Bernard Romans Signature of Bernard Romans, Grandfather of Bernard Charles Wilder.
Notes
Bernard Romans
(c. 1720-c. 1784) was born in Holland and trained as a civil engineer in England. Sent to the American colonies in that capacity in about 1756, he first worked as a "draughtsman" and as government botanist near St. Augustine, Florida. With the outbreak of war, he joined the colonists, first constructing fortifications in New York then serving with the Pennsylvania artillery.
In addition to his work as a civil engineer, artilleryman and botanist, Romans was the author of several important publications. The most noted is A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida, of which the first volume was published in New York in 1775. It included 12 copperplates etched by the author, and was dedicated to the naturalist and king's agent, John Ellis. Despite a pretentiousness of style and some typographical errors, the work contained highly valuable information. Although a second volume was projected, it was never published.
The appendix to Romans' History, entitled The Complete Pilot for the Gulf Passage, contained contributions from William Gerard De Brahm and other navigators. It was first published in 1789 and reprinted in 1794 as A New and Enlarged Book of Sailing Directions; in 1797 it was again reprinted with a slightly changed title.
Improvements To Mariner's Compass
Romans had produced an earlier work, Annals of the Troubles in the Netherlands from the Accession of Charles V, compiled and translated "from the most Approved Historians," the first volume of which was published in 1778 in Hartford, the first book to have been published in that city; the second volume was issued in 1782. Another of his important contributions was his paper on improvements of the mariner's compass, which was published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. In it, Romans expressed concern with the unreliability of the brass bowl compass caused by its confinement resulting from the two brass rings of the gimbals. This restricted the movement of the bowl to two vertical motions at right angles to each other within the compass box, so that a sudden concussion or a series of them prevented the compass from recovering, resulting in the unshipping of the compass card as well. He experimented with various means of providing the box with a vertical motion at every degree and minute of the circle, and by compounding these motions, with a horizontal motion of the box as well as of the card. A compass of this type, in which the bottom of the compass had a raised cone instead of a bowl, was being produced in Holland.
Produced Many Maps
Of equal importance were Romans' printed maps. Plans of Pensacola Harbor, Mobile Bar, and Tampa Bay were included in the Appendix of his Concise Natural History. "A Map of the Whole Navigation, Showing Lieut. Cook's Tracks," was published in 1774 as part of John Hawksworth's A New Voyage Round the World. Romans' map of "Part of the Province of East Florida," first produced in 1774, was reprinted in the Concise Natural History; in 1775 he published "A Map of the Seat of Civil War in America" showing Boston and surrounding regions. He also produced "A Map of the Southern British Colonies in America" which was published in The American Military Pocket Atlas in 1776. In 1778 Romans advertised for sale "A Chorographical Map of the Northern Department of North America" and "A Chorographical Map of the Country Round Philadelphia."
There are two varying accounts of Romans' final years and his demise. The account in the official British biography varies substantially from the American version. It stated that Romans had been captured in 1779 at Stony Point on the Hudson and was sent to England as a prisoner of war. His exchange was refused, and he remained in England, where he again practiced as a civil engineer following the conclusion of the war. In 1784 he sailed again for the United States, carrying a large sum of money. He was never heard of again, and it was assumed that he had been murdered during the ship's passage.
Widow Attempted To Gain Pension
The American version, based on his wife's application for a pension, states that in about July 1780 Romans sailed on orders from New Haven or New London to South Carolina to join the Southern Army. His vessel was captured by the British and he was conducted as a prisoner of war to Montego Bay in Jamaica, where he remained until 1781. Romans, who had with him a large sum of money, was then put aboard ship for some port of the United States. It was said that he died at sea. This account is related in some detail by Romans' widow, Elizabeth, in her attempts to obtain a widow's military pension. In October 1846, at the age of 86 while residing in New York City, she had applied again under the Congressional act passed in 1832 relating to the granting of pensions to widows of Revolutionary War soldiers and officers who had been married prior to their last term of service. Her deposition before Judge Charles J. Dodge of the New York Court of Common Pleas, stated
… she believes her said husband engaged in the American service in the defence of the liberties of these United States at a great personal sacrifice, being at that time a pensioner under the crown of Great Britain, for extraordinary services rendered that government. And also was at that time a salaried surveyor in her then Colonial Provinces, and for further proof of the facts herein set forth she respectfully refers to the writings and books published by her said husband at or about the time of the American Revolution, and also to other historical works of that day. And she further saith, that her said husband, as she was informed and believes, …
had been ordered to go to the State of South Carolina, there to join the Southern Army, and shortly thereafter he sailed from New-Haven or New-London, in the State of Connecticut, for the place of his destination, and who, together with the vessel and the crew with which he embarked, were shortly thereafter, while on their passage, captured by the British, and her said husband was carried a prisoner of war to Montego Bay, Island of Jamaica, where he was held in captivity until the close of the war in 1783. The British authorities, in the meantime, were applied to, to deliver him up by exchange for their own men then held as prisoners of war by this government, which exchange they refused to make, on account of his, the said Romans, ability to do so much injury to the British interests. And she further saith, that her said husband, as she was informed and believes, was shipped by the British authorities, under the pretext of sending him thence to some port in the United States, and he was said to have died on his passage, though from circumstances attending his demise his friends had good reason to believe him to have been wilfully murdered … .
Elizabeth Romans never succeeded in obtaining her pension, despite many attempts that she made over a period of years before she died in New York in 1848. There are several irreconcilable inconsistencies in these accounts. Romans surrendered his military commission on June 1, 1778 and there is no evidence that he rejoined the Continental forces, nor is it likely that as a civilian he would have been taken prisoner and sent from the colonies. It may be presumed that neither account is entirely accurate, and thus Romans' closing years remain shrouded in uncertainty. n
Silvio Bedini is a historian emeritus with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and a Contributing Editor for the magazine.
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