the gyroscopic
compass, as a synchronized repeater, to give the longitude instantly by direct
reading, and may be used individually with the gyro, for quick orientation at
the starting of the compass. As the gyro can be depended on always to show the
true meridian, longitude is determined when the azimuth chronometer is used as
a gyro repeater, by directing the sight vanes toward the sun by manipulation of
the timepiece, when the timepiece will indicate local apparent time, which may
be readily turned into longitude. It may also be used in the same way as an
ordinary pelorous or azimuth instrument for taking observations on chartered
objects. The same reasons which make the instrument useful to the navigator,
make It equally useful to the surveyor and the engineer in establishing the
meridian line and running a course.

"All that has been said above with regard to taking sights on the sun applies to
observations On the stars, to obtain the same results at night, provided the
star selected for observation has a declination not greater than the maximum
declination of the sun and the timepiece is regulated for sidereal time. All
declinations within that of the sun are taken care of by adjustments of the
declination gear.

"The instrument is adapted to be used also as a precision sundial, but for this
purpose the clock movement is not necessary. The hand-setting mechanism is
retained and is used to bring the sighting vanes into bearing with the sun, thus
automatically setting the clock hands to show local time. A cam designed to
correct for the equation of time will be used with the precision sundial to
cause the clock hands to show local mean time at any Instant."

In 1887 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Butterfield and Miss Genevieve
Newman, a daughter of Thomas and Anna (Roddy) Newman, and to them was born a
daughter, Genevieve. Thomas Newman was a native of England, while his wife was a
native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and came of Quaker ancestry. They were
married in San Francisco in 1854 and in the same year removed to Salem, Oregon.
Mr. Newman was a prominent figure in this state in the early days of its
development and progress. He crossed the plains with the Joe Meeks party in
1852. During the plight of the Brother Jonathan, which was wrecked off the
California coast, Mr. Newman was one of the few passengers to help save the
vessel after it was given up by the officers. He was a prominent figure in the
Indian wars of 1861 and 1882, aiding in fighting the Nez Perce Indians and
other tribes that went upon the warpath. In the early Ô80s he and his family
removed to Vancouver, Washington, where he remained until 1886, when he came to
Portland. In 1887 his wife passed away and in later years Mr. Newman resided in
California, his death occurring at Santa Cruz, that state, April 15, 1914, when
he had reached the advanced age of eighty-five years. For six decades he had
been a valued and exemplary representative of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, his membership being in Good Samaritan Lodge of Portland. He made
valuable contribution to the state during its pioneer era and was a man
respected and honored wherever known.

Mr. Butterfield never aspired to office, yet was many times requested to become
a candidate for official position. He was quiet and unassuming in manner, loved
outdoor life and sports and was a well known angler and hunter. He was also the
owner of a fine apple orchard in the Hood River valley and there he spent his
vacations, finding the development of his apple orchard next in interest to his
creative labors in the field of science. Mr. Butterfield was a charter member of
Company K, Oregon National Guard, which was organized in 1886 and was composed
of Oregon's most prominent men, many of whom became captains of the state's most
important industries. He was also a Scottish Rite Mason, belonging to Oregon
Consistory of Portland. He passed away April 4, 1917. Through his social and
business activities he made many friends who speak highly of his sterling worth,
his upright character and his many splendid qualifications. All who knew him
bear tribute to his life, and his memory is enshrined in the hearts of those
with whom he came in contact. He was a man of great kindliness and sympathy as
well as of marked ability as a merchant and inventor and he stood prominently
among those who pushed forward the wheels of progress in the northwest.



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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in November 2006 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.