Writting...........................TS Elliot...........the American poet....to the Elliots..............and Ellicot Mills..........Maryland..............................a city that still is there...................a Black man holding keys in his left hand......................his right ear being examined.......from East to West.........West to East........thank the great Black polymath for Wash Dc.....................he was the most responsible.......he both redrew the city's map from scratch..........i am sure added his own stuff................even before Pierre L'Enfant burned the blueprints...............and told them where the boundary stones should be put...........................


Ellicott City (June 2012) Molly may have purchased Banneka to help establish a farm located near the future site of Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, west of Baltimore.^[12] One biographer has suggested that Banneka may have been a member of the Dogon tribe that is reputed to have had knowledge of astronomy (see: Dogon astronomical beliefs).^[13] Molly supposedly freed and married Banneka, who may have shared his knowledge of astronomy with her.^[14] Although born after Banneka's death, Benjamin may have acquired some knowledge of astronomy from Molly.^[13]
In 1737, Banneker was named at the age of 6 on the deed of his family's 100-acre (0.40 km²) farm in the Patapsco Valley in rural Baltimore County.^[15][16][17] The remainder of his early life is not well documented. As a young teenager, he may have met and befriended Peter Heinrichs, a Quaker who established a school near the Banneker farm.^[18] Quakers were leaders in the anti-slavery movement and advocates of racial equality (see Quakers in the abolition movement and Testimony of equality).^[19] Heinrichs may have shared his personal library and provided Banneker with his only classroom instruction.^[18] Banneker's formal education apparently ended when he was old enough to help on his family's farm.^[20]

Notable works

In 1753 at about the age of 21, Banneker completed a wooden clock that struck on the hour. He appears to have modeled his clock from a borrowed pocket watch by carving each piece to scale. The clock purportedly continued to work until his death.^[20][21]

Total solar eclipse (1999)

After his father died in 1759, Banneker lived with his mother and sisters.^[4][22] In 1768, he signed a Baltimore County petition to move the county seat from Joppa to Baltimore.^[23]
In 1772, brothers Andrew Ellicott, John Ellicott and Joseph Ellicott moved from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and bought land along the Patapsco Falls near Banneker's farm on which to construct gristmills, around which the village of Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City) subsequently developed.^{[16][24][25][26]} The Ellicotts were Quakers and shared the same views on racial equality as did many of their faith.^[25][27] Banneker studied the mills and became acquainted with their proprietors.^[24][28]
In 1788, George Ellicott, the son of Andrew Ellicott, loaned Banneker books and equipment to begin a more formal study of astronomy.^[5][29][30] During the following year, Banneker sent George his work calculating a solar eclipse.^[5][29][31]
In 1790, Banneker prepared an ephemeris for 1791, which he hoped would be placed within a published almanac. However, he was unable to find a printer that was willing to publish and distribute the almanac.^[5][32]