St. Joseph's Receives Special Telescope as Legacy Gift

St. Joseph's was recently gifted a Newtonian telescope by Mr. John Bowdle of Simpsonville.

The telescope was built by Mr. Bowdle's grandfather, the Reverend Arthur Forest Wells, in the 1950s. Reverend Wells, a 1914 graduate of Princeton Seminary, served at several local Presbyterian churches in New Jersey, Missouri and Maryland before his retirement in 1952.

The telescope is almost entirely hand-crafted, including the 6-inch mirrors that were ground by hand. Being a skilled carpenter and astronomy enthusiast, Reverend Wells took on the construction of this telescope as a passion project.  

Earlier this spring, Mr. Bowdle visited St. Joseph's and spoke with Mr. Koon's astronomy class about his memories of visiting his grandfather as a child and helping him build the telescope. Mr. Bowdle recounted that as a minister, his grandfather felt it natural to build a telescope to study the endless wonders of God's creation.

St. Joseph's is honored to be the recipient of this legacy gift and thankful to Mr. Bowdle and his family for their generosity.