Jared Mansfield

Who was Jared Mansfield?

Jared Mansfield was an American mathematician and surveyor. His career was shaped by two interventions by President Thomas Jefferson. In 1801 Jefferson appointed Mansfield as Professor at the newly founded United States Military Academy at West Point. Again at Jefferson's appointment, Mansfield served as the Surveyor General of the United States from 1803 to 1812, charged with extending the survey of United States land in the Northwest Territory.

Mansfield was born in New Haven, Connecticut, son of a sea captain, Stephen Mansfield. He graduated from Yale in 1777, and taught in New Haven and Philadelphia. In 1800 he married Elizabeth Phipps, daughter of an American Naval Officer. In 1801 he had printed some scientific papers titled Essays Mathematical and Physical, which were brought to Jefferson's attention by Senator Abraham Baldwin. Jefferson appointed Mansfield captain of engineers, so he might become a professor at West Point. After moving to West Point, Mansfield was appointed Surveyor General in Summer of 1803. Jefferson was dissatisfied with the performance of Rufus Putnam, whose surveys in the Congress Lands of Ohio were poorly executed. Putnam was also a Federalist.