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A BRIEF ACCOUNT
OF THE LICK OBSERVATORY. |
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JAMES LICK, who gave to the world the Lick Observatory, was born in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1796, and died in San Francisco, October 1, 1876. His body lies in the base of the pier of the great Equatorial. He learned and practiced the trade of organ and piano-making in Hanover, Pennsylvania, and in Baltimore. In 1820 he was in business in Philadelphia. From there he went to Buenos Ayres, making and selling pianos. From the east coast of South America he came to the west, and finally, in 1847, he arrived in San Francisco. |
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Successful in business, but far more successful in his investments in land, he became rich, and died leaving an estate of some $3,000,000. This was all devoted to public uses. His deed of trust charged the Board of Lick Trustees to expend: |
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For a monument in San Francisco to Francis Scott Key, author of the "Star Spangled Banner," the sum of $60,000; |
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For statuary, emblematic of three significant epochs in the history of the State of California, to be placed in front of the San Francisco City Hall, $100,000; |
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For a Home for Old Ladies in San Francisco, $100,000; |
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For Free Baths in San Francisco, $150,000; |
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For a California Institute of Mechanic Arts--a manual training-school for the boys and girls of San Francisco, $540,000; |
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For the Lick Observatory, to contain the most powerful telescope in the world, $700,000; besides many other important bequests, to the Society of California Pioneers, to the California Academy of Sciences and other beneficiaries. |
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His exact provisions in regard to the Observatory were: |
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| Page 1 | Page 2 | Index | Page 4 | Page 5 |