Benjamin West (1730-1813), professor of mathematics and natural history, was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He had an early aptitude for mathematics and was largely self-educated, borrowing books from his friends.

Bust of Ben West, before during and after restoration.

In 1753 Ben West moved to Providence and opened a school. When his school venture proved unprofitable, he opened a dry-goods store and bookstore. His new enterprises did not last after the beginning of the Revolutionary War. During the war he manufactured clothes for the troops. When the war was over, he opened another school. Ben had, in the meantime, become well-known as an astronomer.

Ben’s marble ear, before and during restoration

 With Joseph Brown he observed the transit of Venus on June 3, 1769, from a platform on an East Side street later named Transit Street. Another street in the area was given the name of Planet Street. The publication by West of An Account of the Observation of Venus upon the Sun the Third Day of June 1769 and his observation of a comet in July of 1770 established his reputation. Ben received honorary master of arts degrees from both Harvard and Rhode Island College (Brown) in that year. Two years later he received an honorary degree from Dartmouth.

In 1781 Ben was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. And in 1786 he was appointed Professor Of Mathematics And Astronomy at Rhode Island College. Ben’s appointment which was, in fact, a lectureship, he did not take up until 1788, after he returned from a year of teaching mathematics at the Protestant Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia. Beginning in 1798, his last year at the College, Ben’s title was changed to Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He retired to Newport to open a school for navigation in his home. In 1802 he became Postmaster of Providence, a post which he held until his death on August 26, 1813.