Cleveland Abbe and the Cincinnati Observatory
Cleveland Abbe (born 1839, died 1916) astronomer,
trained by Brunnow at Ann Arbor, and by Struve at
Poulkova, had been called in 1868 from the Naval Observatory
at Washington to the post of director of the
Cincinnati Astronomical 0bservatory. This observatory,
founded in 1842 by Ormsby Mitchel, and supported in
part by private subscription and in part by Mitchel’s
writings and lectures, had fallen into desuetude during the
Civil War. Abbe threw himself with great enthusiasm
into the rehabilitation of the observatory but quickly
found both the building and the site unsuitable. A new
site had been offered, and it was with the object of maintaining
public interest and support pending collection of
funds for a new building that Abbe turned to meteorology.
In the end the delay proved fatal to Abbe’s prospects.
The supporters of the observatory became interested in
founding the University of Cincinnati. The grounds of
the old observatory, in which the Longworth family held
a reversionary interest were sold for $50,000 and the money
given to the university fund. Interest in the observatory
temporarily fell off, and with it the income of the astronomer,
so that by the end of 1870, Abbe, who had just
married, was obliged to search for more lucrative work.
The new site and the astronomical instruments were then
turned over to the new university but astronomical work
was not resumed until 1873.
(excerpt from NEW LIGHT ON THE BEGINNINGS OF THE WEATHER BUREAU FROM THE PAPERS OF INCREASE A. LAPHAM, By ERIC R. MILLER Weather Bureau, Madison, WI. Monthly Weather Review, FEBRUARY, 1931 p.65-70.)
Cleveland Abbe in 1915
Related Webpages
The Abbe Meteorological Observatory
ENSO events and Cincinnati weather