Hassler, Ferdinand R.

1779-1843. Born in Switzerland, he emigrated to the United States in 1805. Employed as a teacher of mathematics and surveying at West Point, he was hired to begin a coast survey in 1811. He became first superintendent of the Coast Survey in 1815, then became superintendent of the Bureau of Weights and Measures when the Survey was given to the Army. In 1832, the survey was taken away from the Army and Navy, and Hassler was appointed again as superintendent, the position he held until 1843. It was those years that the United States developed a vigorous survey program.