Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Isaiah Quimby LUKENS
Seneca's son, Isaiah Lukens, 1779-1846, (Tabitha's older brother) was an even more noted clockmaker than his father, and is most noted for having built the clock in the 1828 restoration of the "Old State House" (now Independence Hall). That clock, however, was removed to Town Hall, Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1924, where it is still keeping the time. Isaiah was one of the Founders of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, being elected its first Vice-President, an office he held for many years. His portrait, by Charles Wilson Peale, is in possession of the Franklin Institute. Isaiah Made the .31 cal. air gun used in the Lewis and Clark expedition. The air gun, a showpiece of the expedition, was a razzle-dazzle weapon that astounded the Indians because it produced no smoke and little noise. The stock of the pneumatic rifle served as an air reservoir. The rifle could be pumped full of air, the high pressure making it almost as powerful as a Kentucky rifle.
Isaiah Lukens, the son of Seneca, was born August 24, 1779, in Horsham, where he received but a common English education, but by subsequent diligent study he acquired a profound knowledge of the sciences. He learned clock-making from his father, and the excellency of the workmanship of his high-standing clocks, spreading far beyond the circle of his neighborhood, formed the basis of his future reputation. He made the clock of Loller Academy, Hatboro', in 1812, and the large clock in the State-House steeple in 1839, for which he received five thousand dollars. In early youth his mechanical skill exhibited itself in constructing wind-mills for pumping water, and air-guns of improved construction, besides other ingenious applicances. While a young man he made a voyage to Europe, spending some time in England, France and Germany, in visiting the greatest objects of interest, particularly those involving a high degree of mechanical knowledge. He finally settled in Philadelphia, and became a member of its several literary and scientific institutions, and was one of the founders and a vice-president of the Franklin Institute. He died in the city November 12, 1864, in age the youngest of the family.
Clock and gun maker Isaiah Lukens of Philadelphia, PA, provided Meriwether Lewis and William Clark one of his air rifles for their 1803-1806 expedition to explore the northwest. Unlike most rifles which used black powder, the air rifle used compressed air to shoot its .31 cal. bullet.
Unlike black powder rifles, an air rifle made little noise when fired. It did not make smoke and had very slight "kick." And, you didn't have to "keep your powder dry!"
The butt of the rifle is actually a metal canister designed with a needele valuve to hold compressed air. The air was stored under pressure --between700 and 900 pounds per square inch! (A modern car tire carries a pressure of 35 puonds per square inch.) When the trigger is pulled, just the right amount of air is carried from the butt to the bullet chamber and the round leaves the barrel with a whish.
This is an air rifle butt reservoir screwed to the pump used to compress the air. The auger end (to the right) could be srewed into a tree. A few hundred strokes on the pump and you were ready to go hunting.
Although the rifle was used in hunting, its main purpose was to impress the Native Americans Lewis and Clark would meet. Upon returning home Lewis and Clark presented the history making air rifle back to Isaiah Lukens.
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