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The BRONZEMAN Thirty-one Sieges and Fortunes of Distinguished Negroes (Continued from page 13) answer ere this. Granted. But a variety of important occurrences continually interposing to distract the mind and to withdraw the attention, I hope will apologize for the delay and plead my excuse for seeming, but not real neglect. I thank you most sincerely for your polite notice of me, in the elegant lines you enclosed, and, however undeserving I may be of such encomium and panegyric, the style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your poetical talents, in honor of which, and as a tribute justly due to you, I would have published the poem, had I not have been apprehensive that while I only meant to give the world this new instance of your genius, I might have incurred the imputation of vanity. This and nothing else determined me not to give it a place in the public prints. If you should ever come to Cambridge or near headquarters, I shall be happy to see a person so favored by the muses, and to whom Nature has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations. I am with great respect, Your obedient servant, George Washington Benjamin Banneker I shall, in just a few words, discuss the career of Benjamin Banneker. He was born on November 9, 1731. He was George Washington's senior by three months, and he was the son of Robert Banneker. Benjamin's father had assumed the surname of his mother, who was a Banneker - the daughter of Banneker, an African prince, and Molly Welsh, and English woman, who was his benefactress. This African prince was a very proud man, and deliberately refused to function as a slave. So he eventually because the gentlemanly husband of an English woman instead. Benjamin Banneker acquired all the educational training that a country grammar school could then offer. This school was located in a distract that was practically primeval wilderness - ten miles from Baltimore, Maryland, which was, at that time, a village of thirty houses. Roads were few; houses were miles apart. Schools and churches were scarce. Upon his father's death, Benjamin assumed full control of the farm. He labored like the real man that he was in order to support his mother and the rest of the family. In his early manhood, about 1753, Banneker saw a watch. Using it as a model, he constructed a wooden clock. All its parts were the products of his own ingenuity, skill and perseverance. That was the first clock that was ever made in America. It kept accurate time for over 20 years. A flower mill was erected in his immediate neighborhood - the Ellicotts' Mill. The owners were friendly neighbors - so much so that George Ellicott and Benjamin became cronies. The obviousness of the latter's mathematical turn of mind led his white friend, Ellicott, to lend him Mayer's Tables, Ferguson's Astronomy, Leadbetter's Lunar Tables and some astronomical instruments. George Ellicott has promised to explain to Banneker the intricate processes of astronomical calculations, but before he was ready to do so, Banneker had, by his own unaided effort, mastered the complexity of astronomical knowledge. Ellicott was amazed! Naturally, he meted out to Banneker an increased measure of respect after he became aware of his friend's extraordinary capacity. Banneker was more than a mathematician. He developed the ability of a civil engineer, and assisted Mr. Andrew Ellicott, another friend of his, in the task of surveying the territory of the District of Columbia. This Federal Territory was created by the territorial areas ceded by the states of Virginia and Maryland to the Federal Government. He surveyed the sites of the Federal Capitol, the White House, the Treasure, and other buildings. He subsequently resumed the work he had previously begun - the compilation of his Almanac, or Ephemeris as it was also called. The leading publishing house of almanacs, Messrs. Goddard and Angell, of Baltimore, Maryland undertook the publication of that scientific production, in 1792. It was down at the instance of James McHenry, Esquire, a surgeon of the Revolutionary War, and a confidant of George Washington. In the opinion of publishers, Banneker's Almanac was an "effort of genius; a complete and accurate Ephemeris for the year 1792 calculated by a sable descendant of Africa." Its accuracy had satisfied the scientific scrutiny, to which it had been subjected, of the most distinguished American astronomers of that age. Because of its accuracy and comprehensiveness, which excelled all other almanacs of the day, Banneker's was used by the inhabitants of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and other neighboring states, for very many years - until he because too old to continue its publication. Banneker was a correspondent of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. The following is Jefferson's reply to a letter (continued on page 32) [[advertisement]] Relieves 1 to 3 DAYS H. G. C. [[image - drawing of a man in a tuxedo]] FOR MUCOUS AND CATARRHAL CONDITIONS PAINLESS HARMLESS MADE ONLY BY ACME CHEMICAL MFG.Co LIMITED 517 ST.LOUIS ST. NEW ORLEANS, LA. [[/advertisement]] [[advertisement]] Lewis Apt. Hotel 1-2 Rooms With Private Bath Large Reception Room And Phone On Each Floor FULL MAID SERVICE [[image - black & white photograph of Miss Lewis]] [[caption]] Miss A. T. 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