Symmes, John Cleves (1780-1829)

Born November 5, 1780, Symmes was a captain in the U.S. Army in the war of 1812-14, nephew of the jurist of the same name. He served with distinction at the battle of Niagara and in the sortie from Fort Erie. He later devoted himself to philosophical pursuits. In 1818, he promulgated his theory that the Earth is a hollow sphere, habitable within, open at the poles to admit light, and containing within it six or seven concentric hollow spheres also open at the poles.

In May 1818, he mailed prominent people in various countries a manifesto of his theories, asking for an expedition to be equipped for exploration at the poles. He lectured widely and his convert James McBride was responsible for the anonymously published Symmes' Theory of Concentric Spheres; Demonstrating that the Earth is Hollow, Habitable Within, and Widely Open About the Poles, by A Citizen of the United States (1826). It was not favorably received, but later influenced other hollow Earth theorists.

In 1820, a pseudonymous book by "Captain Seaborn" titled Symzonia described a steamship voyage to the south polar opening. The ship goes over the rim and enters the continent of "Symzonia," where the inhabitants live in a socialist utopia. This concept may have influenced Edgar Allan Poe's story "Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym."

Symmes died May 28, 1829, at the early age of 49, but his theories were revived by his son Americus Vespucius, who published The Symmes' Theory of Concentric Spheres (1878).

Sources:

A Citizen of the United States [James McBride]. Symmes' Theory of Concentric Spheres; Demonstrating that the Earth is Hollow, Habitable Within, and Widely Open About the Poles. Cincinnati, Ohio: Morgan, Lodge, and Fisher, 1826.

Symmes, Americus, ed. The Symmes' Theory of Concentric Spheres: Demonstrating that the Earth is Hollow, Habitable Within, and Widely Open about the Poles. Louisville, Ky.: Bradley and Gil-bert, 1878.