A French Inventor, a Balloon, and America’s First Flight

A detail of Jean Pierre Blanchard and John Jefferies arriving in Calais after crossing the English Channel in a hot air balloon. Library of Congress. Public Domain

About 15 months after George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States, the Residence Act of 1790 was approved. The Act formally moved the nation’s capital from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington. The Act provided a 10-year window to establish the capital city and build the “President’s House.” Therefore, the transfer would not take place until 1800.

The year that Washington became president, a former Boston physician and Loyalist returned from his years away. John Jeffries was born and raised in Boston, received his education at Harvard College and later earned a medical degree from Marischal College in Scotland. When hostilities broke out between American colonists and Great Britain in 1775, Jeffries was a surgeon at the hospital of the province of Massachusetts on Rainsford Island―a small island in the Boston Harbor.

Dr. John Jeffries, an American physician with Loyalist views, pioneered meteorological science and balloon-powered flight in the late 18th century. Public Domain

As a surgeon with British sympathies, he used his skills for the Crown, moving from Boston to Nova Scotia to England (where he was promoted to surgeon-major) to New York and then to Charleston. While in Charleston during the spring of 1780, he received word that his wife, who had remained in England, had died. He returned to his children in London and continued to practice medicine there until his return to America in 1789.

A Treaty and a Flight

On Sept. 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending America’s War for Independence (1775–1783). Sixteen days later in Versailles, France, a large crowd gathered, which included King Louis XVI and the royal family, to witness the flight of Le Réveillon, a hot air balloon engineered by Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier. This was the first balloon to contain living creatures: a duck, a sheep, and a cockerel. It reached a height of nearly 2,000 feet before a hole in the fabric caused the balloon to slowly descend back to earth.  The animals, unhurt, were named “heroes of the air” and given a place in the Royal Menagerie. Pilâtre de Rozier, an aspiring aeronaut, had been on hand for the demonstration. Two months later, he, along with François Laurent, the marquis D'Arlandes, would make the first manned flight.

The idea of, and now the real possibility of, flight took Europe by storm. Baron von Grimm, a German journalist and art critic, noted, “Among all our circle of friends, at all our meals, in the antechambers of our lovely women, as in the academic schools, all one hears is talk of experiments, atmospheric air, inflammable gas, flying cars, journeys in the sky.”

Within that circle was the American exile and Londoner, Jeffries. The surgeon, however, was not satisfied with being a mere spectator. Although Jeffries had not wanted to be part of the American Revolution, he did wish to be part of this one.

The French Connection

Jeffries used his wealth to fund the efforts of a brilliant young French inventor and struggling aeronaut, Jean Pierre Blanchard (1753– 1809). Blanchard had endured mockery after his “bird like flying machine, with six wings and a tail” had failed to fly in front of a Parisian crowd. That May 1782 “flying machine” failure was finally followed up with success in March of 1784 with his hydrogen balloon, but his popularity in France had waned almost completely. When Blanchard arrived in England in search of a more enthusiastic and forgiving crowd, and possibly more willing sponsors, he met Jeffries. The surgeon agreed to sponsor Blanchard with the caveat that he, too, would fly in the balloon.

Their first flight took place in London on Nov. 30, 1784, before British nobility, including the Prince of Wales. Blanchard and Jeffries began making plans for a trip that would put them both on the map: a flight across the English Channel.

A depiction of Jean Pierre Blanchard and John Jefferies arriving in Calais after crossing the English Channel in a hot air balloon. Library of Congress. Public Domain

On Jan. 7, 1785, in the city of Dover, England, Blanchard and Jeffries stepped into the balloon with hopes of being the first to fly across the channel. The wind was in their favor, pushing them eastward. As they floated across the body of water, the balloon suddenly began to lose altitude. Blanchard and Jeffries quickly tossed out the ballast. Still, the balloon descended toward the water. The two decided to toss everything that was not absolutely necessary. Less than 100 feet from the surface, the balloon finally began re-ascending. After flying east toward Calais for two hours, the balloon reached France. After half an hour over land, Blanchard and Jeffries, with only their underwear and cork life preservers, landed safely.

Looking West

Blanchard rode the wings of his success throughout Europe. In 1785 and 1786, the French aeronaut became the first to fly in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland. In 1789, Britain found itself fending off another revolution, this one just across its channel in France. Jeffries, perhaps hoping to avoid conscription or perhaps simply missing home, returned to Boston.

With his country in revolution, the Frenchman had actually found a home in England as well as a world that praised his daring and accomplishments. But with the Old World now literally under his feet, he too looked toward the New World. On Sept. 30, 1792, Blanchard set sail from England to America. On Dec. 9, he arrived in Philadelphia.

A stylized portrait of Jean Pierre Blanchard, the French 18th century balloonist and pioneer of the first manned balloon flight in the United States and several European nations. Public Domain

Over the next month, the French balloonist prepared to bring America into the revolution of flight. Too excited to indulge in sleep, Blanchard rose very early the morning of the planned flight. His balloon awaited him in the yard of the Walnut Street Prison, and before the sun had risen, he was checking and double-checking the balloon and the basket.

Washington and ‘The Immense Number of People’

The flight was scheduled for 10 a.m.  As the crowd gathered, President Washington met with Blanchard. The president gave him a pass that worked like a passport. The pass was signed by Washington and stated that if anyone were to come in contact with him, they were to “oppose no hindrance or molestation to the said Mr. Blanchard; And, that on the contrary, they receive and aid him with that humanity and good will, which may render honor to their country, and justice to an individual so distinguished by his efforts to establish and advance an art, in order to make it useful to mankind in general.”

A band serenaded the spectators, cannons fired every hour, and the balloon was soon filled with air. It was during this week in history on Jan. 9, 1793, at 10 am that Blanchard began America’s first flight. As the balloon lifted, so did the cheers from the crowd. He took note of “the immense number of people, which covered the open places, the roofs of the houses, the steeples, the streets and the roads” as he floated away from them toward the Delaware River.

Blanchard had filled his balloon with food, bottles of wine, meteorological instruments, and a dog. His balloon reached a height of more than 5,800 feet, but he soon noticed a thick fog approaching. He decided it wise to land the balloon. After covering approximately 15 miles in almost an hour, Blanchard landed the balloon in Deptford Township, New Jersey.

The balloon had garnered enough attention from locals that several approached after he landed. The first to approach, showing signs of uncertainty and anxiety, nearly turned away until Blanchard lifted his wine bottles. The man remained to help. Several other men and women arrived and became even more helpful when he presented Washington’s pass.

“How dear the name of Washington is to this people!” Blanchard recalled. “With what eagerness they gave me all possible assistance.”

Blanchard continued flying hot air balloons until his final flight in February 1808 when he suffered either a heart attack or stroke and fell over 50 feet from his balloon. His injuries resulted in his death a year later. Washington did not witness the 19th century, dying in December 1799, but he was able to catch a glimpse of the future while simultaneously securing the future of millions of Americans by his leadership and statesmanship. Jeffries lived past both men, dying in 1819.

Although Jeffries had returned to Boston in 1789, it is not recorded whether he attended the event in Philadelphia or whether he was aware of Blanchard’s arrival. Regardless, it is possible that Blanchard may never have reached the height of his fame without Jeffries’ assistance.

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