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DFREY LOWELL CABOT SCIENCE LIBRARY
Harvard College Library
This book is
FRAGILE
only with permission.
lle with care
ff member
ying.
erving
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guidley Bryant
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1
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-
"
The Great. International RAILWAY SUSPENSION BRIDGE Crer. The Viagaras River
in twil view at the Falls
Connecting The United States & Canuda. The New York Central I Great Western Rail -Wavs
Length of Span from centre of Tower's 822 feet
Height of Track above the Water 250 tect
Four Wire Cables III mohes In Diameter
Total Length of Wires 4000 Miles
In Each Cable 3569 109 Wyone
Cost $ Person I A ROFBLING Emergen
Falmel
uses
Calloud Annal
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&
LIVES AND WORKS
OF
Civil and Military Engineers
OF
AMERICA.
BY
CHARLES B. STUART, C.E.,
AUTHOR OF "NAVAL DRY DOCKS OF THE UNITED STATES," "NAVAL AND MAIL STEAMERS OF THE UNITED
STATES;" LATE ENGINEER-IN-OHIEF OF THE U. B. NAVY, AND STATE ENGINEER AND
SURVEYOR OF NEW YORK, ETC., ETC.
NEW YORK:
D. VAN NOSTRAND, PUBLISHER,
28 MURRAY AND 27 WARREN STREET.
1871.
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End ( 70.11
in WARD UNIVE CUITY
OF LN.
JUN 20 1917
TRANSFERRED TO
NOKLEGE ELERARY
!
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by
CHARLES B STUART,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
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PREFACE.
To commemorate the lives of American citizens emi-
nent in the profession of engineering, and who are no less
illustrious for their virtues and patriotism, this work is
designed.
The object of the author has been to briefly portray the
lives of pioneer American Engineers, and to collect some
of the reminiscences of the earlier works of engineering of
the country, with which their names are identified.
The description of the works alluded to in this volume
is necessarily general in its character, and embraces less
of detail than it would were it intended for professional
reading alone.
Few circumstances have contributed so much to pro-
mote the commerce and great prosperity of the States as
our system of internal improvements, for which we are
largely indebted to the skill, foresight, and integrity of the
Civil Engineer, and there is no profession to whom, in this
country, less public justice has been accorded.
In the arrangement of the several subjects, reference is
had to their succession in time, commencing with those
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4
PREFACE.
who were most conspicuously identified with our first
public improvements, and noting some of the most prom-
inent men and works at various periods, down to recent
dates.
Brevity, and fidelity of statement, has been his aim
rather than literary style or eloquence of description.
In the limit of time embraced he is conscious of having
included but a few only of those whose lives and labors
deserve to be more fitly and fully recorded than he is able
to do. But the aid and encouragement that has been
tendered in behalf of the undertaking by the most promi-
nent Engineers in every State of the Union, in the collec-
tion, not only of information embodied in the following
pages, but of Engineers for whose biographies he is col-
lecting material, encourages the hope that, as intervals of
time can be had from active professional engagements,
other volumes will succeed this, until some slight degree
of justice shall have been done to other deserving men of
the profession.
In executing the design, on all occasions of doubt and
uncertainty resort has been made to the best sources for
information to which access could be had, and no dili-
gence or research has been neglected to make the work
complete. If errors are found to exist, the author would
feel grateful to those who might direct his attention to
them, that corrections may be made in future editions.
In a work of this kind much, from its nature, must be
compilation, and to those of whose previous labors the
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PREFACE.
5
author has availed himself he gratefully acknowledges his
obligations.
The author desires also to acknowledge the gratification
he has derived from the many encouraging letters he has
received, and the assistance which the numerous voluntary
contributions of valuable information and important data
have afforded him in the preparation of this work.
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ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. NIAGARA RAILWAY SUSPENSION BRIDGE
face title-page.
2. FIRST AMERICAN STEAMBOAT, 1786
face page 20
3. PORTRAIT OF JAMES GEDDES
" " 36
4. PORTRAIT OF BENJAMIN WRIGHT
" " 48
5. FIRST AMERICAN CANAL BOAT
page 58
6. DEEP ROCK CUTTING AT LOCKPORT
" 61
7. VIEW OF THE AQUEDUCT AT LITTLE FALLS
" 63
8. PORTRAIT OF CANVASS WHITE*
face page 74
9. VIEW OF THE AQUEDUCT AT ROCHESTER
page 97
10. COMBINED LOCKS AT LOCKPORT
" 114
11. PORTRAIT OF GRIDLEY BRYANT
face page 119
12. HENRY CLAY'S FIRST RAILROAD RIDE
page 138
13. PORTRAIT OF JESSE L WILLIAMS
face page 141
14. PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE 4
" " 177
15. PORTRAIT OF MAJOR DAVID BATES DOUGLAS
" " 199
16. CARROLLTON VIADUCT
page 226
17. FIRST AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE
" 233
18. FIRST RAILROAD PASSENGER CAR
" 236
19. PORTRAIT OF BENJAMIN H. LATROBE
face page 243
20. PORTRAIT OF COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JB.
"
" 257
21. FAIRMOUNT BRIDGE
page 268
22. ELLETS BASKET RIDE OVER NIAGARA RIVER
" 274
23. CINCINNATI SUSPENSION BRIDGE
" 315
24. EAST RIVER SUSPENSION BRIDGE
" 322
. Engraved for this work, 1859.
7
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CONTENTS.
MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT,
Surveyor-General of the United States.
SURVEYING BOUNDARY LINES BETWEEN THE STATES AND TERRITORIES.-
COMMISSIONER TO LOCATE WESTERN AND NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF PENN-
SYLVANIA.-GEOGRAPHER OF THE UNITED STATES.-WESTERN BOUNDARY
OF New York-FIRST ACTUAL MEASUREMENT OF NIAGARA FALLS.-SUR-
VEY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON CITY.-BOUN-
DARY LINE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE SPANISH POSSESSIONS.
-SURVEYOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.-LONGITUDE FROM WASH-
INGTON-SELF-TAUGHT ASTRONOMER.-COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL IM-
PROVEMENTS OF PENNSYLVANIA-NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF G'EORGIA.-
PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN THE MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT.
Pages 17-35.
JAMES GEDDES,
Surveyor and Civil Engineer.
ENGINEER ON ERIE CANAL-ENGINEER OF CHAMPLAIN CANAL-ENGINEER
OF OHIO CANALS.-REPORT OF STATE COMMISSIONERS-SURVEYOR FOR A
CANAL IN THE STATE OF MAINE.-ENGINEER OF LOCATION OF THE CHESA-
PEAKE AND OHIO CANAL-ENGINEER ON THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE
CANALS. Pages 36-47.
BENJAMIN WRIGHT,
Surveyor and Civil Engineer.
LAND SURVEYING.-FIRST WORK AS A CIVIL ENGINEER-SURVEY OF THE Mo-
HAWK RIVER-APPOINTED ENGINEER OF THE MIDDLE SECTION OF THE
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10
CONTENTS.
ERIE CANAL-DIMENSIONS AND ESTIMATED Cosr OF ERIE CANAL-GROUND
FIRST BROKEN.-COMPLETION OF THE MIDDLE SECTION.-FIRST CANAL
BOAT.-SURVEYS AND LOCATION OF WESTERN AND EASTERN SECTIONS OF
ERIE CANAL-MIDDLE SECTION NAVIGABLE.-THE AQUEDUCT OVER THE
MOHAWK RIVER-THE COMPLETION OF THE ERIE CANAL-THE CELEBRA-
TION.-JUDGE WRIGHT APPOINTED CONSULTING ENGINEER .ON THE FARM-
INGTON CANAL, AND ON THE BLACKSTONE CANAL-CONSULTING ENGINEER
ON CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL-CHIEF ENGINEER OF JAMES
RIVER AND OHIO CANAL AND OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL.
-CONSULTING ENGINEER ON THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON CANAL-CHIEF
ENGINEER OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL-CHIEF ENGINEER OF
THE HARLEM RAILROAD.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE ST. LAWRENCE SHIP
CANAL-CONSULTING ENGINEER OF THE WELLAND CANAL-APPOINTED
BY GOVERNOR MARCY TO SURVEY THE ROUTE FOR THE NEW YORK AND
ERIE RAILROAD.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE TIOGA AND CHEMUNG RAIL-
ROAD.-EXAMINING A CANAL ROUTE FROM CHICAGO TO THE ILLINOIS
RIVER-IN CHARGE OF THE PUBLIC WORKS OF VIRGINIA. Pages 48-
73.
CANVASS WHITE,
Civil Engineer.
EMPLOYED AS ASSISTANT ENGINEER ON THE ERIE CANAL-HE VISITS ENG-
LAND TO EXAMINE ITS PUBLIC WORKS.-DISCOVERS HYDRAULIC CEMENT.
-ENGINEER ON THE ERIE CANAL-APPOINTED CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE
UNION CANAL OF PENNSYLVANIA-CONSULTING ENGINEER OF THE SCHUYL-
KILL NAVIGATION COMPANY, AND OF THE DELAWARE AND CHESAPEAKE
CANAL-ENGINEER OF THE WINDSOR Locks, CONNECTICUT RIVER, AND
CONSULTING ENGINEER OF THE FARMINGTON CANAL-CHIEF ENGINEER OF
THE LEHIGH CANAL, AND OF THE DELAWARE AND RABITAN CANAL. Pages
74-90.
DAVID STANHOPE BATES,
Surveyor and Civil Engineer.
SURVEYS LAND.-SUPERINTENDENT OF IRON WORKs.-ROCHESTER AQUE-
DUCT.-ITS COMPLETION.-APPOINTED CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE OHIO
CANALS.-REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONERS.-SURVEYS AND LOCATION OF
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CONTENTS.
11
CANAL LINES.-APPOINTED CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE LOUISVILLE AND
PORTLAND CANAL-IN CHARGE OF THE SURVEYS ON THE CHENANGO
CANAL-SURVEYS GENESEE VALLEY CANAL-SURVEYS ROUTE FOR RAIL-
ROAD FROM CANANDAIGUA TO ROCHESTER-ENGINEER OF THE NIAGARA RIVER
HYDRAULIC COMPANY.-APPOINTED CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE STATE OF
MICHIGAN. Pages 90-108.
NATHAN S. ROBERTS,
Surveyor and Civil Engineer.
CLEARING LAND AND SURVEYING.-FIRST WORK AS A CIVIL ENGINEER.-
TAKES CHARGE OF THE LOCKPORT LOCKS.-THEIR COMPLETION.-CELE-
BRATION OF THE EVENT.-COMPLETION OF THE WESTERN SECTION OF
ERIE CANAL-APPOINTED CONSULTING ENGINEER OF CHESAPEAKE AND
DELAWARE CANAL-SURVEYS A ROUTE FOR SHIP CANAL AROUND
NIAGARA FALLS.-REPORT ON SUPPLYING THE SUMMIT OF CHENANGO
CANAL WITH WATER.-APPOINTMENT FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR-
CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE PENNSYLVANIA CANAL-MEMBER OF THE BOARD
OF ENGINEERS ON THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL-CHIEF ENGINEER
OF THE GOVERNMENT, IMPROVING THE NAVIGATION OF THE TENNESSEE
RIVER-PUBLIC HONORS IN ALABAMA-EMPLOYED BY THE STATE OF
New YORK TO MAKE SURVEYS FOR THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE ERIE
CANAL-REBUILDING THE ROCHESTER AQUEDUCT AND THE COMBINED
LOCKs.-RETIREMENT FROM PROFESSIONAL LIFE. Pages 109-118.
GRIDLEY BRYANT,
Civil Engineer.
ENGINEER OF THE FIRST RAILROAD IN AMERICA.-THE QUINCY RAILBOAD.-
Surr OF Ross WINANS vs. THE NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD.-FIRST
PRACTICAL EIGHT WHEEL CAR.-Construction OF IMPORTANT WORKS.-
DEFENCES OF THE HARBOR OF BOSTON.-LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
Pages 119-131.
GENERAL JOSEPH G. SWIFT,
Civil and Maitary Engineer.
FIRST GRADUATE AT WEST POINT.-ENGINEER OFFICER.-HARBOR DE-
FENCES.-CHIEF OF ENGINEER CoRPs.-SUPERINTENDENT OF MILITARY
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CONTENTS.
ACADEMY.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE ARMY.-DEFENCE OF NEW YORK
CrTY.-RESIGNATION-SURVEYOR OF THE PORT OF NEW York.-CHIEF
ENGINEER BALTIMORE AND SUSQUEHANNA RAILROAD.-SUPERINTENDENT
OF HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.-CONSTRUCTTON OF NEW ORLEANS AND
LAKE PONCHARTRAIN RAILROAD.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE HARLEM
RAILROAD. Pages 132-140.
JESSE L. WILLIAMS,
Civil Engineer.
CHIEF ENGINEER OF WABASH AND ERIE CANAL-STATE ENGINEER OF INDIANA.
-MEMBER OF BOARD OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.-APPOINTED CHIEF
ENGINEER OF THE WABASH AND ERIE CANAL-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE
FORT WAYNE AND CHICAGO RAILROAD.-GOVERNMENT DIRECTOR ON THE
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.-EXPLORING THE ROUTE OVER THE MOUNTAINS.-
INTERESTING LETTERS.-SPECIAL EXAMINATION OF THE UNION PACIFIC
RAILROAD.-COST OF ITS CONSTRUCTION-APPOINTED RECEIVER OF THE
GRAND RAPIDS AND INDIANA RAILROAD. Pages 141-169.
COLONEL WILLIAM McREE,
Civil and Military Engineer.
CADET AT MILITARY ACADEMY.-LIEUTENANT OF ENGINEERS.-REPAIRS OF
FORTS.-MISSION TO FRANCE AND BELGIUM.-RESIGNATION AS UNITED
STATES ENGINEER-APPOINTED SURVEYOR GENERAL OF ILLINOIS, MISSOURI,
AND ARKANSAS. Pages 170-172.
SAMUEL H. KNEASS,
Civil Engineer.
CIVIL ENGINEERING.-SURVEY OF CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL-
VISITS PUBLIC WORKS OF GREAT BRITAIN-PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT ENGI-
NEER PENNSYLVANIA CANAL.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE MINE HILL AND
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN RAILBOAD.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE PHILADELPHIA
AND TRENTON RAILROAD.-ENGINEER OF THE PHILADELPHIA AND WILMING-
TON RAILROAD.-DELAWARE AND SCHUYLKILL CANAL-SURVEY OF RAILROAD
ROUTES IN PENNSYLVANIA.-ENGINEER PENNSYLVANIA CENTRAL RAIL-
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CONTENTS.
13
ROAD, AND OF THE NORTHERN NEW York RAILBOAD.Criy ENGINEER OF
PHILADELPHIA. Pages 173-176.
CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE,
Civil and Military Engineer.
WEST POINT CADET.-OFFICER OF UNITED STATES ARMY.-DUTIES AT FORT-
RESS MONROE AND SPRINGFIELD ARMORY.-CIVIL ENGINEERING.-AssIsT-
ANT ENGINEER YORK AND WRIGHTSVILLE RAILROAD, AND THE WESTERN
RAILROAD OF MASSACHUSETTS-CHIEF ENGINEER TROY AND ALBANY
RAILROAD, AND OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER RAILROAD.-CONSULTING ENGI-
NEER OF IMPORTANT PUBLIC Works.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE CLEVE-
LAND, COLUMBUS, AND CINCINNATI RAILBOAD.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE
MOBILE AND OHIO RAILROAD.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE TENNESSEE AND
ALABAMA RAILROAD, AND THE NEW ORLEANS AND OHIO RAILROAD.-MEM-
BER OF BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE ST. LAWRENCE
RIVER AND THE HARBOR OF MONTREAL. Pages 177-194.
FREDERICK HARBACH,
Civil Engineer.
ASSISTANT ENGINEER-APPOINTED CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE HARTFORD AND
SPRINGFIELD RAILROAD, AND OF THE PITTSFIELD AND NORTH ADAMS RAIL~
BOAD.-CONTRACTOR ON THE CLEVELAND, COLUMBUS, AND CINCINNATI RAIL-
BOAD.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE MICHIGAN SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN
INDIANA RAILROAD.-CONTRACTOR ON THE CLEVELAND, PAINESVILLE AND
ASHTABULA RAILROAD. Pages 195-198.
MAJOR DAVID BATES DOUGLAS,
Civil and Military Engineer.
APPOINTMENT IN UNITED STATES ENGINEER CORPS.-SIEGE OF FORT ERIE.-
HARBOR DEFENCES.-PROFESSOR AT WEST POINT.-CIVIL ENGINEERING.-
CHIEF ENGINEER MORRIS CANAL-COMPLETION OF MONTVILLE PLANES.-
PENNSYLVANIA RAILrOAD.-PHILADELPHIA AND MORRISTOWN RAILROAD.-
PROFESSOR IN THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY.-CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE
CROTON WATER WORKs.-GREENWOOD CEMETERY.-PRESIDENT OF KEN-
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14
CONTENTS.
YON COLLEGE.-ALBANY WATER WorKs.-CEMETERIES AT ALBANY AND
QUEBEC.-BROOKLYN WATER WORKS AND DRAINAGE.-NEW BRIGHTON
ASSOCIATION.-PROFESSOR AT HOBART COLLEGE. Pages 199-221.
JONATHAN KNIGHT,
Surveyor and Civil Engineer.
SURVEYING LAND.-CIVIL ENGINEERING.-SURVEYS FOR BALTIMORE AND
OHIO RAILROAD.-ITS EARLY HISTORY.-FIRST AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE.-
PETER COOPER ITS BUILDER AND ENGINEER-FIRST RAILROAD PASSENGER
CAR.-APPOINTED THE FIRST CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE BALTIMORE AND
OHIO RAILROAD.-HIS ANNUAL REPORTS.-HIS RESIGNATION.-AcTS AS
CONSULTING ENGINEER ON VARIOUS PUBLIC WORKS.-HIs RETIREMENT
FROM PROFESSIONAL DUTIES. Pages 222-242.
BENJAMIN H. LATROBE,
Civil Engineer.
ENTERS THE SERVICE OF THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY.-
ASSISTANT ENGINEER ON WASHINGTON BRANCH RAILROAD.-CHIEF ENGI-
NEER OF BALTIMORE AND PORT DEPOSIT RAILROAD.-ENGINEER OF Loca-
TION AND CONSTRUCTION OF BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD.-ABLE
REPORTS-TUNNELS-VADUCTS-CONSULTING ENGINEER ON VARIOUS
RAILROADS-APPOINTED CHIEF ENGINEER OF NORTH-WESTERN AND VIR-
GINIA RAILROAD.-CONSULTING ENGINEER OF THE PHILADELPHIA, WIL-
MINGTON, AND BALTIMORE RAILBOAD.-BRIDGE OVER THE SUSQUEHANNA
RIVER.-CONSULTING ENGINEER ON NORTH MISSOURI RAILROAD.-CON-
SULTING ENGINEER ON HOOSAC TUNNEL-APPOINTED ON BOARD OF ENGI-
NEERS OF THE EAST RIVER SUSPENSION BRIDGE.-PRESIDENT AND ENGI-
NEER OF THE PITTSBURGH AND CONNELSVILLE RAILBOAD.PUBLIC WORKS,
FROM THE CHESAPEAKE TO THE OHIO. Pages 243-256.
COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JR.,
Civil and Military Engineer.
ASSISTANT ENGINEER ON CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL-VISITS EUROPE TO
INSPECT PUBLIC WORKS.-ENGAGED ON SURVEYS FOR THE LOCATION OF
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CONTENTS.
15
THE NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD.-APPOINTED CHIEF ENGINEER OF
JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL-FAIRMOUNT BRIDGE.-CHOSEN
PRESIDENT OF THE SCHUYLKILL NAVIGATION COMPANY.-ENGINEER AND
CONTRACTOR OF NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE.-ELLET'S BASKET RIDE
OVER THE NIAGARA RIVER-COMPLETION OF CARRIAGE BRIDGE.-WHEEL-
ING SUSPENSION BRIDGE-APPOINTED CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE HEMPFIELD
RAILROAD.-REPORT ON THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS.-APPOINTED
CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE CENTRAL VIRGINIA RAILROAD.-SURVEY OF THE
GREAT KANAWHA-APPOINTED COLONEL OF RAM FLEET ON THE MISSIS-
SIPPI.-BATTLE OF MEMPHIS.-ELLET'S DEATH.-HIS CHARACTER.HIS
SONS. Pages 257-285.
SAMUEL FORRER,
Surveyor and Civil Engineer.
APPOINTED SURVEYOR OF THE VIRGINIA MILITARY DISTRICT OF OHIO.-FIRST
ATTEMPT AT CIVIL ENGINEERING.-ASSISTANT ENGINEER-RESIDENT ENGI-
NEER ON THE MIAMI AND ERIE CANAL-APPOINTED MEMBER OF THE BOARD
OF PUBLIC WoRKs.-APPOINTED BY THE STATE OF INDIANA CONSULTING
ENGINEER-SURVEYS FOR LOCATION OF THE OHIO CENTRAL RAILROAD.—
EXCELS AS a LOCATING ENGINEER-LOCATES SEVERAL TURNPIKES.-CON-
TRACTOR ON THE WABASH CANAL, AND ON THE PACIFIC RAILROAD OF
Missouri-Member OF THE BOARD OF CANAL COMMISSIONERS AND OF THE
BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS.-CONSUITING ENGINEER. Pages 286-292.
WILLIAM STUART WATSON,
Civil Engineer.
ASSISTANT ENGINEER ON THE NEW YORK STATE CANALS, THE BUFFALO AND
LAKE HURON RAILROAD, AND ON THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY OF
CANADA.-FIRST ASSISTANT ENGINEER ON THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.-CHIEF
ENGINEER OF THE PLACER CANAL COMPANY-THE CALIFORNIA NORTHERN
AND SACRAMENTO VALLEY RAILROAD-THE CALIFORNIA CENTRAL RAIL-
ROAD-THE SAN FRANCISCO AND CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD-THE SAN
FRANCISCO AND HUMBOLDT BAY RAILROAD.-CHIEF AND CONSULTING ENGI-
NEER ON VARIOUS LARGE MINING CANALS-NORTH FORK HYDRAULIC
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16
CONTENTS.
COMPANY'S WORKS, AND THE CASCADE CANAL COMPANY'S WORKS, CALI-
FORNIA-FLUMING COMPANY'S GREAT ENGINEERING Work ON FEATHER
RIVER.-ITS SUCCESS. Pages 293-300.
JOHN A. ROEBLING,
Civil Engineer.
EDUCATION AS A CIVIL ENGINEER-ASSISTANT ENGINEER ON THE PENNSYL-
VANIA CANALS AND RAILROADS.-AQUEDUCT OVER THE ALLEGHANY RIVER.
-MONONGAHELA SUSPENSION BRIDGE.-SUSPENSION AQUEDUCTS ON THE
DELAWARE AND HUDSON CANAL-WIRE-RoPE FACTORY.-NIAGARA RAIL-
WAY SUSPENSION BRIDGE.-CINCINNATI SUSPENSION BRIDGE.-ALLEGHANY
BRIDGE.-EAST RIVER SUSPENSION BRIDGE-WORK ON Lone AND SHORT
SPAN BRIDGES. Pages 301-326.
APPENDIX.
A. DESCRIPTION OF THE UNION CANAL, PENNSYLVANIA, 1830.
B. FIRST EIGHT-WHEEL LOCOMOTIVE.
Pages 327-331.
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT,
SURVEYOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.
THE subject of this sketch devoted a long life to the
service of his country, and illustrated in an eminent
degree the valuable aid intelligence and learning can
render in the settlement and civilization of a new country.
Andrew Ellicott, the paternal ancestor of the Ellicott
family in America, was born in Wales, and emigrated to
America in seventeen hundred and thirty-one, bringing
with him one son, Andrew. His wife remained in Eng-
land, and through untoward circumstances never joined
her husband, although an affectionate correspondence was
kept up between them. According to family tradition,
"she was a woman of great goodness, intelligence, and
beauty ; worthy of her husband, who was a man of high
character in every respect, one indeed of nature's noble-
men." The following ejaculatory lines were written by
her on the departure of her husband and son for America.
"Through rocks and sands,
And enemies' hands,
And perils of the deep,
Father and son,
From Collosston,
The Lord preserve and keep.-1731."
17
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18
CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Like a true Christian, this good woman, in these prayerful
lines, forgot herself in her anxiety for her husband and
child, and makes historical record of the date and place of
their departure.
On their arrival in America they proceeded to Penn-
sylvania, where the father purchased one hundred and
fifty acres of land, in Bucks County, near Doylestown, for
his future residence.
Joseph Ellicott, father of the subject of this biography,
and a son of Andrew Ellicott the younger, who came from
Wales in seventeen hundred and thirty-one, was a man
of considerable local notoriety, for his mathematical
knowledge and mechanical skill. In seventeen hundred
and sixty-six he visited England, and while there pur-
chased many valuable mathematical instruments, and on
his return home he invented a most interesting and
curious machine, a musical clock, now in the possession of
Mrs. Catherine Evans, of Albany, N. Y. In the construc-
tion of this wonderful piece of mechanism he was assisted
by his son Andrew, then about fifteen years old, who,
young as he was, had become quite expert in the manu-
facture of astronomical instruments. This clock is of the
ordinary size, and is enclosed in a substantial mahogany
case. It has four faces. One indicates the hour, the day
of the month, and the year; and one hand traverses
around the face, by successive movements, once in a hun-
dred years. Another face exhibits an orrery, and displays
the motions of the heavenly bodies. A third face exhibits
a combination of musical bells, arranged to play twenty-
four different tunes, one for each hour of the day. The
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
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remaining face exposes a view of the whole internal ma-
-chinery.
There is much in the mental constitution of families.
The whole history of the Ellicotts in this country, from
the early emigrant Andrew, down to a recent date, is a
record of useful practical inventions. They came from an
inventive stock in the old country, for it is observed that,
from the year sixteen hundred, every generation of the
family has been distinguished in some of its members by
mathematical knowledge, or mechanical skill.
Joseph Ellicott, with his brothers, purchased (about
seventeen hundred and seventy) two tracts of land on the
Patapsco river, and soon after erected merchant flour mills,
that were afterwards widely known as "Ellicott's Upper
Mills," and "Ellicott's Lower Mills." They had pre-
viously built a mill at Jones' Falls, near Baltimore, the
ruins of which were visible a few years since. They also
established an iron foundry at Elkridge Landing, then a
flourishing place, and, at that time, the rival of Balti-
more.
The Ellicotts introduced on this Continent the use of
Plaster of Paris as a fertilizer, and the first experiments
with it were made at Ellicott's mills. They projected and
promoted the Baltimore and Fredericksburgh turnpike,
and one of their number, Jonathan Ellicott, designed
and constructed the bridge across the Monocacy river,
esteemed at the time a piece of extraordinary architec-
ture. They were the chief instigators of the Cumberland
Road, a turnpike of much importance before the construc-
tion of railroads.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
To the Ellicotts we are indebted for the use of stencil
plates, which they substituted for the use of the old style of
branding with hot irons. The first rolling mill and blast fur-
nace erected in Baltimore was by John. Ellicott, who is said
to have been the first person in this country who utilized
the waste heat arising from the gases evolved in the blast
furnace as an agent for the economical generation of steam.
They also introduced in milling the "elevator," the
"conveyer," and the "hopper-boy." About the year
seventeen hundred and eighty-six, Oliver Evans pub-
lished the first edition of the "Millwright and Miller's
Guide," a book which is yet considered a standard author-
ity, in which he frankly asserts that the practical and
essential parts of the work were received from Thomas
Ellicott.
About the year seventeen hundred and eighty-nine
John Ellicott, a cousin of Andrew, was engaged in experi-
ments in steam machinery for the propulsion of boats, a
subject which was attracting much attention from the more
speculative of the mechanical engineers of the time. He
was very enthusiastic in the opinion that not only steam-
boats would be navigated through the water, but that the
time was approaching when roads would be so constructed
and adapted to machinery that steam cars would roll their
rapid wheels from city to city."
It has been claimed by some that John Ellicott in-
vented the first steamboat* that was constructed in this
It was about the year seventeen hundred and eighty-nine that the first
steamboat that ever moved upon the waters of America floated in triumph along
the canal at Ellicott's Mills-the steamboat of John Ellicott.-From the Howard
District Press, published at Ellicott's Mills eighteen hundred and forty-seven.
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
21
country. But this assumption must be received with a
liberal allowance to a local pride of being successful claim-
ants to an invention that has produced such results in
ocean and river navigation; for it is now well authenti-
cated that the first boat successfully propelled by steam
power in America, was constructed and tried by John
Fitch, at Philadelphia, August twenty-second, seventeen
hundred and eighty-seven, in the presence of nearly all
the members of the Convention to form the Constitution
of the United States.
JOHN FITCH
1786
FIRST STEAMBOAT, 1786.
This fact is asserted by the certificates of Dr. John-
son, of Virginia, David Rittenhouse, John Ewing, and
Andrew Ellicott,* and others, two years previous to the
*
From the well known force of steam, I was one of the first of those who
encouraged Mr. Fitch to reduce his theory of a steamboat to practice, in which he
has succeeded far beyond my expectations. I am now fully of the opinion that
steamboats may be made to answer valuable purposes in facilitating the internal
navigation of the United States, and that Mr. Fitch has great merit in applying a
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
time stated in the paper referred to, that John Ellicott's
steamboat was supposed to have had a triumphant suc-
cess.
His experiments resulted in a disastrous accident, by
which he lost his right arm. While secretly experiment-
ing alone in the night, the safety-valve of his boiler
became obstructed, and a violent explosion was the
result.
Andrew Ellicott, eldest son of Joseph and Judith Elli-
cott, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, January
twenty-fourth, seventeen hundred and fifty-four. He
remained in Pennsylvania until December, seventeen hun-
dred and seventy-four, when he married, and removed
with his father's family to the Patapsco, and settled at the
place since known as "Ellicott's Upper Mills," in Mary-
land. He was associated with his father for a number of
years in watch and clock making, and assisted him in con-
structing the celebrated musical clock, already alluded to.
His attainments in science soon drew public attention to
him, and from the Revolution to the day of his death he
was employed in the fulfilment of trusts conferred by the
General or State Governments.
Though belonging to the Society of Friends, he com-
manded a battalion of Maryland militia in the Revolution,
with the rank of Major. In seventeen hundred and
eighty-four he was employed on behalf of the State of
steam engine to so valuable a purpose, and entitled to every encouragement from
his country and countrymen.
Philadelphia, December thirteenth, seventeen hundred and eighty-seven.
ANDREW ELLICOTT.
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
23
Virginia in fixing the boundary line between that State
and Pennsylvania. He had previously been commissioned
by Congress to assist in the division of the new States,
and settlement of boundary lines. About this time the
University of Williamsburgh; Virginia, conferred upon
him the degree of Master of Arts.
In his Journal he says, "the sickly condition of my
family fixed my resolution of leasing my property, and
removing to Baltimore." This change of residence he
effected in April, seventeen hundred and eighty-five. In
this year he was appointed by the Governor of Pennsyl-
vania, with David Rittenhouse and Andrew Porter, a
commissioner to locate the western boundary of that
State.
August twenty-fifth, seventeen hundred and eighty-
five, he writes: "The boundary line between the States of
Virginia and Pennsylvania was completed on the twenty-
third day of this month. It makes a most beautiful
appearance from the hills, being between sixty and
seventy miles due north, and cut very wide through the
woods, and perfectly straight. The Indians appear very
peaceful, and I do not apprehend there can be any dan-
ger within the compass of our business from them. My
principal companion is Mr. Rittenhouse, who is a gentle-
man I daily find new reasons for admiring."
In December, seventeen hundred and eighty-five, he
visited Philadelphia, and spent some time with Mr. Rit-
tenhouse, and also visited Dr. Franklin, with whom he
maintained the most intimate relations. In April, seven-
teen hundred and eighty-six, he again visited that city to
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
meet Governor Clinton and Mr. De Witt, as a State Com-
missioner, but upon what business, other than that it was
public, he does not state. He says of Governor Clinton,
"he appeared to be a thoughtful old gentleman, and Mr.
De Witt a man twenty-seven or eight years of age." Mr.
Ellicott was commissioned in June, seventeen hundred
and eighty-six, by the Supreme Executive Council of
Pennsylvania, to run the northern boundary line of that
State. While running this line, in seventeen hundred and
eighty-six and seven, he visited Lake Erie, and with
prophetic judgment writes : The United States of Amer-
ica have more natural advantages than any other Govern-
ment or power in the world, and if they judiciously turn
to their own account those advantages which they have,
from the nature of the country, they must become both
rich and powerful."
While a resident of Baltimore, Major Ellicott repre-
sented that city in the Legislature of Maryland with ability
and credit. He also, during this portion of his life,
devoted himself much to astronomy.
Major Ellicott did not long reside in Baltimore, but
about seventeen hundred and eighty-nine moved to Phila-
delphia, and was there called the 'Geographer of the
United States."
In seventeen hundred and eighty-eight the Supreme
Council of Pennsylvania directed that a survey of the
islands in the rivers Alleghany and Ohio, within the
bounds of the State, should be surveyed, and to Major
Ellicott this duty was intrusted.*
Colonial Records, vol. xiv., p. 615.
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
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In seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, Phelps &
Gorham, who had purchased the Massachusetts pre-
emption claim to Western New York, were desirous of
fixing the western boundary of that State, to ascertain if
it did not include the present town of Erie, in Pennsylva-
nia ; the belief being quite general that it did-so much
so, that the State of Pennsylvania, in the winter of seven-
teen hundred and eighty-eight and nine, made proposi-
tions to purchase it, in order to give that State a front for
commercial purposes on Lake Erie. If the western boun-
dary of New York did not include it, then it belonged to
the United States.
For the purpose of ascertaining the facts in the case,
the United States Government sent Andrew Ellicott in
seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, for the purpose of
running and establishing this line. Frederick Saxton was
associated with him on behalf of Phelps & Gorham.
Joseph and Benjamin Ellicott were also of the party. As
the line was to run due south of the west end of Lake
Ontario, it was necessary to go into the province of Upper
Canada to ascertain, by accurate measurement and obser-
vation, the west end of that lake ; but, in proceeding to
that point, they were arrested in their progress by the
military authorities of Fort George, now Niagara, until
permission to proceed was given by the Governor-General
at Quebec. A messenger, for aid and instruction, was
despatched to President Washington, at Philadelphia.
The President represented to the Governor of the Canadas
the object of the expedition, and immediately received the
desired permission. Arriving at their destination, there
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
was some hesitation in determining whether the line
should commence at the western extremity of Burlington
Bay (at the head of which the city of Hamilton now
stands), or at the peninsula separating the bay from Lake
Ontario. It was at length fixed at the peninsula; and on
the completion of the survey, by first running some
distance south, and then offsetting around the east end of
Lake Erie, the line was found to pass some twenty miles
east of Presque Isle, now Erie. The line thus established
forms the western boundary of the State of New York,
and is the eastern line of the tract known as the "Presque
Isle triangle," which was afterwards purchased by Penn-
sylvania from the United States, and is now a part of that
State.
This survey was completed, October tenth, seventeen
hundred and ninety, as stated in a letter by Major
Ellicott, dated Presque Isle Fort, October eleventh, in
this year : "Yesterday I completed the business, after
much hardship, trouble and difficulty."
His very valuable service, in this highly important
and responsible survey, seems to have been duly appreci-
ated by the President, and other public officers; for he
writes, in the same year : "General Washington has
treated me with attention. The Speaker of Congress, and
the Governor of the State, have constantly extended to
me most flattering courtesies."
While making the traverse of the Canadian side of the
Niagara river, he first saw the Falls of Niagara; and with
Joseph and Benjamin Ellicott, as assistants, made the first
actual measurement of the entire length of the river, and of the
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
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falls and rapids from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Major
Ellicott, in making his report of the survey of the boun-
dary line, mentions these measurements of the river,
which have ever since been accepted as correct.
*
MILES.
FALL
From Lake Erie to the head of the Rapids
20
15 ft.
From the Rapids to
"
"
Falls
11
51 "
The Great Fall
162 "
From the Falls to Lewiston
7
104 "
From Lewiston to Lake Ontario
7
2 "
Total
351
334 ft.
In seventeen hundred and ninety Major Ellicott was
employed by the United States Government to survey and
lay out the District of Columbia and the city of Washing-
ton. For many years he enjoyed the cordial friendship of
Washington, Jefferson, and other leading men of the
country, who highly appreciated his scientific abilities
and unexceptionable private character.
In seventeen hundred and ninety, Phelps & Gorham
sold to Robert Morris a portion of their lands lying on the
easterly side of their purchase, and adjoining what was
termed the "Livingston Indian Lease Company's tract."
Livingston having illegally leased the land from the
Indians, the State of New York declared the lease void.
The line, as run by the surveyor of the Company, was west
of what afterwards became the village of Geneva. But
Ellicott's report to the President of the United States, seventeen hundred and
ninety.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Robert Morris, being dissatisfied with it, employed Andrew
Ellicott to determine the true line. Major Ellicott, assisted
by his brother Benjamin, and by Augustus Porter, run the
line, and found it to be as far east of the village of
Geneva as Mr. Jenkins, the surveyor of the Lease Com-
pany, made it west of that place. The difference between
the two lines made eighty-four thousand acres in favor of
Robert Morris, of what is now the most valuable and
beautiful portion of Western New York. The care taken
by Major Ellicott to insure correctness in this survey-it
being made with the best instruments then in use-caused
it ever after to be acquiesced in.
In April, seventeen hundred and ninety-three, Governor
Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, appointed Andrew Ellicott,
William Irvine, and John Wilkins, Jr., commissioners, to
view and lay out a road from Reading to Presque Isle, in
that State.
On the fourth of May, seventeen hundred and ninety-
six, Andrew Ellicott was appointed by President Wash-
ington commissioner to fix the boundary line between the
United States and the Spanish possessions. He set out
on this important mission on the sixteenth of September.
seventeen hundred and ninety-six, by the way of the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, accompanied by his eldest son, and
a detachment of United States troops. The Spanish
Governor having possession of Natchez, in Mississippi,
delayed him in the execution of his mission for one year.
After running the line he returned by sea, and arrived at
his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in May, eighteen
hundred.
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
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After his return home from Florida, by Governor
McKean he was appointed Secretary of the Land Office of
Pennsylvania. He continued in office until removed by
Governor Snyder, in eighteen hundred and eight, and
then retired to private life. September first, eighteen
hundred and eight, he was elected to a membership of
the National Institute of Paris.
As an officer of the Philosophical Society of, Philadel-
phia, he frequently filled the chair so often occupied by
Franklin, Rittenhouse, and Jefferson, at the meetings of
that learned Association. He was on intimate terms
with the most learned men of his time. In his Journal
he mentions a very flattering visit from Dr. Rush,
and also from Dr. Priestly, who, he says, is con-
sidered one of the greatest men now alive. He looks
very well, and is remarkably lively for a person of his
great age."
Major Ellicott's claims, for expenses incurred in the
service of the General Government, and part of his salary,
seem to have been grossly neglected. In March, eighteen
hundred and one, the office of Surveyor-General of the
United States was tendered to him. In referring to the
proffered office, in a letter addressed to Mr. Wilkinson, of
Washington, April eighth, eighteen hundred and one, he
says: "No objection to the office of Surveyor-General, if
it could be kept at the seat of Government, which would
certainly be the proper place, and which will become
obvious when the public lands, from Lake Michigan to
our southern boundary, are offered for sale. I have not
means at hand to journey to Washington, and am still
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
feeling ill effects from exposure for eleven months in the
woods of Florida. I am distressed because my pay has
been withheld. I have been obliged to sell my valuable
library, and dispose of my Theodolite to Major Jonathan
Williams, to procure money for market to - morrow ;
ruined, and for nothing but faithful services; never used a
farthing of public money ; never lost a single observation by
absence or inattention; and never, when out on public busi-
ness, was caught in bed by the sun ; and if any person living
can produce a solitary instance to the contrary, he shall
be entitled to everything I claim from the public. The
Spanish Commissioners divided about twenty-six thousand
dollars, besides their pay, and have been complimented
by the Court of Madrid."
Nothwithstanding the unjust and inexcusable neglect of
the Government to meet his just claim for important
services rendered, and expenses incurred, his patriotism
and love of country continued unabated; and his faith in
its importance amongst the nations of the earth, and the
glorious future of the Union, founded upon a sound and
far-seeing judgment, was unbounded.
In a letter to President Jefferson, in eighteen hundred
and one, in which he dwells upon the importance of our
country being practically, as well as theoretically, inde-
pendent of the mother country, he remarks: "That
Greenwich is 5h. 44", or 76° 56' 6" east of the city of
Washington. I have long been wanting our longitude to
be reckoned from our own capital, and not from a point
within any other nation ; and for this purpose, have calcu-
lated an almanac adapted to the meridian of the city of
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
31
Washington. We appear yet to be connected with Great
Britain by a number of small ligaments, which, though
apparently unimportant, are nevertheless a drawback
upon the absolute independence which we ought, as a
nation, to maintain."
In June, of the same year, Major Ellicott says to
Monsieur De Lambre, of France, in a letter accompanying
his astronomical and meteorological observations on the
southern boundary: "I shall be highly gratified if the
observations should merit the attention of the Institute, as
they were made by a self-taught astronomer, and the only
practical one now in the United States." In reply, he re-
ceived a very flattering acknowledgment from the learned
Professor, for his valuable papers.
In December, eighteen hundred and one, Major Ellicott
wrote to President Jefferson (inclosing astronomical
observations) : "Being now the only native of the United
States left, which time has not swept away, who has
cultivated practical astronomy for the purpose of render-
ing it useful to commerce, to the divisions of territories,
and the determination of the relative parts of our country,
I feel a desire to keep the subject alive, till succeeded by
some American whose fortune may put it in his power
to be more useful, by enabling him to devote his whole
time to the improvement of SO important a branch of
science."
With the enterprise that has been a distinguishing trait
of the people of that State as early as seventeen hundred
and eighty, the subject of internal improvements engaged
the attention of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania ;
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
and in that year an Act* was passed by this body appoint-
ing Commissioners to examine the Delaware, Schuylkill,
Susquehanna, and Juniata rivers, and the various streams
running into them, and which are capable of being made
navigable. Major Ellicott, as one of the Commissioners,
made the surveys. He was instructed to "carefully mark
such places where, in your opinion, locks or canals are
necessary. You will note all falls, obstructions, and all
matters and things necessary to form estimates to be laid
before the General Assembly, of the expenses of clearing
and removing such obstructions to the navigation of said
rivers."
*
His report of the results of these surveys was so favor-
able that soon after a company was chartered for inland
improvement and navigation, of which Major Ellicott
remarks in his Journal:
"The proposed Improvement Company of Pennsylvania
appears to me the most rational and practical scheme
that can be devised for effecting those improvements in
roads and canals, which the present state of our country
so loudly calls for."
Major Ellicott took a most lively interest in every move-
ment that had for its object the improvement of the
country. He was painfully conscious that, from causes
incident to a new country, we, as a nation, were in a
condition of infantile dependence in all matters belonging
to the higher branches of education; he consequently
labored with a patriotic zeal, with his distinguished com-
Colonial Review, vol. xvi., p. 178.
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
33
patriots Franklin, Rittenhouse, Rush, and others, to pro-
mote the diffusion of philosophical and scientific intelli-
gence throughout the country.
In eighteen hundred and two Andrew Ellicott wrote to
Monsieur De Lambre, Secretary of the National Institute
of Paris "In this country I have not a single astronomi-
cal correspondent, neither is it a science which has been
patronized by either of the States or by the General Gov-
ernment. A science in this country which cannot support
itself must perish. The economy of public money is con-
sidered as the standard of merit, and supposed to include
everything necessary for the honor, dignity, and reputation
of a nation. From this circumstance there is not within
the United States a single Observatory, nor a single citizen,
except myself, who is paying any attention to practical
astronomy, and what I do is at my own expense. The
President of the United States is both a lover of science
and a man of science himself, but he has no power by our
Constitution to aid any branch of philosophy, mechanics,
or literature, unless it be done at his own cost."
In eighteen hundred and three Major Ellicott wrote and
published "The Journal of Andrew Ellicott, late Com-
missioner on behalf of the United States for determining
the boundary line between the United States and the
possessions of his Catholic Majesty in America."
For more than forty years and up to the time of his death
he was constantly employed in some public capacity ; yet
he never found it necessary to seek a position. His high
character and superior intelligence elevated him without
special effort of his own to a leadership in those depart-
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
ments to which his life was devoted. He had an exalted
sense of duty and a well-sustained conception of personal
responsibilities. In reply to Mr. Jefferson, acknowledging
the appointment of Surveyor-Generalship of the United
States, he says: "The proposition I consider as one of the
most honorable and flattering incidents of my life, and
were my own feelings and inclinations alone concerned I
should not hesitate one moment in accepting the place you
offer. But as there are some other considerations to be
brought into view and duly weighed before I can give a
definite answer, I wish the subject to be suspended for a
few days." Seven days after, he wrote the President sub-
mitting his own proposed arrangements for executing the
duties of the office, and remarks, if they coincide with
your ideas upon that subject and come within the meaning
of the law, I shall have no objections to the appointment."
In the year eighteen hundred and eleven, Major Ellicott
was commissioned to run the northern boundary line of
Georgia, and set out, accompanied by his son Joseph,
from his home, which was then in Lancaster, Penn-
sylvania, on the first of July in that year. They em-
barked at Philadelphia for Charleston, South Carolina,
and from thence proceeded to Savannah, and the upper
country of Georgia, and after running the line, returned
in May, eighteen hundred and twelve.
Andrew Ellicott was appointed Professor of Mathema-
tics in the Military Academy at West Point, September
first, eighteen hundred and thirteen, and immediately
removed to that place with his family. In May, eighteen
hundred and seventeen, he proceeded to Montreal, by
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MAJOR ANDREW ELLICOTT.
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order of the Government, to make astronomical observa-
tions (determining the intersection of the forty-fifth par-
allel of latitude), to carry into effect some of the articles
of the Treaty of Ghent.
During his residence at West Point, he devoted much
of his time to astronomy, which was his favorite study.
Notwithstanding his other varied talents, he did not
possess those adapted to the acquisition of wealth, of
which he had excellent opportunities to avail himself, had
his genius led in that direction.
He died at West Point, August twenty-eight, eighteen
hundred and twenty, in the sixty-seventh year of his age.
His wife survived him, and died in the year eighteen hun-
dred and twenty-seven. They had ten children, four of
whom were sons ; the daughters, and three sons survived
their parents.
President Hale, in his memoir of Major David Bates
Douglass, the son-in-law of Andrew Ellicott, says : "The
memoirs of the late Andrew Ellicott, when written, will
form a valuable addition to the history of our country,
taking us away from the beaten ground of battle fields,
and Senate Chambers, and Cabinets, to the services which
science can render in the settlement of a new country in
a civilized age."
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JAMES GEDDES,
SURVEYOR AND CIVIL ENGINEER.
NEARLY half a century has passed away since the com-
pletion of the Erie Canal was celebrated with unusual
ceremonies and unbounded demonstrations of joy from the
shores of Lake Erie to the harbor of New York. Time
has demonstrated that the rejoicings attending the flotilla
that started from Lake Erie on the twenty-sixth day of
October, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, to mingle the
waters of that lake with those of the Atlantic, were fully
justified ; and although the great men who took part in
that grand celebration were naturally wrought up to the
highest enthusiasm, yet they failed to portray the far-
reaching effects of that great achievement. In the course
of events, other and more rapid modes of transportation
have been completed, and diverted public attention from
this pioneer improvement, until few are perhaps aware
that even now, in the extent and value of its tonnage, it
far exceeds the whole foreign commerce of the United States.
It has been justly said that " the authors and builders,
the heads who planned and the hands that executed this
stupendous work, deserve a perennial monument, and they
will have it." To borrow an expression from the highest
36
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the
1
whest
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SM
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JAMES GEDDES.
37
of all sources, " The works which they have done, these will
bear witness of them." Americans can never forget to
acknowledge that they have built the longest canal in the
world, in the shortest time, with the least experience, for
the least money, and to the greatest public benefit.
The Erie Canal has exerted an influence and power that
beyond computation excels that of any other investment
of money ever made in any nation. Not only States that
border on the great lakes owe their prosperity, some of
them their existence, to this canal, but the States beyond
the great River Mississippi must for ever find their markets
through its channel to the Atlantic cities.
To the State of New York is due the glory of this
most salutary enterprise. It is an interesting inquiry, how
was this single State induced to see the importance, and
to bravely attempt the construction, of this long line of
artificial navigation ? Public opinion was not formed in
a day, and the necessary facts upon which to base discus-
sion were not easily obtained at that early period in the
history of internal improvements in this country, or in
England.
Long before that great and sagacious statesman, De
Witt Clinton, whose very name was a tower of strength,
had perhaps ever thought of the measure that was des-
tined to crown him with a glory only second to that of
Washington, other men had been examining the country,
with a view of determining the directions of the water-
courses and other physical features of the great plain
that stretches from tide-water on the Hudson to Lake
Erie, in the hope that nature had interposed no obsta-
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cle to a canal, uniting the waters of the lake and the
river.
The gathering of facts by patient toil, subject often to
ridicule, went on for many years in the centre of the
State, before the subject may have been considered as
having attracted public attention. The facts thus gathered
were the basis of action for De Witt Clinton. He had
the sagacity to understand them, and to give them their
just consideration.
Abundant evidence exists in public documents that, in
all these preliminary labors, Judge Geddes bore an im-
portant, if not absolutely indispensable part. "He lived
near the centre of the State, and all his interests were
connected with the growth and prosperity of the country
in which he had made his home, and untiringly he pressed
his investigations as to the character of the surface of the
country west of the great chain of swamps. Extensive
correspondence was resorted to with land agents, survey-
ors, and other men, who, it was supposed, might be able
to give information, and every available map was consulted.
He did not rest with this; he formed public opinion, and
agitated the subject, until, in eighteen hundred and seven,
it had become a theme of so great interest in Onondaga
County, that it was the turning point of local politics."
In the introduction to the natural history of the State
of New York: "The merit of first suggesting a direct
communication from Lake Erie to the Hudson is given to
Gouverneur Morris, qualifying the praise by the fact that
Hon. George Geddes' Address before the Historical Society of Buffalo, N. Y.
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the scheme conceived was that of a canal with a uniform
declination, and without locks, from Lake Erie to the
Hudson. Morris communicated his project to Simon De
Witt, Surveyor-General of the State, in eighteen hundred
and three, by whom it was made known to James Geddes
in eighteen hundred and four."
The scheme was, by the Surveyor-General, considered
"as a romantic thing, and characteristic of the man," and
had the idea fallen into no other hands than Morris' and
his, it probably had borne no fruit. The suggestion, how-
ever, once made to the Land Surveyor of the interior, it
began to take form and substance. Jesse Hawley was
interested, and his essays signed "Hercules," in the
Genesee Messenger, continued from October, eighteen hun-
dred and seven, until March, eighteen hundred and eight,
brought the public mind into familiarity with the project.
In eighteen hundred and seven, Judge Joshua Fore-
man, of Onondaga County, and Judge Benjamin Wright,
of Oneida County, became enlisted in the cause, and were
elected members of the Legislature by the citizens of
those counties, with express reference to moving in that
body the grand project of a canal ; and on the fourth of
February, eighteen hundred and eight, legislative action
was had, and an appropriation of six hundred dollars was
made for the preliminary surveys of the route. These
important explorations were intrusted by the Surveyor-
General of the State to James Geddes, and executed by
him in a manner highly creditable to himself, and satisfac-
tory to the Legislature, over a large area of country, em-
bracing not only the main line of the proposed canal, but,
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
as stated in the report of Simon De Witt, " other parts of
the country were to be explored in order to ascertain
which of all practical routes would be most eligible, and
this resulted in a report of one almost precisely on the
line which, after repeated elaborate and expensive exami-
nations, was finally adopted."
These extensive surveys by Judge Geddes extended
from Oneida Lake to Lake Ontario, where the Salmon
Creek enters it ; another line down the Oswego river to
the lake ; a line from Lewiston to the navigable waters
of the Niagara river, above the Falls and then from
Buffalo east, until the waters flowing into the Seneca
river were reached; and that, too, following the best
route that exists for a canal ; and all this work was accom-
plished for the small sum of six hundred and seventy-
three dollars ! Did the State ever have so much service
performed for so trifling a sum of money before or since ?
Governor Seward, in the introduction before quoted,
says of this legislative action : "But how little the mag-
nitude of that undertaking was understood, may be in-
ferred from the fact, that the appropriations made by the
resolution to defray the expenses of its execution were
limited to six hundred dollars. There was no Civil
Engineer in the State of New York. James Geddes,
land surveyor, who afterwards became one of our most
distinguished Civil Engineers, by the force of native
genius and application in mature years," was appointed
to make the survey, and reported, "that a canal from
Lake Erie to the Hudson was practicable, and could be
made without difficulty."
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JAMES GEDDES.
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This preliminary survey made De Witt Clinton a
Canal man ; a most valuable acquisition to the cause, in
view of his great political and legislative influence. In
the report of the Commissioners following this exploration,
this beautiful sentiment is supposed to have come from
the pen of Gouverneur Morris : "Standing on such facts,
is it extravagant to believe that New York may look
forward to the receipt, at no distant day, of one million
dollars nett revenue from this canal ? The life of an indi-
vidual is short. The time is not distant when those who
make this report will have passed away. But no term is
fixed to the existence of a State ; and the first wish of a
patriot's heart is that his own may be eternal. But what-
ever limit may have been assigned to the duration of
New York by those eternal decrees which established the
heavens and the earth, it is hardly to be expected that
she will be blotted from the list of political societies before
the effects here stated shall have been sensibly felt. And
even when, by the flow of that perpetual stream which
bears all human institutions away, our Constitution shall
be dissolved, and our laws be lost, still the descendants of
our children's children will remain. The same mountains
will stand, the same rivers flow. New moral combinations
will be formed on the old physical foundations, and the
extended line of remote posterity, after a lapse of thou-
sands of years, and the ravages of repeated revolutions ;
when the records of history shall have been obliterated,
and the tongues of tradition have converted the shadowy
remembrance of ancient events into childish tales of
miracle, this national work shall remain. It shall bear
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
testimony to the genius, the learning, the industry, and
intelligence of the present age."
Judge Geddes, in conjunction with his duties as Judge
of the county in which he resided, accepted, in the year
eighteen hundred and sixteen, the appointment of Engi-
neer on the Erie Canal, in charge of that portion of the
work from Seneca River to within eleven miles of the
mouth of the Tonawanda Creek, upon which he con-
tinued until eighteen hundred and eighteen, when he was
directed to superintend the location of the middle division
between Rome and Utica.
During this period he also made a remarkable test level
between Rome and the east end of Oneida Lake, em-
bracing nearly one hundred miles of levelling, the difference
at the junction in the levels being less than one and a half
inches.
Previous to commencing the surveys for the Erie Canal
in eighteen hundred and eight, Judge Geddes had used a
spirit level upon one occasion only, and then but for a
few hours, and under the following circumstances. A law
had been passed directing two hundred and fifty acres
of land to be laid out in the Salt Spring reservation,
and sold to the highest bidder ; the avails to be appro-
priated for the construction of an east and west road
across the reservation. The survey was completed, and
Judge Geddes reported a fine water-power on the tract.
The Surveyor-General, Simon De Witt, being assured by
certain parties opposed to the construction of the con-
templated road, that there was no water-power worth
improving on the locality designated, he therefore put a
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JAMES GEDDES.
43
spirit level into his gig and made a journey, as it was
deemed in that early day, from Albany to where Syra-
cuse now stands, and, with the assistance of Judge Ged-
des, levelled along the Onondaga Creek, and found
that there was a good water-power. Thus was learned
by the Land Surveyor the use of the spirit level, with
which in after years he became SO proficient.
This level, which is a superior instrument, was used
for many years by Judge Geddes in his work on the
canals of New York, and in exploring for the Ohio im-
provements. It is now in the possession of his son, Hon.
George Geddes, Civil Engineer, who treasures it in con-
nection with these interesting reminiscences.
In the summer of eighteen hundred and eighteen Judge
Geddes was instructed by the Canal Commissioners to
repair to the Champlain Canal, under the appointment
of Chief Engineer. He commenced the final location of
the work in September of that year, and continued in
charge of its construction until eighteen hundred and
twenty-two, when the State of Ohio applied to Governor
Clinton to select a person to make the necessary surveys
for a canal from the Ohio River to Lake Erie." He
recommended Judge Geddes as a most competent engineer
of location.
He accepted the appointment and performed the duties
devolving upon him with marked ability and energy. The
district of country embraced by his investigations was,
with few exceptions, a complete wilderness ; hence the
preliminary surveys were exceedingly arduous ; yet they
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
were completed in an almost incredibly short period of
time, and his report submitted to the Board, who ex-
pressed their approbation in these words:
"The Commissioners would do injustice to their feel-
ings if they did not avail themselves of this opportunity of
bearing testimony to the integrity, ability, and industry
with which Judge Geddes has discharged the important
duties committed to him. Upwards of nine hundred miles
of country have been examined, and the level of nearly
eight hundred miles has been taken with only one instrument,
in less than eight months. His perseverance, and the interest
he has taken in effecting objects so important to the State,
under all the privations and exposures to which his
duties have subjected him, will now and hereafter,
when the great work he has commenced shall be com-
pleted, be duly appreciated by the people of Ohio."
He returned to New York in eighteen hundred and
twenty-three, and was called to the State of Maine, to
survey the route of a canal from Sabago Pond, to the tide
waters at Westbrook.
In eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, Judge Geddes
entered the service of the General Government, locating
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In eighteen hundred
and twenty-eight, he was employed by the State of
Pennsylvania, upon its canals, and in that year he was
also appointed by the United States Government to ex-
amine the country in reference to the connection of the
Tennessee and Alabama rivers, in the States of Tennessee,
Alabama, and Georgia. This appointment he, however,
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declined, on account of distance from home, and his ad-
vanced age.
James Geddes was born on the twenty-second day of
July, seventeen hundred and sixty-three, near Carlisle, in
the State of Pennsylvania. His father and mother were
both descendants of Scotch families. He studied math-
ematics under the charge of Mr. Oliver, a man of thor-
ough education. Languages he studied without masters,
and became a scholar of the first order. In seventeen
hundred and ninety-three, he visited Onondaga County,
in the State of New York, and settled at Geddes (named
for the Judge) in seventeen hundred and ninety-four
which place was his residence until his death, August
nineteenth, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, he being
a little more than seventy-five years of age, thirty years
of which had been devoted to the arduous and respon-
sible duties of his chosen profession, and in the service
mostly of his native and adopted States.
He was emphatically a master spirit in pushing for-
ward the early enterprises of his country, but he left no
collection of papers by which a compiler might do justice
to his memory. He had been solicited to do so, but de-
clined, saying, "I attach no importance to what I have
done, having simply performed my duty ; therefore I ask
no higher place in the public estimation than should be
spontaneously given to me."
When the surveys of the Erie Canal were first com-
menced, there was nothing on this continent that could be
looked at or used by the engineers of the State, for their
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
instruction, unless the work of the "Inland Lock Naviga-
tion Company," at Little Falls, may be considered an
exception. Civil engineering, as a profession, had no
existence. Books were not published then, as now,
from which systematic information could be procured.
Attempts were therefore made by the Canal Commis-
sioners of the State to procure the services of Mr.
Weston-an eminent English engineer, who had visited
this country to direct the construction of the locks at
Little Falls-to take charge of the Erie Canal, offering
him ten thousand dollars per annum ; but his advanced
age compelled him to decline ; upon which, they were
forced to accept the offers made by our own engineers to
take the responsibility of executing the work.
The State of New York was fortunate in having among
its land surveyors, men who, surmounting every diffi-
culty, achieved with limited capital, not only success, but
whose examples of integrity, industry, and perseverance
will forever be a standard for the imitation of American
engineers.
These men were subjected to various trials, under the
rigid system of economy they were compelled to practise,
known only to those who were united by their services
and professional pride, in the successful accomplishment
of an enterprise which had become the great object of
their lives. Through difficulties and perplexities, they
toiled on, slowly progressing, until at last the work was
completed, and fully tested ; and they stood triumphant
before the country. A strong bond of union continued
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JAMES GEDDES.
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through life between these noble and brave-hearted men,
who had labored with such devotion and zeal for the
public good. As brothers they lived, manifesting for
each other sympathy and kindness through all their
various engagements ; like brothers they mourned, as,
one by one, the links in life's chain were broken.
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BENJAMIN WRIGHT,
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THE example of Washington; who laid the foundation
of his fortune and fame by his early enterprise and industry
as a surveyor of new lands, incited many ingenious young
men to break away from their quiet homes in the older
States and try their fortunes in the promising West. Of
this class, and amongst those who by their success have
merited a lasting monument to their memory, and to.
whom a conspicuous place should be given in the history
of the country, is the early Chief Engineer of the Erie
Canal.
Benjamin Wright was born in the town of Wethersfield,
in the State of Connecticut, October tenth, seventeen
hundred and seventy. His father, being a farmer of limited
means, could only afford his children the advantages of the
common schools of the time, during the winter months.
From his childhood Benjamin manifested a deep inter-
est in mathematics, and the studies relating to surveying.
At the age of sixteen an opportunity was offered him for
following the inclination of his mind, and of extending his
knowledge in his favorite studies. He was sent to reside
with an uncle of his at Plymouth, in Litchfield County,
48
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Bleright
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BENJAMIN WRIGHT.
49
where he had access to the best books and instruments
which could then be obtained by country surveyors. With
his growing knowledge of the art of surveying he imbibed
the spirit of Western emigration, which was then beginning
to move the enterprising and hardy sons of New England
toward the fertile valley of the Mohawk, and the fruitful
region of the Genesee.
Flattering inducements were held out to young men
who were capable of surveying land and preparing title
deeds. In those regions of the country, the wilderness
was to be explored, towns were to be planted that should
grow into cities, and a commanding influence was to be
exercised by those who should lead the way in these works
of civilization.
Young Wright soon formed the design of trying his
fortune in this then remote region, at the first favorable
opportunity that should present itself. His spirit was im-
parted to his father's family, who, with himself, now in
his nineteenth year, set off for the settlement at Fort
Stanwix (now Rome), Oneida County, State of New York.
Fort Stanwix was then on the western borders of
civilization, a small clearing in the midst of a dense and
extended forest, remote from other white settlements. The
only roads were the dilapidated remains of a military road
of the Revolutionary War, the paths of the hunter, the
surveyor, and the natives. For a short time he assisted
his father and brothers in clearing a field and erecting a
log cabin, a kind of domicile with which the most favored
of the pioneers were happily content. His knowledge of
surveying soon became known amongst the settlers, and
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
he began to find employment in his favorite pursuit.
Through this employment he had access to the maps and
drawings of very extensive tracts of land around Fort
Stanwix, which originally had been laid out in lots of five
hundred acres each. These he subdivided into such smaller
lots as the settler purchased, which was rarely more than a
half, or a fourth, of the original lot ; thus making a demand
for his services as often as a new resident made his loca-
tion within the settlement. He gave up all his time to his
studies, excepting when in the field. He procured from
abroad the best books, maps, and instruments, and by
patient toil embodied his daily observations in accurate
topographical maps. His descriptions, estimates, and sur-
veys became authority in all questions of boundaries.
Between the years seventeen hundred and ninety-two
and seventeen hundred and ninety-six, he laid out into
farms five hundred thousand acres in the counties of Oneida
and Oswego. This was a period of great fatigue and hard-
ship. His party, for many months together, would pitch
their rude tents in the trackless forest, far from the habita-
tions of civilized men, where wolves and panthers howled
about them by night, and the fierce savages surprised them
by day. These labors would not seem to have any very
important relation to subsequent and more important
work ; but had he been impelled by a foresight of future
events he could not have been more minute and exact in
his topographical surveys than he was, or more careful in
preserving his field notes and other information. These
he found of great use to himself, while, several years after-
wards he was engaged in locating the line of the Erie
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BENJAMIN WRIGHT.
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Canal. In the midst of his hardy and homeless pursuits
he did not forget his early sentiments, and perhaps youth-
ful pledge, and in seventeen hundred and ninety-eight,
having laid the foundation for a comfortable competency,
he returned to Plymouth and married the daughter of
Simeon Waterman, and brought her to his Western home
on the Mohawk.
The attachments of a happy home, and the claims of
his family, gradually drew him from the field and the
forest, and engaged him in other scenes. The wilderness,
which he entered in seventeen hundred and eighty-nine,
had become a rural district of great agricultural wealth.
The surplus products of the soil sought a market, at the
distance of one hundred miles, over roads which scarcely
deserved the name. In this state of affairs the people
became eager for some water passage from Oneida Lake,
through Wood Creek, to the Mohawk and the Hudson
rivers. In seventeen hundred and ninety-two, the
"Western Inland Lock Navigation Company" was formed
for this purpose, and William Weston, an engineer from
England, was employed to construct the improvements
around Little Falls, on the Mohawk, and thence from the
river to Wood Creek, at Fort Stanwix. A few years after
the completion of these works, it seemed desirable to
improve the navigation of Wood Creek, by dams and
locks, there being a descent in about six miles, of nearly
twenty-four feet, and the navigation very difficult.
At a meeting of the Directors of the Company, General
Philip Schuyler being President, the subject was dis-
cussed, when a serious difficulty presented itself. Mr.
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Weston had returned to England, and it was said he would
have to be recalled to make the necessary instrumental
examinations-there being no experienced American en-
gineer. To procure Mr. Weston's services would be ex-
pensive. The Directors hesitated ; Mr. Huntington asked,
" Have you not a levelling instrument?" "Yes; but we
have no one competent to use it." His reply was, "I can
use it. There is no mystery about the matter of using a
level." General Schuyler raised his head, saying, "That
must be SO ; I am sure there must be ability enough at
home to make these simple examinations, and we need not
send to England." Mr. Huntington's reply was, Put your
instrument in my hands, and I will have the work done
for you in a satisfactory way. I will not do it myself,
but I will find a man who will do it." Immediate assent
was given, and he returned to Fort Stanwix with the
level. He went to Judge Wright, and said, "I have
pledged myself to have a map and profile of Wood Creek
made, and you are the man to do it." The Judge assented,
took the instrument, and examined carefully its con-
struction, tried an experimental level, starting from a
fixed point, after a careful adjustment of the instrument,
and ran off half a mile or so, and tested his work by
returning to the starting point. He found his work all
right. He went on and made the map and profile desired,
to the satisfaction and delight of the Directors. It was
Judge Wright's first work as an engineer.
The Company was so well satisfied with the manner
of his executing these duties that the President directed
him to make a survey of the creek, from the point
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BENJAMIN WRIGHT.
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where the improvements ended, down to the Oneida
Lake. This he performed in the spring of eighteen
hundred and three. Immediately after completing
this work on Wood Creek, Mr. Wright received
further directions from the President to survey the
Mohawk river from Fort Stanwix to Schenectady, about
one hundred miles- taking a regular traverse of the
river, its windings, its breadth, the descent of each rapid ;
the descent between the rapids, the depth in each pool
between rapids-at its lowest summer draught-the
height of alluvial banks, and all other remarks and obser-
vations which he might think useful ; and, as a final
duty, to propose his own plan of improving the river in
as economical a manner as possible, and one adapted to
the circumstances of the Company. This duty was ably
concluded in eighteen hundred and three, by recommend-
ing a compound of dams, locks, and short canals, to form
a slack-water navigation, upon the cheapest possible and
useful plan. Unfortunately, the pecuniary affairs of the
Company never permitted them to construct any portion
of the work contemplated at that time.
In eighteen hundred and eleven, Mr. Wright was
employed, by the Canal Commissioners, to make an exami-
nation of the north side of the Mohawk river, from Rome
to Waterford, on the Hudson. His instructions and
report are an appendix to Canal Reports, volume first. In
eighteen hundred and twelve, he received directions to
examine the country from Seneca Lake to Rome, and
from thence on the south side of the Mohawk to Albany.
His report, accompanied by maps and profiles, of this ex-
amination, was very full and complete.
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About this time Mr. Wright became the agent of the
land proprietors in whose service he had made the most
extensive surveys, and the heirs of those great estates
bear uniform testimony to the ability and fidelity with
which he fulfilled his trusts. But these agencies did not
prevent him from taking an active part in the public
affairs of the county in which he lived, being repeatedly
elected a member of the State Legislature. During the
war of eighteen hundred and twelve, Mr. Wright, who had
been appointed County Judge, fulfilled the duties of that
office, and continued his agency for the proprietors of new
lands. But, when the work of executing the Erie Canal
was entered upon in earnest, he withdrew from all other
employments, and devoted his whole time and talents to
the advancement of that great work.
After the efficient organization of the Canal Board in
eighteen hundred and sixteen, there was a division of
opinion on the question of sending abroad for a Chief
Engineer, but the views of Joseph Ellicott, and others in
Western New York, prevailed in favor of intrusting this
responsible position to Judge Wright and Judge Geddes.
Thus was the novel, and to some minds doubtful experi-
ment made of intrusting this important work to the skill
and ability of two country surveyors, both of whom, by a
singular combination of circumstances, were self-educated
men, and both had risen to the dignity of Judges in the
courts of their respective counties.
It is now a matter of history that these two men gradu-
ally gained the entire confidence of all parties, and that
they richly deserved it; for, although the work was the
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first of its kind in America, of vast extent, and its details
spread out into almost infinite variety, yet the industry,
forecast, and skill of these engineers, and their wisdom in
the selection of their able assistants, were so well applied,
that the many enemies of the enterprise made no political
capital out of their errors or defects, nor did the State
suffer for any want of fidelity and ability in the dis-
charge of their arduous and important duties. They
also showed great sagacity in beginning their work in the
middle of the line, and working east and west, through the
least difficult and costly parts. In this way they con-
ciliated adversaries, and prepared the public mind to meet
the vast expense of the works near the Cohoes, and Little
Falls, the Genesee river, and the mountain ridge.
At the session of the Legislature of eighteen hundred
and sixteen, petitions were presented from all parts of the
State, and an able and eloquent memorial from the city of
New York, from which the following is taken :
"A great chain of mountains passes through the United
States, and divides them into Eastern and Western
America. In various places rivers break through those
mountains and are finally discharged into the ocean. To
the west there is a collection of inland lakes exceeding, in
aggregate extent, some of the most celebrated seas of the
Old World. To connect these great sections by inland
navigation, to unite our Mediterranean Seas with the
ocean, is evidently an object of the first importance to the
general prosperity. If a river or natural channel, navi-
gable one hundred and seventy miles, has been productive
of such signal benefits, what blessings might not be
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expected of it were it extended three hundred miles,
through the most fertile country in the universe, and united
with the great seas of the West? Great manufacturing
establishments will spring up, agriculture will establish its
granaries, and commerce its warehouses, in all directions.
Villages, towns, and cities will line the banks of the canal,
and the shores of the Hudson, from Erie to New York."
This powerful petition made a profound impression upon
the Legislature, securing at once the law of April seven-
teenth, eighteen hundred and sixteen, being the first
practicable step towards the prosecution of the project.
The whole plan was embraced under this law, and
from that day the prosecution of the canals proceeded
with a celerity that astonished its projectors, and con-
founded its opposers.
The first engineers appointed under this law were :
James Geddes, in charge of the western section of Erie
Canal.
Benjamin Wright, in charge of the middle section of
Erie Canal.
Chas. C. Broadhead, in charge of the eastern section of
Erie Canal.
The Commissioners, with two engineers, visited the
Middlesex Canal, to obtain practical information, before
proceeding with the surveys and estimates for the Erie
Canal.
The dimensions of the Erie Canal were fixed by the
Commissioners, at Utica, in July, eighteen hundred and
seventeen, as follows : Width of canal on bottom twenty-
eight feet, at surface forty feet, and depth four feet the
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locks ninety feet in length, and twelve feet wide in the
clear. On this basis, the first engineer's estimate of the
Erie Canal was made, March, eighteen hundred and eigh-
teen.
Western section by James Geddes
$1,801,862
Middle,
"
" Benjamin Wright
853,186
Eastern.
"
" Chas. C. Broadhead
2,271,690
Total
$4,926,738
The first expense of the engineering department was
submitted April, eighteen hundred and seventeen, and
amounted to fourteen thousand four hundred and sixty-two
dollars. Total expended for explorations and surveys up
to eighteen hundred and seventeen, forty-two thousand
nine hundred and fifty-seven dollars. The first contract
was dated June twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and
seventeen. The first ground was broken for the canal at
Rome, July fourth, eighteen hundred and seventeen. Mr.
John Richardson held the plough that opened the furrow
in the commencement of the Erie Canal.
The report of the Commissioners, dated January,
eighteen hundred and eighteen, gives details of the system
adopted for the construction of the canal. That they
decided to extend the middle division to Utica, and
resolved to let the work in short sections to contractors ;
decided on a long summit level. Fifty-eight miles was
put under contract during the year eighteen hundred and
seventeen, wholly on the summit level. One contract was
completed and settled ; the whole labor performed was
equal to the completion of fifteen miles. "Three Irish-
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men finished three rods of canal, four feet cutting, in five
and one-half days. On the fifty-eight miles only one-half
mile required puddling."
The middle section was completed October twenty-
second, eighteen hundred and nineteen, from Utica to the
Seneca river, ninety-four miles. The original engineer's
estimate of the cost of this section, extended to Utica,
was one million and twenty-one thousand eight hundred
and fifty-one dollars. The actual cost was one million one
hundred and twenty-five thousand nine hundred and
eighty-three dollars, an increase of a little more than ten
per cent. This increase was from a change of prism and
structures, as stated by the Commissioners. The con-
struction of thirty-five miles in the vicinity of the Cayuga
marshes was greatly retarded by sickness, over one thou-
sand laborers being disabled from this cause, between the
middle of July and October. Water was let into the long
level between Utica and Syracuse with great ceremony.
FIRST CANAL BOAT.
The first boat passed on the Erie Canal from Rome to
Utica on the twenty-second day of October. It was
dragged by a single horse trotting on the towing path.
It was built at Rome (from a design by Canvass White),
was sixty-one feet in length, and seven and one-half feet
in width, having two rising cabins of fourteen feet each,
with a flat deck between them. It was constructed to
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carry passengers, and was called the Chief Engineer," in
compliment to Benjamin Wright.
Elkanah Watson, in a book written in eighteen hundred
and twenty, describing the ceremony, says: "The Presi-
dent and other members of the Board of Commissioners,
attended by many respectable ladies and gentlemen, em-
barked on the ensuing day at Utica, with a band of music,
to return to Rome. The scene was extremely interesting
and highly grateful. The embarkation took place amidst
the ringing of bells, the roaring of cannon, and the loud
acclamations of thousands of exhilarated spectators, male
and female, who lined the banks of the new-created river.
The sight was truly sublime."
At a meeting of the Canal Commissioners, held at
Utica, October, eighteen hundred and nineteen, it was
resolved to let sixty-three miles of the western, and
twenty-six miles of the eastern section, the latter being
from Utica to Little Falls.
The Commissioners, in their report of February, eight-
een hundred and twenty, remarked that the novelty
of seeing large boats drawn by horses, upon waters artifi-
cially conducted through cultivated fields, forests, and
swamps, over ravines, creeks, and morasses, and from one
elevation to another, by means of ample, beautiful, and
substantial locks, has been eminently exhilarating."
Tolls were first levied on the Erie Canal July first,
eighteen hundred and twenty. The unexpected loss of
water on the completed middle section settled the ques-
tion of the necessity of feeding the western section from
Lake Erie. David Thomas was employed, with assist-
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ants, in locating this portion, from May to November,
eighteen hundred and twenty. From the Genesee river,
easterly, fifty-one miles were under contract, including
the whole distance to Montezuma, except nine miles.
The western section, from the Genesee river to the
mountain ridge, was let in July of this year, and during
the season the whole distance from Tonawanda to Seneca
river put under charge of contractors. The line across
the Cayuga marshes was located in May, and the work
commenced in June, eighteen hundred and twenty-one.
The number of workmen engaged was from two hundred
to seven hundred. Many of the contractors and men
were prostrated by sickness during August of this
year.
The canal was completed and navigated from Utica to
Little Falls in September, eighteen hundred and twenty-
one, and the remaining portion contracted for to the Hud-
son river, including all structures. A wooden lock was
constructed at German Flats, connecting the canal with
the Mohawk, thus making an uninterrupted navigation
from Schenectady to Cayuga and Seneca Lakes for boats
of sixteen tons burthen. Messrs. Wright (principal) and
White (acting), engineers, explored the country thoroughly
from Little Falls to the Hudson, and pronounced imprac-
ticable the route from Schenectady, connecting with the
Hudson, back of Albany, and located the line via Cohoes
and Troy. This location was finally confirmed by Messrs.
Wright, Geddes, and White.
Two hundred and twenty miles of the Erie Canal were
completed and navigable in the fall of eighteen hundred
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BENJAMIN WRIGHT.
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and twenty-two. In June of this year, the rock-cutting
through the mountain ridge was assumed and performed
by the State. Two miles of the unfinished portion, con-
taining two hundred and sixty thousand cubic yards of
rock, the earth on top being over twelve feet cutting,
requiring the removal of ninety-four thousand four hun-
dred cubic yards of excavation. This deep cut, of more
than seven miles in length, is one of the most interesting
places on the canal, and presents a striking evidence of
human power and enterprise.
DEEP CUTTING AT LOCKPORT.
On the fourteenth of October, eighteen hundred and
twenty-two, the water was first passed through the canal,
over the Irondequoit embankment, seventy feet high,
supplied from the Genesee river, and produced at once
active navigation, before rendered nearly useless for want
of an adequate supply of water. Not being able to com-
plete the canal across the Cayuga marshes, a wooden lock
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connected it with the Seneca river ; SO that in May,
eighteen hundred and twenty-two, tolls began to be
collected upon the western section. The middle section
was navigable from April to December this year, including
the eastern section from Utica to Little Falls.
"Next to the mountain ridge, the construction of the
canal at the Little Falls was the most formidable labor
executed. During some mighty convulsions of nature the
waters of the West at a former period evidently tore
for themselves a passage through what previously had
been a barrier of mountain granite. The hills rise on
either side to a height of nearly five hundred feet, and at
one point the cragged promontories approximate very
near. Through this chasm the Mohawk tumbles over a
rocky bed and falls, in the distance of half a mile, to the
depth of forty feet. The old canal of the 'Inland Lock
Navigation Company' was constructed on the north side
of the rapids, which affords a far more favorable route.
The Erie Canal runs upon the south side, the bed of which
was excavated in the solid rock. The view is exceedingly
wild and picturesque. Above, the rocks impend in rugged
and fearful grandeur ; while beneath, the foaming torrent
of the Mohawk dashes from rock to rock until it leaps into
a basin of great depth, and then steals tranquilly through
the rich vale, extending to the falls of the Cohoes. The
village stands upon the north side, and is connected with
the canal by a stupendous aqueduct, thrown over the
river by means of three arches, viz.: an elliptical one of
seventy feet, embracing the whole stream in an ordinary
state of its waters, with one on each side, of fifty feet
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span, elevating the surface of the canal thirty feet above
that of the river."*
VIEW OF THE AQUEDUCT AT LITTLE FALLS.
On the fifteenth of November, eighteen hundred and
twenty-two, water was let into the canal and navigated
by boats drawing two feet of water, from Little Falls to
Schenectady. From the latter place to Albany the canal
was completed, embracing twenty-nine locks, and the
water was let in October first, eighteen hundred and
twenty-three, thousands celebrating the event. Four miles
below Schenectady the canal crosses the Mohawk river
through an aqueduct seven hundred and forty-eight feet in
length between the abutments, supported by sixteen piers,
twenty feet above the river. Twelve miles lower down
the canal recrosses the Mohawk on an aqueduct of nine-
teen hundred and eighty-eight feet in length between the
abutments, resting on twenty-six piers. The piers are all
From William L. Stone's Narrative of Erie Canal Celebration.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
built of durable stone, well cut and coursed, and laid in
water-lime cement. Two hundred and eighty miles of the
Erie Canal was navigated in October, eighteen hundred
and twenty-three.
In September, eighteen hundred and twenty-four, there
was uninterrupted navigation between Albany and Brock-
port. This year, three hydrostatic locks were constructed
on the canal at Troy, Utica, and Syracuse. The tonnage
of boats was obtained by measuring in a pond the dis-
placed water that had been previously gauged in the
lock. The capacity of boats, in eighteen hundred and
twenty-four, was from thirty-five to forty-five tons. The
tonnage going to tide water was five times greater than
that coming from it.
On the twenty-fifth of October, eighteen hundred and
twenty-five, water was admitted into the Erie Canal, at
Black Rock, from Lake Erie, and the same day the first
boat ascended the Lockport locks, and passed through the
mountain ridge to Lake Erie, thus making an uninter-
rupted navigation from the Hudson. The admission of
water into the canal at Black Rock gave a depth of six
feet above bottom from Buffalo to Lockport, as originally
located by David Thomas. The water was drawn east-
ward by a declivity of one inch to each mile.
The Hon. Cadwallader D. Colden, in his memoir of the
Erie Canal, written in November, eighteen hundred and
twenty-five, says : "The completion of the western sec-
tion, and, of course, of the whole Erie Canal, was an-
nounced to us by the sound of cannon on the twenty-sixth
day of last month, and to-morrow we shall witness the
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arrival of a canal boat from Buffalo, after an internal
navigation of five hundred and thirteen miles ; she will
have passed three hundred and sixty-three miles on one
continued, uninterrupted, artificial canal, forty feet wide
on the surface, twenty-eight at the bottom, with four feet
depth of water ; she will have passed through eighty-
three locks, built of massive stone, the chambers of which
are ninety by fifteen feet, capable of containing boats of
more than one hundred tons burthen ; and she will, when
she arrives at Albany, have descended five hundred
and fifty-five feet ; but her ascent and descent, in the
course of her voyage, will have been six hundred and
sixty-two feet. The great embankment across the Iron-
dequoit, over which the western section of the canal
passes, is one of the greatest works on the canal. This
aerial watercourse extends more than a quarter of a mile
on a mound of earth, seventy-three feet in height, from a
stream flowing through a culvert at its base. The passen-
ger looks down from the narrow eminence on the tops of
aged forest trees, rooted in the bottom of the valley.
There are works upon the canal which are undoubtedly
of a more artificial character, and may appear to some
more magnificent; but when the length, and height, and
magnitude of this embankment are considered, and when,
above the tops of the trees, boats are seen passing on its
summit, which is but little wider than is necessary for the
canal and towing path, it must excite great admiration."
Upon the middle section there is an uninterrupted level
of sixty-nine miles and a-half, and on the western section
there is another level of sixty-three miles. The extra-
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
ordinary lengths of these levels evince the correctness of
Mr. Colle's idea, that the Alleghany mountains died
away as they approach the Mohawk. The difficulties
which presented themselves on the eastern section ap-
peared more formidable than any that were to be met
with elsewhere on the route. The cataract of the Cohoes
was to be surmounted a path for the canal was to be
found along the abrupt rocky shores, rising generally to a
great elevation, and in many places divided only by the
narrow bed of the Mohawk ; the upper falls of that river
were to be overcome. To accomplish this, and preserve a
due level, it was necessary to carry the canal upon a
ledge twenty and thirty feet above the base of perpendic-
ular rocks. The ingenuity of our countrymen found, by
what they call sand-blasts, means of blowing off such
masses of rock that a bed was made for the canal with
less labor than had been anticipated. In eighty days the
work was accomplished, which, before it was commenced,
it was calculated would require several years."
In speaking of this section, the Canal Commissioners in
their report of eighteen hundred and twenty-four, say :
'None but those who have examined the line previous to
the commencement of the work ; who had seen the rude
and undulating surface which is traversed, the rocks
which were to be blasted, the irregular ledges, filled with
chasms and fissures, which were to form the basis of a
water-tight canal ; the spongy swamps and gravel beds,
and quicksands, which were to be made impervious to
water, and, in short, the huge masses of rough materials,
which, with uncommon labor were to be reduced to sym-
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metry and form, can easily appreciate the efforts which it
has required to surmount these serious obstacles."
The Canal Commissioners do not hesitate to admit that,
had this section been commenced while their infor-
mation as to constructing canals was merely theoretical,
probably the attempt to complete it would either have
been entirely abortive, or so imperfectly executed as to
have defeated the accomplishment of the great work of
internal improvements. There are very many objects on
the canal which deserve attention, but to notice them
would require details which space will not admit ; nor can
mention be made of all who have been concerned in the
immediate execution of these great works. "But no eulogy
could do so much justice as an appeal to their works. It
has been said, and it is believed truly, that they have
completed, in the shortest time, and at the least expense,
the longest uninterrupted canal in the world."
In one of their annual reports, the Board of Commis-
sioners say : In looking back to the numerous difficulties
and responsibilities, some of them of an aspect the most
disheartening, which surround the canals, especially in
their commencement, we feel compelled by common justice
to commend the aid which has at all times been afforded
by our engineers. In the selection of all the persons who
are now employed by us under this character we have
been eminently fortunate. But to the Hon. Benjamin
Wright and the Hon. James Geddes the State is mostly
indebted. Possessing much local information, competent
science, long experience in many kinds of business bear-
ing some analogy to canal operations, and well established
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characters for industry and fidelity, these gentlemen have
rendered the most essential service in all the duties of
their departments. They have unceasingly devoted their
best faculties to the great cause in which they were
engaged, and they have hitherto been found equal to the
high trust confided to them." The report of the Commis-
sioners for eighteen hundred and twenty was accompanied
by surveys made by David Thomas of the harbor of
Buffalo. They state that "the engineers have devoted
themselves to the management and superintendence of the
works with a zeal and ability, to which the speed, efficiency
and economy with which it has been executed, bears
the best evidence ; when it is considered that they could
have had no experience, that the science they acquired
must have been in a great measure the result of mental
application, while they were constantly employed in the
active and anxious duties of their station, they deserve a
commendation, to which anything we could say would be
very inadequate."
In a letter from *D. S. Gregory, Esq., to Hon. Benjamin
H. Wright, dated Jersey City, June twenty-fifth, eighteen
hundred and sixty-six, he remarks :
"Thus I know that the Commissioners thought they
must send for some great engineer from England from the
Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, to teach us how to build a
canal, fearing to trust our common-place Americans. At
length they settled upon that plain, unsophisticated, and
unpretending land surveyor-nothing but an old-fashioned
land surveyor-Benjamin Wright, for the engineer on the
Mr. Gregory was for many years in the office of the Comptroller of N. Y. State.
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Erie, and James Geddes on the Champlain Canal. From
this school arose nearly all the canal engineers who have
lined the map of the country with their works of internal
improvements. What struck me about your father was
his modesty and unpretending merit, his quiet way of
doing his business, and the immense labor he performed.
All the estimates for payment were in his own hand-
writing, and when he settled up (no forms or blanks were
printed in those days), the full statement was made of the
work done by the contractor, referring to the contract,
and specifying every item, with a summary of all pay-
ments before closing, with a receipt in full of the trans-
action, all in his own handwriting, neat and plain."
In all the exciting scenes of that great celebration, in
eighteen hundred and twenty-five, when the waters of
Lake Erie were poured into those of the Atlantic, at the
right hand of De Witt Clinton was Judge Wright, in calm
and dignified satisfaction, receiving the grateful ap-
plause of thousands upon the completion of that vast
work of international improvement, which was to mark
the second epoch in the prosperity of his country.
Long before the Erie Canal was completed, it awakened
the spirit of internal improvement in all the Northern and
Middle States of the Union. The names of Judge Wright
and Judge Geddes, and their able assistant engineers,
were everywhere associated with this spirit. As fast as
the way became prepared for it, they were called by the
different legislative authorities, or canal companies, either
as chiefs or consulting engineers, in most of the important
works undertaken in the United States, the Canadas, and
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
the West Indies, upon many of which Judge Wright was
engaged as chief or as a consulting engineer.
As early as the year eighteen hundred and twenty,
Judge Mills, of Connecticut, applied to De Witt Clinton
for advice about an engineer to begin the work of the
Farmington Canal. In the reply of Governor Clinton are
these words : "We are most indebted to this man (Ben-
jamin Wright) "for our work." And in consequence of
this answer, Judge Wright, in eighteen hundred and
twenty-one, was appointed Consulting Engineer on a canal
leading from tide water to the Connecticut river, at
Northampton, in the very neighborhood where he had
gone to the common school in the winter months.
The following year he received a similar appointment
on the Blackstone Canal, in Rhode Island, extending from
Providence to Worcester. In eighteen hundred and
twenty-three he was called in consultation on the Chesa-
peake and Delaware Canal, in connection with Colonel
Totten, General Bernard, and Canvass White, as his asso-
ciate counsellors. In eighteen hundred and twenty-four
he was called to Virginia, in consultation about the canal
from Richmond to the Ohio river. Here he was ap-
pointed one of the special commissioners to revise all that
had been done, and a future examination resulted in his
appointment, in eighteen hundred and thirty-five, as Chief
Engineer of that important work.
In eighteen hundred and twenty-four he was made Chief
Engineer of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and
Consulting Engineer on the Delaware and Hudson Canal
in eighteen hundred and twenty-five. In eighteen hun-
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dred and twenty-eight, General Mercer, President of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, visited Judge Wright, in
Delaware, and invited him to be the Chief Engineer of
that great work, which office he afterwards accepted;
and resigned in eighteen hundred and thirty-one.
Judge Wright was now turned of sixty years, and his
family, whom he had previously removed to the city of
New York, earnestly desired him to spend the remainder
of his days in retirement, under his own roof. In accor-
dance with this plan he was, in eighteen hundred and
thirty-two, appointed Street Commissioner in the city of
New York, but the nature of the office and its duties was
as little suited to his tastes as the confinement of it was to
his habits, and he retired from it at the close of that year.
But the Harlem Railroad Company did not leave him a
day at leisure. He was appointed Chief Engineer on that
work, but obtained leave of absence in the autumn to
fulfil an appointment for consultation at Montreal, on the
Ship Canal of the St. Lawrence. In the next year he
returned to Canada as the Chief Engineer on the St. Law-
rence Ship Canal, and the Consulting Engineer on the
Welland Canal, between Lakes Erie and Ontario.
During this year he was also appointed, by Governor
Marcy of New York, to survey the route for the New
York and Erie Railroad, under an appropriation from
the State, which duties occupied him mainly until eight-
een hundred and thirty-six.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-five he was called by
the authorities of Cuba to visit Havana, and advise in
relation to a railroad from that city to the interior of the
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
island. The preliminary surveys of this work were care-
fully examined and approved by him, and its subsequent
execution was afterwards continued under the superinten-
dence of his son, Benjamin H. Wright, civil engineer, and
Alfred Cruger, Esq., an engineer of experience, the for-
mer of whom had previously visited Cuba for the purpose,
and succeeded in inciting the authorities to the first step
to improvements of this kind on that island.
When Judge Wright's survey of the New York and
Erie Railroad was completed, he was invited back to Vir-
ginia, but with the understanding that he should give
some attention to other appointments. Accordingly, in
eighteen hundred and thirty-six we find him Chief Engi-
neer on the Tioga and Chemung Railroad ; and in eighteen
hundred and thirty-seven at Chicago, advising about the
canal from that city to the Illinois river. With these
exceptions, he continued on the Virginia works for several
years, vigorously prosecuted the enterprises of the Old
Dominion, traversing rivers, climbing mountains, superin-
tending long lines of works, and leading young men in all
that requires activity and energy.
Judge Wright died in the city of New York, on the
twenty-fourth day of August, eighteen hundred and forty-
two, aged nearly seventy-two years, devoting the last
energies of a well-spent life in extending and developing
the, as yet, half-discovered resources of this great Re-
public, and leaving behind him a reputation of higher
value than riches, and the respect and admiration of a
long list of good and great men.
There are men who never directly sought for power or
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place, who never sought their own glory, who never
ceased from useful labors and never devoted their honest
gains to vanity or vice ; the men who have been good
sons, good husbands, good fathers and good neighbors ;
the men who in all their ends and labors have been real
benefactors to mankind. Such men are an honor to any
nation, and to their race, and in this class the common
voice of his countrymen would place the venerated name
of BENJAMIN WRIGHT, THE SURVEYOR AND CIVIL ENGINEER.
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CANVASS WHITE,
CIVIL ENGINEER,
CONSPICUOUS among the names associated with the early
public works of the country stands that of Canvass White,
who was born at Whitestown, Oneida County, New York,
on the eighth day of September, seventeen hundred and
ninety. His father, Hugh White, a native of Connecticut,
was a lineal descendant of Deacon John White, one of the
first settlers of the present city of Hartford, in the year
sixteen hundred and thirty-two. His mother was also of
Puritan descent, and from this source he derived those
traits of integrity, indefatigable industry, and purity of
character, of which his public life was so distinguished an
example. His paternal grandfather served during the
American Revolution as a quartermaster, and in that
capacity, with the self-sacrificing devotion of the many
heroes in that first struggle of the country for national
life, expended his fortune for the maintenance of the
army, receiving in its stead Continental paper money that
became worthless in his possession.
Six years prior to the birth of the subject of this sketch,
Hugh White, with a family, consisting of his wife, five
sons and four daughters, in seventeen hundred and eighty-
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CANVASS WHITE.
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four, while "the torch and tomahawk of the savage
were yet brandished on the frontier," left his comfortable
home at Middletown, Connecticut, and removed to Oneida
County, New York, then an almost unbroken wilderness.
His mother, a lady of delicate constitution, unused to
the rough exposure incident to pioneer life, died when he
was ten years of age. From his mother he seems to have
inherited a feebleness of constitution that caused his early
years to be a constant struggle between disease and
health for the mastery. At an early age he began to
display a talent for invention, and a genius for impro
ments that resulted in the construction of several domestic,
and agricultural implements, that were in use for many
years on the paternal homestead, and in the neighbor-
hood.
The most of his minority was spent on his father's farm,
with such advantages only for acquiring education as the
very limited common schools of that period afforded ; and
it was not until the winter of eighteen hundred and thir-
teen that an opportunity occurred for him to pursue those
studies essential to success in the profession he had chosen.
In February of this year he entered the Fairfield academy,
and there pursued the studies of mathematics, astronomy,
chemistry, mineralogy and surveying, until he completed
the course of that institution, after which he continued the
study of these subjects under Dr. Josiah Noyes, of Clinton,
New York.
At the age of seventeen he entered the store of. Colonel
Carpenter as clerk, where he remained until the spring of
eighteen hundred and eleven, during which time he gained
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the entire confidence of his employer and became a
general favorite with all his acquaintances. At this
time his health becoming precarious, a sea-voyage was
advised as a means of restoration. He consequently
shipped as supercargo on board a merchant vessel bound
to Russia, and did not return to his home until October,
eighteen hundred and twelve. The Captain, while in
Russia, remained ignorant of the declaration of war and
commencement of hostilities between the United States
and Great Britain, and took in an assorted cargo, and
salled for Hull, in England. He did not become aware
of the war until they entered the English port, and were
made prisoners, and their ship and its cargo seized.
For some reason unexplained the Captain and crew,
however, were released, permitted to discharge their ship,
take in another lading and continue their homeward voyage.
The ship had scarcely cleared the mouth of the Humber
when there occurred a violent storm, accompanied by a
high tide, and they were driven so far ashore that when
the tide receded the ship lay sixty rods from the sea. As
the vessel lay on its side, an inspection of the bottom
disclosed the fact that the planking, over considerable of
the surface, was completely rotten, and that she was
utterly unseaworthy. Young White advised that the
rotten plank be stripped off and replaced by sound ones,
and a channel opened through the sand that would admit
the tide to the stranded ship. Work was at once com-
menced, and a very few days saw the ship that was about
to be abandoned by her Captain and crew, re-planked,
again afloat, and on her way to New York, where she
arrived in the latter part of September.
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His health was materially improved by the voyage, and
on his return he again entered the employ of his former
patron and friend, Col. Carpenter, where he remained
until the spring of eighteen hundred and fourteen, when,
having raised a company of volunteers, he received a
commission as Lieutenant in Colonel Dodge's regiment,
and took part in the assault and capture of Fort Erie,
opposite Buffalo. While in occupation of the Fort, with
his command, he was severely wounded by a shell fired
from the enemy's redoubt half a mile distant; soon after
his recovery an opportunity occurred for revenging him-
self on the enemy. A reconnoitering party from the
British camp was discovered in an adjacent wood, and
Lieutenant White was sent with his command to capture
or disperse them. He succeeded in capturing the whole
party, killing and wounding several before they surren-
dered. He remained with his regiment until the expira-
tion of their term of service, when he returned home, and
resumed. his studies, as previously mentioned.
In the spring of eighteen hundred and sixteen Judge
Benjamin Wright was forming a corps for prosecuting the
surveys of the Erie Canal. Mr. White solicited a posi-
tion, and was engaged by Judge Wright as one of his
assistants. During this and the succeeding season he was
employed in taking the levels westward from Rome. In
this duty he acquitted himself so well that he very
soon won the esteem of the Chief Engineer, between whom
and himself ever afterward there existed a firm and un-
broken friendship. About this time he made the acquain-
tance of Governor De Witt Clinton, who was highly
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pleased with his personal qualities and professional
abilities.
At this early day the knowledge of canal construction
among the engineers of the country was very limited, and
Mr. White, at the earnest solicitation of Governor Clinton,
determined to visit England for the purpose of examining
the public works of that country, and procuring the most
improved instruments in use.
In the autumn of eighteen hundred and seventeen Mr.
White carried out his determination, and made a careful
examination of the canals in the United Kingdom, travel-
ling for this purpose more than two thousand miles on foot.
He returned in the following spring, bringing surveying
instruments and accurate drawings of the most important
structures on those works, and much valuable information
for the benefit of the State in the construction of its
canals. About the time of his return there was much dis-
cussion on the subject of lock construction, some favor-
ing wood, and others stone, or a combination of the
two. It was, however, finally decided to build stone
locks, using quick-lime mortar for the masonry, and
pointing the joints with hydraulic cement, then imported
at a great cost from England. Soon after, Mr. White
discovered a valuable lime rock near the route of the
canal in Madison County, which, after repeated experi-
ments, he converted into a cement, equal to the imported,
and at much less cost to the State. For this discovery he
obtained a patent, but permitted its use under the promise
of the Canal Commissioners that a just compensation
should be allowed, not only for it, but for his expenses and
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services while abroad. The Commissioners, however,
failed to obtain the necessary authority from the Legisla-
ture to fulfil their promise, notwithstanding the recom-
mendations of the Governor and other officers of the
State, as evidenced in the following extracts from official
documents:
Governor De Witt Clinton, in a letter to a committee
of the Legislature in eighteen hundred and twenty-four,
states, "That Mr. White had been of great use in his
operations as an engineer; and that his skill, industry,
and integrity in that department furnish strong recom-
mendations to the favorable notice of the State." Judge
Wright stated before the same committee, "That hydrau-
lic lime had been generally used along the canal since
eighteen hundred and eighteen, and part of eighteen
hundred and nineteen, in which year, after much persua-
sion by the engineers, it was used in all face work of locks
and arches, the backing being laid in common lime.
When common lime was used it gave evidence of soon
failing. I have no hesitation in saying that the discovery
of hydraulic cement by Mr. White has been of incalcu-
lable benefit to the State, and that it is a discovery which
ought, in justice, to be handsomely remunerated." Mr.
Flagg reported from the same committee that Mr. White,
a principal engineer, had made this discovery after
repeated experiments, and received a patent in eighteen
hundred and twenty. That Mr. White introduced it at
great expense amidst the doubts and fears which operate
against its use."
The Canal Commissioners, in their report of February,
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eighteen hundred and twenty, state that, "They have
employed exploring parties in both the western and east-
ern sections. Between the Seneca and Genesee rivers
Canvass White, Engineer, has had the charge of a party,
which has been engaged for several months in levelling
over and surveying different routes for the canal line.
These labors he has performed much to our satisfaction,
and having presented a view of them to a meeting of our
Board held in October, at Utica, we thereupon decided in
favor of the route originally explored between these rivers
in the year eighteen hundred and sixteen." The canal
through, and eight miles east of Utica, was completed in
the fall of eighteen hundred and twenty, Canvass White
being the Resident Engineer. In eighteen hundred and
twenty-one Messrs. Wright (principal) and White (acting),
engineers, explored the country thoroughly from Little
Falls to the Hudson, and pronounced impracticable the
route from Schenectady connecting with the Hudson at
Albany, and located the line via Cohoes and Troy.
This location was finally fixed upon by Messrs. Wright,
Geddes, and White. Early in the spring of eighteen
hundred and twenty-two Canvass White was sent
to lay out the Glens Falls feeder, and in that year he
planned and directed the building of the lock and dam
between Troy and Waterford, until the eighth of June,
when William Jerome took charge.
Judge Wright, in a letter to Dr. Hosack, of December,
eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, says : "Here it is
proper that I should render a just tribute of merit to a
gentleman who now stands high in his profession, and
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whose skill and sound judgment, as a civil engineer, is not
surpassed, if equalled, by any other in the United States.
The gentleman to whom I refer is Canvass White, Esq.,
who commenced as my pupil in eighteen hundred and
sixteen, by carrying the target; he took an active part
through that year, and through eighteen hundred and
seventeen. In the fall of the latter year he made a
voyage to England on his own account, and purchased for
the State several levelling instruments, of which we stood
much in need. He returned in the spring, and brought
with him much valuable information, which he has use-
fully developed, greatly to the benefit of the State of
New York. To this gentleman I could always apply for
counsel and advice in any great or difficult case, and to
his sound judgment in locating the line of the canal, in
much of the difficult part of the route, the people of this
State are under obligations greater than is generally
known or appreciated."
Simon Guilford, Civil Engineer, in a letter to the
author, dated Lebanon, Pennsylvania, December, eighteen
hundred and sixty-nine, writes: "In reply to your letter
relating to the late Canvass White, C. E., I presume you
will obtain, through others, a more extended and con-
nected history, than I am able to give you. I will,
however, relate an instance of his prompt decision and
energy, which occurred upon the Erie Canal at a time
when I was serving him as assistant. When that portion
of the canal, along the Mohawk river, between Little
Falls and Canajoharie was completed, and the supply of
water was turned in, owing to a very porous soil over
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which a considerable portion of the canal was made, the
supply proved inadequate, which was fully realized as the
first boat passed, containing the Canal Commissioners, the
principal Engineer, Benjamin Wright, and others. The
question arose as to how the difficulty was to be over-
come. Mr. White replied, "A feeder must be obtained
from the river at this place" (a few miles above Fort
Plain), and on being asked how long it would take to
build a dam across the river, nine hundred feet long, so as
to raise the water nine feet above the ordinary surface, he
replied, "A few weeks."
The dam was completed in sixty days, inclusive of a
side-cut and bridge connected with it. Trees were cut
and taken whole, the trunk with the tops, from timber
land near, and placed, with the butts down the stream in
parallel rows; the limbs were cut partly through SO that
they were made to conform closely in line with the
trunks, and the cavities filled with rocks and coarse
gravel. The trees thus forming the main portion of the
dam were weighed down and compacted by a heavy
covering of stone material. With the trunks of the lower
tiers of the trees left to protrude out several feet from
under the lower slope of the dam, an apron or platform
was formed, which served as a protection from an under
washing of the gravel foundation.
Mr. White's professional success, scrupulous integrity,
and modest demeanor, in all transactions of life, won for
him the enduring esteem of all with whom he was associ-
ated. For these admirable qualities of mind and heart,
he became widely known, and, as a consequence, frequent
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and urgent offers were tendered him for engineering
service in other States. He, however, continued in the
active discharge of his duties as engineer on the Erie
Canal, until it was so nearly completed, that his place
could be supplied from his assistant engineers, when he
succeeded Loammi Baldwin as Chief Engineer on the
Union Canal of Pennsylvania. He continued in that
position until the latter part of the summer of eighteen
hundred and twenty-six, when, in consequence of a severe
illness, contracted while conducting the surveys of the
canal west of the Susquehannah river, he returned to
Philadelphia, and resigned his connection with the
Company.
The distinguished Civil Engineer, W. Milnor Roberts, in
a letter to the author, dated St. Louis, December, eighteen
hundred and sixty-nine, writes : "I recollect the first in-
terview with Canvass White, which took place in the office
of the Union Canal Company, in Philadelphia. Samuel
Mifflin was the President, and my father, Thomas P. Rob-
erts, was, for many years, the Treasurer of the Company.
In eighteen hundred and twenty-three and four, Mr. Miff-
lin had a controversy with Loammi Baldwin, who was at
the time the Chief Engineer of the Company, which result-
ed in the resignation of Mr. Baldwin, and the appoint-
ment of Canvass White to fill the vacancy. During the
controversy, a long and important paper written by Mr.
Mifflin, was intrusted to me to be copied. Curiosity led
me to interest myself in the matter under discussion, and
in studying the paper I detected what seemed to me
to be an erroneous statement, to which, through my
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father, I called Mr. Mifflin's attention, who expressed him-
self under great obligations, as it proved to be important.
He urged my father to make an engineer of me ; and he
spoke to Mr. White after he had taken charge of the
canal; and some time afterward, when Mr. White visited
the office in Philadelphia, I was sent for to meet him. His
first remark was: 'He is very small, do you think he
could stand rough and tumble engineering? The inter-
view ended with instructions to me to go up the Schuyl-
kill Navigation on board of a canal boat, and on arriving
at Reading, to inquire for Mr. Olmstead, at the Engineer's
office. This I did, and in a few days I met Mr. White in
Reading, who took me with him in the Company's two-
horse wagon on a tour along the line, visiting the works
then in the course of construction. This was in the
spring of eighteen hundred and twenty-five. Mr. Olm-
stead who had charge of the eastern division, accom-
panied Mr. White to the end of his division, where he
met Mr. Guilford, who was in charge of the middle di-
vision. Soon after Mr. Guilford met us, we came to one
of his locks, nearly finished, concerning which, after tak-
ing a good look at it, I made my first engineering re-
mark, as follows : 'Why ! Mr. White, don't you think
that this lock is too small?' He smiled, saying blandly :
'I guess its large enough.' Mr. Guilford said nothing at
the time, but afterwards, when we had arrived at his
headquarters in Lebanon, he said to me : 'Don't you
know that Mr. White advocated the small locks for this
canal, coinciding with Mr. Mifflin in opposition to Mr.
Baldwin? You must be careful about what you say
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about small locks.' I was young and inexperienced, and
my remark became a by-word with the young engineers
amongst ourselves. I had then seen only two canals-the
James River Canal in Virginia, and the Schuylkill Navi-
gation ; the locks of which were seventeen feet wide and
about ninety feet long; whereas the Union Canal locks
were only eight and one half feet wide, and seventy-five
feet long; the design being that two boats from the
Union Canal should pass at one time through the locks
of the Schuylkill Navigation. I may remark that I have
now no doubt that the adoption of so small a canal
and locks for the Union Canal, was an error. There
had been precedents for such small canals in England
but I think that the reasoning which determined the size
in the case of the Union Canal, on account of the small
supply of water, was inadequate, if not fallacious. Many
years after its first construction, it was enlarged under
the engineering superintendence of my friend, Colonel
James Worrall. I send with this my old descrip-
tion of the 'Union Canal,' and of the 'Lehigh Naviga-
tion,' copied from my common-place book of eighteen
hundred and twenty-nine and thirty."*
"My official or professional connection with Mr. White
ended in eighteen hundred and thirty-one."
*
*
*
"Canvass White, in his day, stood at the head of
American Canal Engineers, and his strength lay in his
cool, practical judgment. He had no experience in rail-
road engineering, so far as I ever knew. He was a gen-
tleman of very quiet manners, equal temper, and kind
For a synopsis of the description referred to, see Appendix.
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disposition. I never knew him ruffled, or impatient.
His wife was a lady of great beauty, and they had a son,
a fine boy when I knew him, whom I afterwards lost
sight of, who became an engineer."
During the time Mr. White was engaged as Chief En-
gineer of the Union Canal, he was called to New York
for the purpose of examining the sources of supply for
pure and wholesome water for the city. He reported to
the Mayor and Aldermen, that, for the present need of the
city, and its probable requirements for twenty years
thereafter, a sufficient supply could be obtained from the
Rye pond and the Bronx river, in Westchester County,
but after the city should extend to one-third the surface
of Manhattan Island, it would be necessary to add the
Croton river to their other resources." The report was
accompanied with full details, and strongly impressed the
city government with the importance and feasibility of
the project.
The comprehensive nature of his mind, through which,
at a glance, he grasped the salient points of a subject,
and his systematic habit in arranging details, enabled
him to accomplish an extraordinary amount of profes-
sional work. While engaged upon the two last mention-
ed enterprises, he was solicited to take charge of the
works of the Schuylkill Navigation Company (the Engi-
neer having suddenly died), which was then in the course
of construction. After making a rapid survey of the
ground, and the plans of the Company, he suggested
alterations, and recommended the employment of Captain
Beach as their Chief; he continuing as Consulting Engi-
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neer, until the work was completed. At this time he was
also Consulting Engineer for the Delaware and Chesa-
peake Canal, Judge Benjamin Wright being the Chief
Engineer.
The success and reported profits of the Erie Canal gave
an impetus to canal construction in that day, that would
have resulted in a system of artificial internal navigation
as universal as our present railroad system, could the
capital necessary for the purpose have been obtained.
Projects were started in various parts of the Union, and
a pressing demand was made upon the time of the few
engineers then in the country.
The citizens of Hartford conceived the project of im-
proving the navigation of the Connecticut river, and the
Windsor Locks were built by Mr. White as Chief Engi-
neer. Careful financial men were led away by the pre-
vailing spirit of the time, and large amounts were ex-
pended upon impracticable enterprises.
Amongst these was the Farmington Canal, constructed
from New Haven to Farmington, and thence up the
Farmington river, as money could be found to prose-
cute the work." Mr. White was applied to for plans and
surveys, and for an opinion of the value of it when com-
pleted; the former of which he furnished, and remained
Consulting Engineer during the construction of the work.
However, he frequently expressed to Mr. Hillhouse, one
of the chief promoters of the enterprise, an opinion ad-
verse to the success of the canal as a financial investment.
The capacity of the canal proved to be far greater than
the requirements for its construction.
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In eighteen hundred and twenty-five, the traffic in coal
from Mauch Chunk to Philadelphia had increased to such
an extent that the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
(who were bringing down the products of its mines in
arks), finding its means insufficient to supply the increas-
ing demand for coal, concluded to improve the naviga-
tion of the Lehigh river, and to ask the State of Penn-
sylvania to construct a canal along the margin of the
Delaware river from Easton to navigable waters below.
Josiah White, a member of the Society of Friends, and an
energetic man, whose practical common sense and sound
judgment enabled him to comprehend men and measures
with much precision, was Superintendent of the affairs of
the Company, and constructed at Maunch Chunk a wide
basin for boats, and one mile of canal, in which were five
locks. The work remained in this condition until the
spring of eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, when Can-
vass White, having regained his health, was appointed
Chief Engineer, and the work was resumed and prose-
cuted with such diligence that the first boat passed
through the canal in July, eighteen hundred and twenty-
nine. At that time the Lehigh Canal was the most
capacious work of the kind yet undertaken in the country,
and was considered a bold project.
The engineers under Mr. White, were W. Milnor Rob-
erts in charge of the western, A. B. Warford the middle,
and John Hopkins the eastern division.
During the summer of eighteen hundred and twenty-
five, Mr. White was appointed Chief Engineer of the Del-
aware and Raritan Canal. He organized a party for
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preliminary surveys, and placed it under the immediate
charge of John Hopkins, one of his most trusted assist-
ants. This work was discontinued late in the fall, after
the location of about twelve miles, and was not resumed
again until the spring of eighteen hundred and thirty-one.
The construction of the canal from the Delaware to the
Raritan river was attended by many difficulties, and met
many obstructions, all of which were successfully over-
come. In the prosecution of this important work, Mr.
White always acknowledged with becoming gratitude the
generous and wise counsel of Commodore Robert F.
Stockton, who took an active interest in the success of
the enterprise.
In the autumn of eighteen hundred and thirty-four,
when this work was nearly completed, his health was so
much impaired that his physician advised him to seek a
more genial climate, with a probable hope of seeing him
restored to health and usefulness. He sailed soon after
for St. Augustine, Florida, where he died within a month
after his arrival at that place. His remains were returned
to New Jersey, and lie buried in the church-yard at
Princeton, where his family resided at the time of his
death.
Mr. White was personally popular with all who were
favored with his acquaintance. General Bernard, a
French engineer in the service of the United States, re-
marked of him, "that as a civil engineer he had no
superior ; his genius and ingenuity were of a surprising
magnitude ; his mild and gentle ways, his sweet and
amiable temper, modest and retiring manners won his
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heart ; he loved him very much, exceedingly." Henry
Clay remarked, when speaking of him to a gentleman
who was seeking an engineer for the construction of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal: "Get Canvass White; no
man is more competent, no man more capable; and while
your faith in his ability and fidelity increases, your friend-
ship will grow into affection."
In a letter from the late Hon. Hugh White, of Cohoes,
New York, of July, eighteen hundred and sixty, he says :
"My brother, Canvass White, was in stature five feet
nine and one-half inches ; lightly made, weighing from
one hundred and forty-five to one hundred and sixty-five
pounds ; light complexion, light brown hair, blue eyes,
wonderfully clear and bright; inclining slightly forward
from a perpendicular when walking or standing. Grave
and thoughtful expression, yet full of affection and kind-
ness, a broad intellectual forehead and well-shaped nose,
and with a trifle more of flesh would have been an un-
usually fine-looking man. The most prominent and strik-
ing feature in the general contour of the person, was an
unmistakable impress of genius, modesty and amiability.
In conversation, you could not escape the conviction that
what he said he was sure of, and left the impression in-
delibly upon those he desired to convince of the truth or
feasibility of any plan or project he had in contempla-
tion."
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DAVID STANHOPE BATES,
SURVEYOR AND CIVIL ENGINEER.
PROMINENT among the distinguished pioneer engineers
of America stands honored and admired the name of
David Stanhope Bates, who first won a reputation for his
professional skill, untiring energy, indomitable perseve-
rance, sound judgment, and exemplary industry, as the
principal engineer of one of the important divisions of
the Erie Canal.
Thomas Bates, the grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, was a native of Wales, and one of a family of ten
brothers and two sisters, and was an early settler of the
State of New Jersey. One of the brothers, John, was
killed at Oswego, New York, during the French war.
The other brothers settled in the New England States.
David Stanhope Bates was born at the homestead farm,
midway between Morristown and Parsippan, on the tenth
of June, seventeen hundred and seventy-seven. His
father, David Bates, possessed strong mental qualifica-
tions, improved by careful study and deep thought, and
was of the medium height, with a compact, muscular
frame. He married, in seventeen hundred and sixty,
Miss Tappan, of Morristown, an accomplished lady, of
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quiet and winning manners. During the Revolutionary
War he was an officer under General Washington, and
returned to his home only when peace was restored.
David Stanhope was intended by his father for the
ministry. After the advantages of a good English school,
he passed through a course of academic instructions
under the tuition of Rev. Mr. Whelpley, in New Jersey.
Upon completing this course, he was placed under the
care and tutelage of the celebrated Rev. Dr. Witherspoon,
with whom he remained many years, until he became an
excellent classical scholar. Notwithstanding his reverence
for his preceptor, and his respect for the profession, his
mathematical talents inclined him to other pursuits, and
he abandoned the study of theology ; but to its influence
upon his youthful mind, and to the careful instruction of
Dr. Witherspoon, he was indebted for the moral influence
that governed every action of his after life.
Upon relinquishing the profession chosen for him, he
entered the store of his elder brother as clerk, pursuing
meanwhile the study of mathematics. He married, in
seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, Sarah Johnson
Gould, daughter of Timothy and Susan Baldwin Gould,
of Caldwell, New Jersey, and sister of Hon. E. Baldwin
Gould, of St. Augustine, Florida. He soon after com-
menced the mercantile business at Parsippan.
.In the vicinity of this village stood the veritable house
of " Old Grimes," with its "semicircular garden fenced
round with poles," and at the gate of which young Bates
often stopped to talk with the good old man" as he sat
at his door. This is mentioned because of the modern
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belief that the hero of the song of Old Grimes is Dead"
was a myth. Not SO ! He really existed ; and the
author of the quaint verses that have been sung from the
"Granite Hills to Texas," was a shoemaker of Morris-
town.
In this new home a period of comparative prosperity
and happiness succeeded his years of study, until the
autumn of eighteen hundred and ten, when young Bates
accepted an offer from Mr. George Scriba, a wealthy land
proprietor from Scotland, to survey and sell a large tract
of land in Oneida County, New York. He accordingly
removed with his family to a little settlement, now
known as Constantia, on the Oneida Lake.
In the summer of this year, Governor De Witt Clinton
and his associates, the first Canal Commissioners, exam-
ined the valley of the Mohawk and the western part of
the State of New York, for the purpose of learning the
practicability of constructing a canal from the Hudson to
the Lakes." Passing around the Oneida Lake he arrived
on the fourteenth of July, with his party, at this little vil-
lage, which he describes in his diary as "Rotterdam, a
decayed settlement of George Scriba, situated eleven
miles from the outlet, containing eight or ten houses, and
marks of premature growth." This now beautifully cul-
tivated portion of New York State, was then almost a
wilderness ; a remnant of the Oneida tribe of Indians yet
lingered in the forests, but they were peaceful and fond
of the villagers when umolested by them.
The establishment of extensive Iron Works at Rotter-
dam, about this period, by wealthy Eastern parties,
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attracted a better emigration thither, and the decayed
settlement revived under the influence.
The excellent business qualifications of Mr. Bates en-
hanced his usefulness in the community, while, with his
well-cultivated intellect, he contributed to the improve-
ment of all around him; with ready tact he adapted his
method of action to the surrounding elements, and while
beloved by his brother pioneers, he was revered and re-
spected by the rude and uncultivated. He accepted an
appointment of Superintendent of the Iron Works, pur-
suing at the same time his favorite occupation of survey-
ing, when his services were required. His evenings were
devoted to the study of law, and he became a good coun-
sellor. Subsequently he was appointed Judge of the
Common Pleas of Oneida County.
The house of Judge Bates, overlooking the Oneida
Lake, was nestled in a grove of native hemlock, tall pines,
and other forest trees. The spot selected was singularly
wild, yet very beautiful, and there, unfettered and reck-
less as the Indian children with whom they played, was
passed the early boyhood of his three sons, John, Timothy
and David, who afterward became distinguished engineers
in the service of the State of Ohio.
Judge Bates continued his various avocations at Rot-
terdam until the spring of eighteen hundred and seven-
teen, when he applied to Judge Benjamin Wright, whom
he had long assisted in surveys, for employment, and re-
ceived from him the appointment of Assistant Engineer
on the middle division of the Erie Canal.
Judge Bates continued in the employ of the State as
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Division Engineer, under Benjamin Wright, from eighteen
hundred and eighteen to eighteen hundred and twenty-
four mainly in charge of the construction of the impor-
tant work across the Irondequoit Valley, the aqueduct
over the Genessee river at Rochester, and the combined
locks at Lockport.
The great and constant anxiety of Judge Wright,
respecting the proper construction of these difficult works,
and his high estimation of the judgment, skill, and integ-
rity of Judge Bates, are manifested in the following ex-
tracts selected from letters, written by the Engineer-in-
Chief:
"So far as I understand your plan of the aqueduct at
Irondequoit, it appears to be correct. I pray you to see
that the piles are well and faithfully driven. It is all
important to the safety of the whole work that there
should be no settling nor any precariousness, as you know
that would destroy all instantly. I am glad to hear of
your experiment of trying the water on the sand-banks ;
it will be an excellent thing in any event."
"The situation of the locks at the Mountain Ridge is
such, that three of them, if not more, must be placed
within the ridge, combined and doubled. You will under-
stand by this that the line is SO steep as to require the
locks combined, and the top of the ridge must be blown
out to join lock-pits. I hope you will watch the stone-
cutters, and check at once any deviation from the right
workmanship. I feel alarmed about the water-lime, lest
they should not calculate upon the importance of this
material. You will see also to the foundations of the
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locks, as much depends upon these. Let the sheet-piling
below the lower gate be done with the utmost faithful-
ness, and SO close as to be almost water-proof, by battens
of thin material, and then puddle each side, allowing the
sheet-piling to be at least three or four feet deep below
the timber, except where it is too hard to prevent its
being drove so deep ; but even there, let it be well done.
This part of the work I beg you will attend to personally,
as every thing depends upon it."
In June, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, Judge
Wright addressed him thus : "I feel extremely anxious
to have every attention paid to the construction of the
Rochester Aqueduct, and I beg you will see that no bad
material or ill workmanship is permitted. With regard
to the Irondequoit embankment, water should now be
brought on to it through a trough, to settle it, after which
the safety and durability depends, in a great measure,
upon the wooden trunk placed inside, below part of the
lining. This operation is to prevent sudden breaking ; it
may and probably will settle so as to make some large
cracks, but they would be of such a character as to give
timely notice of the discharge of water before any great
injury could arise. I might say other things, but it is
unnecessary. Your good judgment will direct you in all
these matters."
"The aqueduct at Genesee river will require great
attention, particularly the piers ; observe that every
part IS solid and firm. It is a great work, and any defect
in it would ruin yourself as well as me. Let there be very
strong bonds in every part, and clamps at the upper end
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of the piers, to prevent any stone from being started. I
feel great anxiety about these two places-the Genesee
river and the Irondequoit embankment-therefore beg
you to see to them."
Two plans, contemplating different materials, were pro-
posed for the aqueduct over the Genesee river-one of
limestone, similar to that which was finally used upon
the enlargement of the Erie Canal. This was deemed too
expensive for the country in eighteen hundred and
twenty-two, and the plan employing the red sandstone
was adopted, greatly to the disappointment of the Chief,
and resident engineers, who did not consider the material
sufficiently durable for such an important work.
VIEW OF THE AQUEDUCT AT ROCHESTER.
This aqueduct was commenced in June, eighteen hun-
dred and twenty-one, and opened for use early in October.
eighteen hundred and twenty-three, and consisted of nine
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arches of hewn stone, of fifty feet span each, over the
river, and two arches, of forty feet each, over the mill
canals, making the total length of this fine structure eight
hundred and two feet.
Under an act of the General Assembly of Ohio, of Jan-
uary, eighteen hundred and twenty-three, "authorizing
an examination into the practicability of connecting Lake
Erie with the Ohio river," two acting commissioners,
Messrs. Williams and Kelley, were appointed by the
Board of Canal. Commissioners of Ohio, to superintend
and take the immediate direction of the examination and
surveys.
The Commissioners, in their report of January, eight-
een hundred and twenty-four, state that in undertaking
a work of SO great importance, and involving so much
responsibility as that of selecting and locating a line of
canal from the lake to the Ohio, it was thought prudent
to avail ourselves, as far as possible, of the knowledge
which might be derived from the experience of New York
in the construction of her canals.
.
The third annual report of the Canal Commissioners of
Ohio, of January, eighteen hundred and twenty-five,
states : "They made application to the New York Canal
Board, as directed by an act of assembly, for one of the
most experienced and distinguished engineers, for the
purpose of revising the work."
This application resulted in the employment of Judge
D. S. Bates. " Judge Bates arrived in this State about
the first of September, since which time he has revised the
whole of the lines that have been located, gauged and
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measured all the streams relied upon as feeders for those
lines, and has fully examined the question of supplying
the Tyamochete summit with water. For his views on
these several subjects, we beg leave to refer the General
Assembly to his detailed and able report herewith sub-
mitted."
The skill, energy, and industry of Judge Bates, indi-
cated by the foregoing extract, during the four months
following his appointment by the Board as Chief Engi-
neer of the system of the canals of Ohio at that period, are
still more strikingly exemplified by the unparalleled
amount of professional labor performed by the limited
parties under his charge during the following year, as
briefly stated in the report of the Commissioners, made
January first, eighteen hundred and twenty-five.
One entire line, extending from Portsmouth, on the
Ohio, to the Black River, on the lake ; a line extending
from Coshecton to Cleveland, by the way of Tuscarawas
and Cuyahoga, the Columbus, and north fork of Licking
feeders, and an extra line from the Pickaway Plains to
the neighborhood of Chillicothe, have been carefully
located, surveyed, and staked out, during the last season.
An entire line, extending from Cincinnati to the foot of
the Maumee Rapids, with the feeders from the Maumee
and Miami rivers, and an extra line extending from Cincin-
nati, northwesterly about ten miles, have been located,
surveyed, and staked out, with equal care, making an
aggregate length of canal and feeder lines located during
the past season of six hundred and seventy miles."
"We believe the history of canaling furnishes no in-
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
stance of an equal length of line having been located, and
the expense of constructing a canal thereon estimated in
the same length of time, nor at 80 small an expense.
There was located in New York, in eighteen hundred and
sixteen, about four hundred miles of canal line ; this was
accomplished for sixteen thousand nine hundred and
thirty-seven dollars, a sum nearly equal to the whole cost
of our examinations, surveys, and locations for three
years, in which eight hundred miles of line have been
actually located and staked out on various routes, and at
least two thousand miles of random levelling have been
accomplished."
In January, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, Judge
Bates presented to the Board of Commissioners his report
upon the lines surveyed under his charge and supervision
the previous year. Regarding the choice of proposed
routes, it was deemed necessary, in order to do "justice
to contending interests, as well as to satisfy the candid
and prudent of both parties," to obtain the opinion of an
engineer of experience and ability, who had formed no
previous views on the subject. Judge Roberts, of the
New York canals, was therefore called upon for this ser-
vice, who, after a minute and careful examination, made
with the assistance of Mr. Samuel Forrer, of Ohio, and
Mr. William H. Price, of the same State, submitted his
views, in which Judge Bates, the Engineer-in-Chief, fully
concurred.
On the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and
twenty-five, the work upon the Ohio canals commenced at
Newark, about the centre of the State, in presence of the
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Governor of Ohio, Governor De Witt Clinton, of New
York, and many distinguished citizens of the different
States. The first shovelful of earth was thrown by Gov-
ernor Clinton, the second by Governor Morrow, and the
third by the Chief Engineer. "But a few weeks were
suffered to elapse after the commencement of labor,
before the whole line presented an active scene of opera-
tions."
Before leaving the State of Ohio, Governor Clinton,
with the Chief Magistrate of that State, accompanied
Judge Bates and his party over the entire canal route.
This was almost the last personal effort of this energetic
advocate for the advancement of internal improvements.
Judge Bates continued in the service of the State of
Ohio, as Principal Engineer, until March, eighteen hun-
dred and twenty-nine, as will be seen by the following ex-
tracts from the report of the Canal Commissioners, dated
January, eighteen hundred and thirty :
"Believing that the employment of the Principal Engi-
neer was no longer required by the public interest, the
Board made arrangements at the last meeting to dispense
with the further services of Hon. D. S. Bates in that capa-
city. This arrangement took effect on the last day of
February, eighteen hundred and twenty-nine. Since that
time no engineer of higher grade than Resident Engineer
has been in the employment of the Board."
The Commissioners further state, in the same docu-
ment, that the "locks, aqueducts, and other important
structures on the canals have SO far fully answered the
purposes for which they were designed, and that no seri-
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
ous injury has been sustained by any of them since their
completion."
This fact is certainly complimentary to the Principal
Engineer and his assistants, who designed the various
structures, and faithfully superintended their construction,
upon several hundred miles of canals in the different
sections of the State, during a term of nearly five years.
During the time occupied by Judge Bates in charge of
the canals of Ohio, about eight hundred miles of canals
and feeders were surveyed and located, and four hundred
miles placed under contract, and nearly one-half of this
distance open for navigation, while the residue was well
advanced towards completion, upon the location and plans
made under his direction and supervision. They were
finally finished under the immediate charge of the several
Resident Engineers, who, for many years, had been the
assistants of Judge Bates, and for whom he cherished the
highest regard and most friendly interests, which were
warmly reciprocated by all of them to the period of his
death. Two of these assistants, Hon. Jesse L. Williams,
of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Mr. Samuel Forrer, of Day-
ton, Ohio, have become distinguished in the profession,
and highly appreciated as men of worth and integrity.
Some extracts from their letters to the author may be
found interesting, as showing the strong sentiment of
friendship alluded to. Mr. Williams remarks: "The
letters of Judge Bates, which I inclose, may serve to indi-
cate character. The re-perusal of them has revived my
affectionate regard for one who, at all times and under all
circumstances, took the greatest interest in his assistants.
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DAVID STANHOPE BATES.
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At your convenience these letters may be returned to me,
as I do not like to lose any memorial of my kind and
revered friend."
Mr. Forrer, of Ohio, in a letter to the author, under
date of December, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, thus
remarks:
" Judge Bates, of whom I can speak with the utmost
pleasure, was employed by the Canal Commissioners of
Ohio on account of his experience in constructing canals,
for the purpose of revising the locations, and aiding in
making the different plans and estimates of the cost of
constructing a similar work on each of the different routes,
and also for the purpose of reviewing the question of sup-
plying the Tyamochete summit with water."
" Judge Bates, upon a careful reconnoissance of the dif-
ferent surveys, submitted his report, which was very com-
plete and highly satisfactory, to the Board of Canal Com-
missioners, and coming from an engineer of much experi-
ence, acquired on the great Erie Canal, of New York, it
commanded the confidence of the people of Ohio in their
own engineers, as well as in the projected improvements.
"Familiar with every department of the business of
surveying, locating, constructing, and navigating the
canals of New York; with the early mistakes and subse-
quent improvements in the manner of contracting work,
and accounting for receipts and disbursements, down to
the organization of collectorships, and establishing rates
of toll on transportation, it will be readily perceived that,
in addition to his services in the capacity of Engineer-in-
Chief, he was invaluable to the Board in all the duties per-
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
taining to their then official position. Modest and unassu-
ming, he never obtruded his plans and opinions, but gave
them on proper occasions in a manner so genial, that they
were always received by both compeers and subordinates
as favors of great value.
His urbanity of manner greatly endeared him to all
whose fortune it was to serve with him. He gave no
orders, but made simple requests as favors to himself, and
the result was, that duties were performed with alacrity
and pleasure. If he found that an assistant had, from any
cause, failed to give a contractor the proper instructions,
he would assume the fault as being a want of clear and
intelligible instruction by himself. Or if a contractor was
not doing his work well, while he would not hesitate to
show his dissatisfaction, he always closed his lecture with
some amusing story, to convey the idea that he would
give him full credit if future good conduct justified it. I
once heard him tell a contractor, who was putting earth
against a stone wall rather loosely, that he did not like
to have the puddling done in a manner that would ex-
pand the earth so as to make two cubic yards of puddling
out of one yard of earth,' then, turning to the Assistant
Engineer in charge of the work, remarked, in the hearing
of the contractor, 'I must have forgotten to tell you how
to have the puddling done, and the contractor has had no
instructions, for I see he has done everything else in a
faithful manner, and I doubt not he intends to do right,
and will, when properly instructed.'
"Although ever vigilant in the inspection of work, and
determined to have it well done, he was continually
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DAVID STANHOPE BATES.
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searching out objects of commendation, upon which he
never failed to bestow the proper praise, in a manner
which showed that he was really gratified. He was em-
phatically a gentleman, kind and courteous to all, and of
exceedingly honest principles."
In eighteen hundred and twenty-five the Louisville and
Portland Canal Company engaged Judge Bates as their
Chief Engineer in locating and constructing the canal for
the passage of steamboats around the falls of the Ohio
river, near Louisville, Kentucky. These duties were per-
formed in conjunction with his professional engagements
with the State of Ohio, he having for his assistants his
eldest son, John Bates, and John R. Henry, and J. A.
Lapham.
On this work he continued in charge until June, eight-
een hundred and twenty-eight, when, in consequence of
difficulties between the contractors and the Company, he
was called upon by the Directors to declare the contract
under dispute void. After a careful and minute investiga-
tion of the whole subject, he declined to comply with the
request, on the ground that the offences charged was not
"negligence or an unfaithful performance of work, and
did not properly vitiate the contract."
Accompanying this report was the resignation of his
office as Chief Engineer, which was accepted by the Com-
pany, to take effect in June, eighteen hundred and twenty-
eight. He was influenced in this, as in every transaction
of his life, by just and honorable principles. Policy might
have induced him to another course, but to his free and
upright mind, the highest emoluments of office were not
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
worth possession when gained at the sacrifice of honesty
and integrity.
In the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty-nine,
after the expiration of his term of service in Ohio, Judge
Bates was appointed, by the Canal Commissioners of the
State of New York, Chief Engineer in the charge of the
surveys and location of the Chenango Canal from Utica
to Binghamton.
He completed a thorough survey of the various routes
proposed for this canal, and made a full and forcible
report to the Commissioners, showing the entire practi-
cability of the undertaking, and that an adequate supply
of water could be obtained from artificial reservoirs at the
summit. This method was imperative, owing to the
statute under which the survey was authorized, which
forbid the use of the waters from the Oriskany and
Saquoit streams on the summit.
In eighteen hundred and thirty he was appointed by
the Board of Commissioners of New York to make the
surveys for a canal from Rochester to Olean, on the Alle-
ghany river. This he successfully accomplished, and the
canal is now known as the Genesee Valley Canal.
During the next year he made the preliminary surveys
for the location of a railroad from Canandaigua to Roch-
ester, and subsequently constructed upon the route he
selected, the Auburn and Rochester Railroad, now form-
ing a part of the New York Central.
In the summer of eighteen hundred and thirty-one, he
was engaged in the construction and location of the rail-
road from the city of Rochester to Carthage, at the mouth
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DAVID STANHOPE BATES.
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of the Genesee river. Upon the completion of these
duties, Judge Bates was appointed Engineer of the Nia-
gara River Hydraulic Company," incorporated for the
purpose of improving the water power on that river near
Black Rock, in the State of New York. After the fulfil-
ment of this engagement, he accepted an invitation to
make the surveys and necessary examinations for a water
power on the Niagara river, below the " whirlpool."
This work occupied his attention until eighteen hundred
and thirty-four, when he was employed as Engineer-in-
Chief, by the State of Michigan, to make examinations
and surveys for the Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad in that
State, his son David Bates acting as assistant.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-five, Judge Bates re-
turned to his home in the city of Rochester, with broken
health, and unable to attend to further professional calls or
duties.
During a lingering illness of nearly four years he was
patient and cheerful, though at times under the influence
of great suffering from the character of his malady, which
assumed the form of pulmonary consumption. Three
months previous to his death, he was prostrated by apo-
plexy, from which he never fully recovered consciousness,
and died the twenty-eighth of November, eighteen hundred
and thirty-nine, and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery,
Rochester, New York.
Eighteen years of the life of Judge Bates were passed
in active service upon the public works of the different
States, in most instances in charge of heavy and very
responsible duties. The internal improvements of Ohio
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
and Kentucky following the completion of the New York
canals, occupied his time nearly seven years.
At this period American engineering was yet in its in-
fancy. The now flourishing States were then continued
forests, broken only occasionally with newly rising settle-
ments ; and the canals, that were essential to their growth
and to the progress of the improvement of the country,
traversed sections of swampy and malarious districts. To
this poisonous atmosphere the engineers were exposed,
remote from home and domestic comforts. A great work
was before them, the success of which depended upon
their skill and rigid economy. Those were indeed years
of wearisome labor to the self-denying pioneer engineers,
who patiently and perseveringly gathered the knowledge
and experience from which many of the profession have
since won an easier way to distinction and wealth.
Personally, Judge Bates was of a fine stature, with a
commanding figure. His countenance was agreeable
rather than handsome, bearing the type of great benev-
olence. His eyes were black, with a lively but gentle
expression. His manner was at all times polished and
refined, both in domestic and public circles. In conversa-
tion he was cheerful, witty, and often brilliant. He was
endowed with a retentive memory, and possessed a happy
talent in imparting to others the wealth of his vigorous
mind, and became the cherished companion of the intel-
lectual men of the day in the different States to which his
professional duties called him.
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NATHAN S. ROBERTS,
SURVEYOR AND CIVIL ENGINEER
AMONG the surveyors and civil engineers who took
a leading part in the development of the inland navi-
gation of the State of New York, few were better
known than Nathan S. Roberts. As a man of marked
and peculiarly American character, and, in his day, of
enviable reputation in his profession, Judge Roberts
deserves a conspicuous place in the annals of the early
engineering of the Empire State.
His forefathers, to use his own words, were among
the earliest Puritans who emigrated from England to join
their brothers at the Plymouth Colony, about the year
sixteen hundred and forty." There were two brothers,
by the name of Roberts, who settled in the town of
Auburn, Massachusetts. His grandfather, John Roberts,
a grandson of one of these brothers, was slain in the
French war, in seventeen hundred and sixty-four, while
serving as a soldier under the command of Sir William
Pepperell. A wife and several children, among whom
was Abraham Roberts (the father of Nathan S.), were left
to mourn his loss. Abraham, though born and reared
among the rocks of New Hampshire, sought his fortune
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
in the West Indies. In the course of a few years, having
acquired a handsome competence, he resolved, at about
the time of the breaking out of the American Revolution,
to revisit his native land; but, unfortunately falling into
hands of the British cruisers, he lost his fortune as well
as liberty, and was forced to serve against the vessels of
his country in several engagements. Finally, having
effected his escape, he at length established himself in
the State of New.Jersey at a place called Piles Grove,"
where, on the twenty-eighth of July, seventeen hun-
dred and seventy-six, the subject of this sketch was
born.
During a large portion of his minority, his best efforts
were directed to assist in the support of his parents and
younger brothers. After coming of age, he laid out his
earnings in the purchase of one hundred acres of new
land in the State of Vermont. To this tract, with two
axes, and a scanty wardrobe, he repaired on foot, and
having, in eight weeks, chopped several acres of heavy
timber, returned to Plainfield, N. J., to teach school
during the winter. In eighteen hundred and three he
visited the State of New York to examine some wild
lands he had bought in Oneida County.
In eighteen hundred and four he settled in that county,
and taught a school at Oriskany, and in eighteen hundred
and six he was appointed Principal of the Academy at
Whitesboro', in the same county.
During the year eighteen hundred and sixteen, Judge
Roberts married Miss White, the grand daughter of Judge
White, of Whitesboro'. In this year he purchased a
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NATHAN S. ROBERTS.
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farm in Lenox, Madison County, New York, which was
his home during the remainder of his life.
In July of this year, at the solicitation of Benjamin
Wright, Judge Roberts first entered upon the career of a
civil engineer. With the necessary men, teams, tools,
provisions, and tents, he proceeded to make a survey of
the route of the middle section of the Erie Canal to Mon-
tezuma. The winter of eighteen hundred and sixteen and
seventeen was spent at Rome, in preparing maps and
profiles of the line recently explored, and in the following
spring this section of the canal was located and staked
out, Judge Roberts being employed on it as Assistant
Engineer. In eighteen hundred and eighteen he was em-
ployed through the winter as Resident Engineer in charge
of the work from Rome to Syracuse, and in the spring was
placed in charge of a party to locate the canal from
Syracuse westward. This location, commenced on the
twelfth of April, was completed to the Seneca river the
last of July, and the work contracted in the summer of
that year.
In the spring of eighteen hundred and nineteen Judge
Roberts located the Erie Canal from Seneca river to the
village of Clyde, and the work was placed under contract
in May and June of that year. In the winter of eighteen
hundred and nineteen and twenty he made the plans for
the locks between Clyde and Rochester, and in the spring
located the canal down the Clyde river, and through the
Cayuga marshes, on the line explored by him the previous
fall. He continued in charge of this work until near its
completion in eighteen hundred and twenty-two, when he
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
was directed by the Canal Commissioners to take charge
of the locks at Lockport, and to superintend the construc-
tion of the canal to its western termination.
Judge Roberts continued in charge of the work from
Lockport to Lake Erie, from eighteen hundred and
twenty-two to eighteen hundred and twenty-five. At
Lockport a bold, rocky ridge or spur of mountain, rising
abruptly, presented to the inexperienced eye an almost
insuperable barrier to the westward progress of the canal.
A rise of some sixty feet was to be overcome, followed by
a cut thirty feet deep and over seven miles in length.
Many intelligent men were disposed to view this as an
insurmountable obstacle to the successful completion of
the enterprise. Here was required a system of combined
locks such as had never been constructed on this conti-
nent, and the skill, ingenuity, and inventive genius of the
whole corps of engineers in the employ of the State was
called into requisition by the Canal Board for the produc-
tion of the best plan of construction. On a given day
plans, estimates, and specifications were ordered to be laid
before the Board by the several engineers in the employ
of the State. Judge Roberts on this occasion exhibited
all those qualities which denote the ready resources of the
skilful engineer, and gained a triumph rarely won by the
most eminent in his profession. He justly took much
pleasure in alluding to it, in after years, as the proudest
triumph of his long professional career.
Without consulting any one ; with but little aid from
published works on the subject of engineering, he pro-
ceeded to draft his plan for the proposed structure. It
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consisted of five double-combined locks, of twelve feet
lift each, working side by side. His plan was one that
would involve a large expenditure of money to test
the practicability of an enterprise upon which the
eyes of the public were directed with much interest and
anxiety.
He had the satisfaction of being able to lay before the
Canal Board his plan, complete in all its details of con-
struction and operation, and of having it (over many
others) unanimously adopted, and himself appointed to
superintend its construction. On the eighth of July,
eighteen hundred and twenty-three the first stone in the
foundation was laid by Judge Roberts, in the presence of
a numerous concourse of citizens.
In September, eighteen hundred and twenty-four, the
first canal boat arrived at Lockport from the east, and the
first one that entered the basin was the "Roberts," Cap-
tain Hunter, a boat of about forty tons burthen.
On Thursday, the second day of June, eighteen hundred
and twenty-five, the water from Lake Erie was let into
the canal as far as Tonawanda Creek, and on the day
following, the first boat passed up the canal to Black Rock
Harbor, which event was handsomely celebrated by the
citizens; and on the fifth of June the Marquis de La
Fayette was received at Black Rock with great demon-
strations of joy by the people, on his way down the canal
on the boat "Seneca Chief." On Friday, the twenty-
fourth of June, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, the
coping-stone at the head of the ten combined locks at
Lockport was laid with Masonic honors ; several lodges
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
and chapters being present, and an immense collection of
citizens of Western New York.
On the twenty-fourth of October, eighteen hundred and
twenty-five, a little over three and a quarter years from
their commencement, the combined locks were SO far
finished as to allow the passage of boats, and were found
to be a complete success.
COMBINED LOCKS AT LOCKPORT
Judge Roberts continued on the western division of
the Erie Canal until the whole was completed. Immedi-
ately after the celebration of this successful achievement he
was called to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal as one
of a Board of Consulting Engineers. In the ensuing
January he was employed by the State of New York to
make a survey of a route for a ship canal around the Falls
of Niagara. Having completed this survey and reported
the result of his labors, he accepted an appointment as
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Chief Engineer of the canal from Pittsburgh to Kiskimin-
etas, in Pennsylvania.
During the time he was employed in this work, and
while on a brief visit home, he accepted a call from the
New York State Canal Board to investigate and report
upon the feasibility of supplying the summit level of the
Chenango Canal (then projected) with water. This impor-
tant investigation he accomplished in the most thorough
manner in the short space of three weeks, and embodied
in a full report the result of his examinations, which was
highly satisfactory to the Canal Board and gratifying to
the friends and advocates of the project.
Immediately following this, he received two applications
for his services-one from the Governor of Pennsylvania,
and the other from the Secretary of War of the United
States, to review the estimates of the line of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Canal, with both of which he proceeded
to comply, in the latter finding himself associated with
Judge Geddes, of his own State.
This was followed by another appointment from Penn-
sylvania, as Chief Engineer of the Pennsylvania Canal,
which he accepted, and proceeded to examine the country
from Johnstown, on the Conemaugh, to Franktown, on
the Juniata, for a railroad or portage, to connect the
canal. In these responsible duties he continued until
December, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, when, re-
ceiving a more lucrative appointment from the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal Company, as a member of the Board of
Engineers, he entered upon that duty, and during the same
season completed the revision and location of the canal
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
from Cumberland, in Maryland, to Pittsburg, Pa. Dur-
ing this and the succeeding year, he extended the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Canal from the Point of Rocks to Har-
per's Ferry, a distance of twelve and a-half miles. During
this time he was also associated with Jonathan Knight as
a Commissioner of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com-
pany.
During the autumn and winter of eighteen hundred and
thirty he was stationed at the city of Washington, em-
ployed in superintending the first division of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Canal.
After a respite of a few months, during which he visited
his home, he received, and, after much hesitation, accepted
service from the Federal Government in making an ex-
amination of the Muscle Shoals in the Tennessee river, in
the State of Alabama, with a view of opening a ship-canal
around the shoals. As Chief Engineer in charge, for two
years he labored with indefatigable industry and perseve-
rance.
During the time while thus employed, he was invited
to take charge of the canal connecting the Mississippi
with Lake Pontchartrain, but having already experienced
the evil influences of the Southern climate upon his over-
tasked constitution, he concluded to return to the more
congenial climate of the North. Previous to his departure
from Alabama for his home, he was honored by a public
dinner at Florence, as an expression of the high estima-
tion in which he was held by its citizens in both his public
and private relations.
On returning home his experience and skill were again
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NATHAN S. ROBERTS.
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sought by the Canal Board of the State of New York,
who, in pursuance of an act of the Legislature, were
about to enter upon a series of examinations and surveys,
with a view to an estimate of the expense of enlarging
the Erie Canal, which was now becoming inadequate to
meet the rapidly increasing demands upon its navigation.
Accordingly, in the spring of eighteen hundred and thirty-
five, associated with Messrs. John B. Jervis and Holmes
Hutchinson, Civil Engineers, he entered upon the duties
assigned him, and submitted a report to the Legislature
of the ensuing year, on which a law was passed author-
izing the commencement of the improvement.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-nine Judge Roberts was
appointed Chief Engineer of the western division of the
Erie Canal, extending from Rochester to Buffalo, where
he had the gratification and pleasure of enlarging the
works of his earlier construction, to meet the increasing
demands of the great and growing inland commerce. He
re-built one tier of the combined locks at Lockport, and
enlarged portions of the prism of the canal, and in eight-
een hundred and forty-one, while engaged in the com-
pletion of his last, great work, the Rochester Aqueduct,
he was, for political reasons, discharged by the party who
had attained the ascendancy in the State the preceding
year.
From that time forward, admonished by his advancing
years, and the demands of his private estate upon his
attention, he bade a farewell for ever to the pursuits of
a profession in which he had acquired a full share of fame,
and an ample pecuniary independence.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
He was the friend and patron of merit, always interest-
ing himself to promote the welfare and advancement of
those young men whom he found to be worthy, and
struggling for success, without friends or fortune. Such
he would encourage by his patronage, counsel, and advice,
inspiring them with courage to encounter difficulties with
a determination to make their mark in the world. Very
many who afterwards became distinguished in the State,
can date their first encouragement to action from the time
when they witnessed his noble example, and were the
recipients of his aid and advice.
In his retirement, he was wont to revive old associa-
tions by correspondence with the few surviving co-workers
of his earlier days. Among them, his relations of friend-
ship with Governor Bouck continued unabated to the last,
and on learning of the fast declining strength of his vener-
able friend, the Governor wrote him a most friendly
and characteristic letter, but before it reached its destina-
tion those eyes for which it was intended closed in death,
on November twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and fifty-
two, and the earthly career of this distinguished Surveyor
and Civil Engineer was forever terminated.
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GRIDLEY BRYANT,
CIVIL ENGINEER
IN the front rank of the self-educated pioneer en-
gineers of this country stands the name of Gridley Bryant,
the projector and engineer of the first railroad in America,
the inventor of the eight-wheeled car, the turn-table, the
portable derrick, the switch, and many other valuable
improvements in railway machinery and equipment.
He was born at Scituate, Massachusetts, in seventeen
hundred and ninety-eight. His father dying while Gridley
was young, and leaving no property, he was thrown upon
his own resources and efforts to obtain his living. He
remarks in regard to himself, in a letter to the author in
eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, "that, having a me-
chanical and inventive turn of mind, I always managed to
get along comfortable. I was generally at the head of
the young urchins of our neighborhood, and when there
was a fort to be constructed, or a cabin to be built, in our
plays, I was always appointed the chief engineer, by com-
mon consent, and some of our juvenile structures are still
in existence." His mother, observing his aptness for
mechanical pursuits, apprenticed him, at the age of fifteen,
to a prominent builder in the city of Boston. His industry
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and progress were such, that at the age of nineteen, he had
the sole charge of his employer's extensive works. When
twenty-one years of age he commenced business as a
builder on his own account, and continued in this occupa-
tion until he commenced the Quincy Railroad in eighteen
hundred and twenty-six. His skill, industry, and energy
secured for him many important contracts with the United
States Government, including the United States Bank at
Boston.
In a letter to the author in eighteen hundred and fifty-
nine, he says : "My opportunities for schooling were very
limited, amounting to only a few months in each year, in
a common country school but I always had an innate
desire to understand clearly the why and the wherefore of
everything that existed, and I am indebted to the Hon.
Edward Everett for many valuable observations in some
of his earliest productions in regard to the necessity of
studying principles by which means I have generally
arrived at just conclusions.
"I have always had a great desire for books, especially
those that treated of mechanics and natural philosophy,
and perhaps I have studied as much in my lifetime as
people generally do. I have made, I think, some useful
inventions ; one in particular, which has been in use in
every city and village in the country wherever there was
a stone building to be erected. I mean the portable
derrick which I invented in eighteen hundred and twenty-
three, and used in building the United States Bank at
Boston. This, with every other of my inventions, I have
abandoned to the public. Every railroad in the country
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is now using my eight-wheeled car, and I have never
received one cent for the invention. My turn-table has
also been adopted by all railroads, as well as my switches
and turnouts, nor have I been paid for services and ex-
penses incurred in the lawsuits which were commenced
against several railroad companies by Winans for his pre-
tended invention of my eight-wheeled car, and which the
Railroad Companies have since appropriated to themselves.
"The Quincy Railway was commenced under the fol-
lowing circumstances : The 'Bunker Hill Monument
Association' had been formed, and funds enough collected
to commence the foundation of the monument in the
spring of eighteen hundred and twenty-five. I aided the
architect in preparing the foundation, and on the seven-
teenth day of June following, the corner-stone was laid by
General de La Fayette, and I had the honor to assist as
master builder at the ceremony. I had, previous to this,
purchased a stone quarry (the funds being furnished by
Dr. John C. Warren) for the express purpose of procuring
the granite for constructing this monument. This quarry
was in Quincy, nearly four miles from water-carriage.
This suggested to me the idea of a railroad (the Manches-
ter and Liverpool Railroad being in contemplation at that
time, but was not begun until the spring following) ;
accordingly, in the fall of eighteen hundred and twenty-
five, I consulted Thomas H. Perkins, William Sullivan,
Amos Lawrence, Isaac T. Davis, and David Moody, all of
Boston, in reference to it. These gentlemen thought the
project visionary and chimerical, but, being anxious to aid
the Bunker Hill Monument, consented that I might see
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what could be done. I awaited the meeting of our Legis-
lature in the winter of eighteen hundred and twenty-five
and six, and after every delay and obstruction that could
be thrown in the way, I finally obtained a charter,
although there was great opposition in the House. The
questions were asked: ' What do we know about rail-
roads ? Who ever heard of such a thing? Is it right to
take people's land for a project that no one knows any-
thing about We have corporations enough already.'
Such and similar objections were made, and onerous
restrictions were imposed, but it finally passed by a small
majority only. Unfavorable as the charter was, it was
admitted that it was obtained by my exertions ; but it
was owing to the munificence and public spirit of Colonel
T. H. Perkins that we were indebted for the whole enter-
prise. None of the first named gentlemen ever paid any
assessments, and the whole stock finally fell into the hands
of Colonel Perkins.
"The Quincy Railroad is four miles long, including the
branches. I surveyed several routes from the quarry
purchased (called the Bunker Hill Quarry), to the nearest
tide-water; and finally the present location was decided
upon. I commenced the work on the first day of April,
eighteen hundred and twenty-six, and on the seventh day
of October following the first train of cars passed over the
whole length of the road.
"The deepest cutting was fifteen feet, and the highest
elevation above the surface of the ground was twelve feet.
The several grades were as follows : "The first, commen-
cing at the wharf or landing, was twenty-six feet to the
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mile, the second thirteen feet, and the third sixty-six feet.
This brought us to the foot of the table-lands that ran
around the main quarry ; here an elevation of eighty-four
feet vertical was to be overcome. This was done by an
inclined plane, three hundred and fifteen feet long, at an
angle of about fifteen degrees. It had an endless chain,
to which the cars were attached in ascending or descend-
ing ; at the head of this inclined plane I constructed a
swing platform to receive the loaded cars as they came
from the quarry. This platform was balanced by weights,
and had gearing attached to it in such a manner that it
would always return (after having dumped) to a horizon-
tal position, being firmly supported on the periphery of
an eccentric cam. When the cars were out on the plat-
form there was danger of their running entirely over, and
I constructed a self-acting guard, that would rise above
the surface of the rail upon the platform as it rose from
its connection with the inclined plain, or receded out of
the way when the loaded car passed on to the track ; the
weight of the car depressing the platform as it was
lowered down.
"I also constructed a turn-table at the foot of the
quarry, which is still in use as originally constructed.
The railroad was continued at different grades around the
quarry, the highest part of which was ninety-three feet
above the general level ; on the top of this was erected an
obelisk or monument forty-five feet high.
"The road was constructed in the following manner:
Stone sleepers were laid across the track eight feet
apart. Upon these, wooden rails, six inches thick and
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twelve inches high, were placed. Upon the top of these
rails, iron plates, three inches wide and one-fourth of an
inch thick, were fastened with spikes; but at all the
crossings of public roads and drift-ways stone rails were
used instead of wood. On the top of these were placed
iron plates four inches wide and half an inch thick,
being firmly bolted to the stone. The inclined plane
was built in the same permanent manner and had a
double track.
"The first cost of the road was fifty thousand dollars,
and that of the first car six hundred dollars. This car
had high wheels, six and one-half feet in diameter, the
load being suspended on a platform by chains under the
axles. This platform was let down at any convenient
place and loaded ; the car was then run over the load,
and the chains attached to it by being inserted in eye-bolts
in the platform, and raised a little above the track by
machinery on the top of the car. The loads averaged
about six tons each. The next car was made with low
wheels, with a strong massive frame. The gauge of the
road being five feet, the axles were placed that distance
apart, this being the true principle on which to construct
railroad trucks, and has been adopted generally in this
country.
"When stones of eight or ten tons weight were to be
transported, I took two of these trucks and attached them
together by a platform and king bolts. This made an
eight-wheeled car ; and when larger stones were to be
carried, I increased the number of trucks, and this made
a sixteen-wheeled car. This was used to transport the
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columns for the Court House in Boston, each one weigh-
ing sixty-four tons in the rough.
"In the course of a few years the wooden rails began
to decay, and it was necessary to replace them. This was
done by substituting stone in the place of wooden rails,
using the stone transverse sleepers that had originally
been laid. The same mode of securing the iron plates to
the stone was adopted, and every part of the track is as
perfect now as it was thirty years ago, although it has
been in use ever since, and the Treasurer of the Company
informs me that it has not cost ten dollars a year to keep
the road in repair.
" All the cars, tracks, and machinery are my original
inventions. I never began work of any kind without
thoroughly investigating the principles and proportions
that would produce the greatest effect; and in building
the cars, tracks, and machinery for the inclined plane, and
all the hoisting apparatus, none of my first productions were
ever altered by myself, nor has any new machinery been
substituted, or alteration made by those who have had
the management of the road from the time I left it to this
day. Most of my original machinery being in use at the
present time."
The car constructed by Bryant had a frame for a body,
which consisted of three timbers extending longitudinally,
and resting with each end on a cross bolster, to which
Compiled for this volume from the records in the case of Winans vs. the New
York and Erie Railroad et. al., by Hon. Wheeler Hubbell (attorney for defendants),
Philadelphia, Penn.
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they were firmly bolted; there being two of these bolsters,
each resting upon and across a four-wheel carriage or
truck, having centre plates and side bearings of iron, and
secured in the middle to each truck by a vertical king
bolt, to allow a horizontal swivelling motion between
them and the bolsters, similar to the king bolt and bolster
of a road wagon.
Each truck or four-wheel carriage was constructed with
two heavy timbers, to each of which was bolted an iron
axle-tree. The wheels were of cast iron, with inside
flanges and treads running upon edge rails. These wheels
were about eighteen inches in diameter, and revolved
separately upon the fixed axles, and not in pairs with the
axles, as in the cars now in use.
The distance between the bearing points of the wheels
on the rails was five feet in each truck, and about five feet
between the trucks. The gauge of the track was five
feet. Each truck had a platform covering of plank fas-
tened to its frame. They had no pedestals or springs,
and could be used separately when needed as four-wheel
cars.
The main body or frame to connect the trucks, when
used as an eight-wheel car, terminated about eighteen
inches beyond the middle of each truck. They had no
projecting platform or bumper, and in the use of two such
cars together their trucks would collide. They were
drawn by horses attached to the trucks, and had no
arrangement for draft by the body, or for connection in
trains, or for general railroad transportation. These cars
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exhibited the swivelling principle of two trucks connected
to one carrying body, adapted to transporting granite, or
other heavy bodies, and not suited to any other purpose.
These carriages were continued in use on the Quincy Rail-
road for twenty-five years.
In the suit of Ross Winans vs. the New York and Erie
Railroad Company, the Bryant car was put in evidence
against the validity of the Winans patent, granted for the
eight-wheel car, October first, eighteen hundred and
thirty-four, and the jury found a verdict against the patent,
upon a legal construction given to the specification by
Judge Hall. From this construction of the patent a writ
of error was taken to the Supreme Court of the United
States, which latter Court confirmed the decision of the
Court below. The specification of Ross Winans drew only
a distinguishing line between the eight-wheel carriage and
the four-wheel carriage, and claimed the general principle
of construction of the eight-wheel carriage, where it should
have distinguished between Bryant's car and the eight-
wheel carriage as constructed and adapted in its combina-
tions and appliances for use in trains at high speed, and
for transporting freight and passengers. This was what
Ross Winans invented and put into practical operation.
His patent failed because it was too broad, and not limited
to the actual invention he made.
No railroad invention ever gave rise to more contro-
versy than the eight-wheel railroad car, and in none was
greater talent employed on both sides of the question.
About five years of time, and two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, were expended in the litigation before a
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final decision was obtained against the patent,* and the
immense claims, which would aggregate several millions
of dollars, advanced under it.
The first practical eight-wheel railroad cars for freight
or passengers, essentially alike in their construction and
combined principles, were invented and built by Ross
Winans, of Baltimore, in eighteen hundred and thirty-four
and five, for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company,
and these cars were run and used in trains in the general
business of that Company upon their road, and upon the
Washington branch. Mr. Winans commenced his experi-
ments in eighteen hundred and thirty.
The progress of improvement has developed additional
means of giving ease of motion, of comfort, and economy
in their use, and improvements in connecting the brakes.
A full record of the career of Gridley Bryant might
truthfully be termed the history of a busy and useful life.
From early boyhood to a ripe old age we find him con-
stantly and usefully employed upon works in which self
was always subordinate to the public good. Before he
had fully arrived at man's estate he was sought for, and
intrusted with the construction of important public work.
His labors were greatly cheered by the society and encour-
agement of men eminent in science, the arts, and social
standing; foremost among them was Colonel Loammi
Baldwin, a distinguished Surveyor and Civil Engineer,
with whom he was employed in eighteen hundred and
* This decision, while it did not benefit Mr. Bryant pecuniarily, sustained his
claim as the first inventor of the eight-wheel car.
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twelve, by the Governor of Massachusetts (Hon. John
Brooks), in repairing and constructing batteries and other
defences for the harbor of Boston, on Governor's Island,
and Dorchester Heights.
Mr. Bryant, in a letter to the author, of February,
eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, relates many interesting
incidents and anecdotes of Colonel Baldwin, who was justly
held in high esteem by all who knew him, for his great
learning, engineering skill, and unswerving integrity. A
warm friendship sprang up between these two men, which
continued through life. Mr. Bryant says, "since our
acquaintance began, he has been my best and most
esteemed friend." He adds, "Colonel Baldwin's father
constructed the Middlesex Canal, from Boston to Lowell,
a distance of about twenty-six miles, and, if I am not
mistaken, the first levelling instrument ever used in this
country was employed in the location of this pioneer canal."
A letter from Gridley J. F. Bryant, of Boston, dated
the fifteenth of November, eighteen hundred and seventy,
in answer to the inquiries of the author respecting the
events in the closing years of Gilbert Bryant, says : "My
father died at Scituate, Mass., on the thirteenth of June,
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, aged seventy-seven
years and ten months. The last few years of his life were
marked by no important events, as physical disability un-
fitted him for any active position. After his invaluable
services to the several Railroad Corporations, in the
' Ross Winans Suit,' his health and spirits were impaired
by the oft-repeated promises made to him of ample com-
pensation. Owing to business losses he had become quite
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reduced in circumstances ; but, about the time of the trial,
the near prospect of being again independent recalled for
a time much of his former energy, as proved by his rising
from a bed of sickness and journeying to New York to be
present at the court. After waiting long in expectation
of the promised remuneration (being several times assured
that his claims would eventually be considered), he was at
length forced to the conclusion that he had wasted his
time and strength in vain, and that their obligations to
him were wholly ignored. With the uncomplaining spirit
of a proud and reticent man, he bore his disappointments
in silence, and gave up this last hope of his old age. On
Christmas morning, of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, he
had an attack of paralysis, from which, however, he re-
covered, but he did not leave his room during the winter.
With all his physical infirmities his mind remained as
bright and clear as before, and his interest in intellectual
pursuits unabated. Only the night before his last attack,
he was engaged in reading a scientific work until about
nine o'clock. The next morning he rose as usual, and
after breakfast went out to superintend some gardening,
when suddenly the fatal stroke came. He was assisted to
the house, and after a brief interval rallied, and retained
his consciousness for an hour or two, during which time
he conversed in such firm and earnest tones that his wife
could hardly believe, what he felt was sure, that the final
summons had come. He gave her the minutest directions
in regard to business matters, messages for absent children
and friends, and an earnest assurance that he had no fear
of death. After this he was carried to his bed and was
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soon in strong convulsions, having only occasionally a
moment's consciousness, until his departure. When dying
he motioned his attendants to place him in an arm chair.
This wish was understood and granted. Seated facing a
window which commanded a familiar view of the beautiful
scenery which he could so well appreciate, on that bright
June morning, calmly, without a struggle, he entered into
his rest."
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GENERAL JOSEPH G. SWIFT,
CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEER.
THE events in the brilliant and honorable career of this
distinguished engineer are perhaps unparalleled in the
history of American engineering, for the rapid advances
made in professional promotion, and the varied and re-
sponsible duties so early undertaken and so successfully
accomplished. His name stands at the head of the Army
of the United States as the first graduate of the Military
Academy at West Point. His subsequent career strik-
ingly illustrates the power of well-directed talent, energy
and industry, combined with a laudable ambition to attain
the most important positions of honor and trust, under
the fostering influences of our free institutions, which SO
admirably develop individual as well as national char-
acter.
Joseph Gardner Swift was a descendant of Thomas
Swift and Hopestill Foster, who were the first settlers of
Dorchester, Mass., in sixteen hundred and thirty. His
grandfather, Samuel Swift, was a lawyer of Boston, men-
tioned by the elder Adams in his "Memoirs," who fell a
martyr to the cause of liberty, at its dawn, in seventeen
hundred and seventy-five. His father, Dr. Foster Swift,
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was a prisoner on board the frigate "Culloden," seventy-
four, of the fleet of Commodore Rodney, in seventeen
hundred and eighty-two, and died a surgeon in the United
States Army, in eighteen hundred and thirty-five.
Joseph was born on the last day of the year, seventeen
hundred and eighty-three, at the house of his grandfather,
Thomas Delano, in Nantucket, and was named by his
father in compliment to his old teacher, Doctor Joseph
Gardner, of Boston. His academic education he acquired
under the tutelage of Rev. Simeon Daggat, at the Bristol
Academy at Taunton, where he was prepared for entering
Harvard College. In seventeen hundred and ninety-nine
the Fourteenth Regiment of U. S. Infantry was encamped
on the banks of the Taunton river, and very naturally
excited the admiration and attention of a youth of sixteen,
and awakened an enthusiasm for military life. By the
advice, and with the assistance of General David Cobb, a
cadetship was procured for young Swift from President
John Adams ; and in the year eighteen hundred he
reported himself for duty to the veteran Colonel Tousard,
at the fortifications of Newport Harbor. He was shortly
afterwards sent to the Military Academy at West Point.
and graduated at that institution in eighteen hundred and
two, at the early age of eighteen, and was immediately
promoted Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Corps of
Military Engineers and ordered to duty upon the harbor
defences of the Atlantic coast.
After six years of experience in this important field of
duty, and earning by his talents and skill the three several
promotions of First Lieutenant, Captain, and Major of
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Engineers, he was employed in fortifying the harbors of
New England. Upon the commencement of the war of
eighteen hundred and twelve he had reached the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers, and was detailed as
Aid-de-Camp to Major-General Pinckney, in the Carolinas;
and in the same year succeeded the veteran Colonel
Jonathan Williams in the command of the United States
Corps of Engineers, and Superintendent of the Military
Academy, with the rank of Colonel.*
In the following year, Colonel Swift, as the Chief Engi-
neer of the United States Army, under the command of
Major-General Wilkinson, won distinction and promotion
as Brevet Brigadier-General, "for meritorious services"
in the memorable campaigns of eighteen hundred and
thirteen and fourteen, on the St. Lawrence river, and the
defence of the city and harbor of New York, including
Brooklyn and Harlem Heights. For this last service, the
city of New York, by her corporate authorities, conferred
upon General Swift marks of distinction "as her bene-
factor." By a singular coincidence that metropolis was
saved, twenty-one years thereafter, from a more terrible
destroyer than a hostile army, mainly, it is believed,
through the skill and presence of mind of this same Engi-
neer, who advised and directed the application of blasting
powder to arrest the great conflagration of December,
Although the law had contemplated that the Corps of Engineers should be
stationed at West Point, its duties soon became so extensive that the Chief of the
Corps could not be present continuously at the Academy, but by direction of the
President he was, previous to eighteen hundred and fifteen, charged with the
administration of its affairs, conveying his orders when absent to the senior
Engineer officer at the Institution, who thus exercised the functions of Super-
intendent."-From Boynton's History of West Point."
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GENERAL JOSEPH G. SWIFT.
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eighteen hundred and thirty-five. For a similar subse-
quent service at Quebec an English officer was knighted.
After the termination of the war, General Swift became
Inspector of the United States Military Academy, which
office he held from February twenty-eighth, eighteen hun-
dred and fifteen, to November twelfth, eighteen hundred
and eighteen. From November twenty-fifth, eighteen
hundred and sixteen, to January thirteenth, eighteen hun-
dred and seventeen, he was also its Superintendent, hold-
ing his commission as Chief Engineer of the Army until
his resignation in eighteen hundred and eighteen. The
President of the United States appointed a distinguished
French officer (General Bernard) to examine the sites of,
and plans for, the works of defence made by the Engi-
neers of the United States, of which General Swift was
the Chief. This action of the Executive caused a number
of the subordinate officers of the corps to resign, with
their Chief, and to solicit civil service. This procedure
wounded the pride of a corps of young men, who had
been educated by the nation to plan and construct its
defences, and who had won distinction in the late war
with Great Britain, and was certainly of doubtful policy.
After General Bernard had been recalled to France to
become its Minister of War, our Government found the
alterations and new plans made and proposed by him to
be, in almost every instance, unsuited to our defences, and
they were consequently mainly abandoned.
Immediately after General Swift's resignation, he was
appointed by the President to the office of Surveyor of the
Port of New York, which city he had so ably assisted to
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defend in eighteen hundred and fourteen. He discharged
the important duties of this office for nine consecutive
years. After his retirement from the Revenue service he
made some business connections in Wall street, which
resulted unfavorably, and induced him to retire for a time
to an estate of his wife's in Tennessee, and become a
cotton planter.
Owing to the ill-health of his family at the South, Gen-
eral Swift returned with them in eighteen hundred and
twenty-eight to the North, and shortly after commenced
his career as a Civil Engineer in charge of the Baltimore
and Susquehanna Railroad, in Maryland. His marked
ability, skill, and energy as an engineer, commended him,
in eighteen hundred and twenty-nine, to President Jack-
son as a suitable person to superintend the harbor im-
provements on the lakes, then undertaken by the Federal
Government, and the industry, talent, and devotion dis-
played by him in the discharge of this important duty, for
sixteen years, fully justified the sagacity and judgment of
that distinguished Chief Magistrate. General Swift
greatly aided by his untiring efforts and labors to promote
the construction of these improvements, and the fact of
their commanding importance in protecting and develop-
ing the growing commerce of the lakes was established.
Deeply is it to be deplored that the Government has,
from causes political or otherwise, allowed these struc-
tures, erected at a cost of millions of dollars, to fall into
ruin and decay, and thus to fill up the channels and har-
bors they were originally designed to open and protect.
In the winter of eighteen hundred and thirty and thirty-
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one, General Swift constructed the railroad from New
Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain, five miles in length, being
one of the pioneer railroads of the South, and it is believed
the first railroad in America using iron T rails.
General Swift won much credit to himself by the skill
displayed in the construction of this work through what
had hitherto been considered an impassable cypress
swamp, almost fathomless, and not susceptible of drainage
or piling.
In prosecuting this work he engaged a gang of carpen-
ters and workmen from the North, and between the
months of November and May cut a straight line of suffi-
cient width, and four miles long, through this dense
swamp, using the cypress trees, from one to two feet in
diameter, which they felled, for a massive frame work, built
with cross ties and string pieces, and secured by wedges,
for the superstructure to rest upon. Around this frame
were filled quantities of the "Fossil shells of the mounds,"
to give it stability and strength, being the first use made of
these shells for such a purpose, but which have since been
successfully used for the formation of the celebrated " shell
road" to Lake Pontchartrain, and of the streets of New
Orleans.
After the completion of the wooden structure of this
railroad, and before the arrival of the iron rails and loco-
motive engine from England, the Hon. Henry Clay visited
New Orleans, with his wife, for a few days. General
Swift, in compliment to the early and steadfast friend
and advocate of the great national road to unite the
Union," determined to give that distinguished statesman
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his "first ride on a railroad," before his departure from
the city.
Accordingly, he disciplined half a dozen of his carpen-
ters to use iron-shod poles to force over the wooden frame
and track a platform car, constructed with wheels of wood,
the flanges of which were cut from the pecan tree, by
which primitive and novel mode of locomotion a speed of
nine miles an hour was attained from the city to the lake,
greatly to the amusement and gratification of Mr. Clay
and his wife, and which he often afterwards referred to as
his "first ride on a railroad."
HENRY CLAY'S FIRST RAILROAD RIDE.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-two General Swift suc-
ceeded Benjamin Wright as the Chief Engineer of the
New York and Harlem Railroad, of which he remained in
charge until the following year.
In eighteen hundred and forty-one, upon the recom-
mendation of John Bell, then Secretary of War, President
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Harrison sent General Swift on an embassy of peace to
the Governors of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Bruns-
wick.
In the years eighteen hundred and fifty-one and fifty-
two he made the tour of Europe, accompanied by his son,
McRea Swift, Civil Engineer, the particulars of which
are in his diary, and would fill a very large volume of
much interest and value.
From boyhood, following the example of his father, it
was the habit of General Swift, during his life, to record
daily the scenes and events of his life and times. This
journal or diary contains also a history of the Military
Academy at West Point, the biography of President
Monroe, with various essays on scientific and literary sub-
jects, which are left to the disposal of his children and the
United States Corps of Engineers.
General Swift was a very vigorous and terse writer,
possessed an unusual memory and acuteness of intellect,
refined by careful study, and enriched by judicious read-
ing and much intercourse with the world. His conversa-
tional powers were of a high order, which, together with
his great and varied experience, ardent feelings, and en-
gaging manners, made him the centre of a wide circle of
devoted friends.
In the year eighteen hundred and five General Swift
married Louisa, the daughter of Captain James Walker,
of Wilmington, North Carolina. In eighteen hundred and
twenty-nine General Swift removed to Geneva, Ontario
County, in the State of New York, and purchased a home
on the banks of the Seneca Lake, in that beautiful village,
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where he reared a large family of intelligent and accom-
plished sons and daughters.
Two of his sons died in the service of their country
-one from exposure in the line of his duty as Civil
Engineer ; the other, a promising officer of the United
States Engineers, in the Mexican war. Another son,
Jonathan Williams, an officer in the United States naval
service, was crippled for life on board of the frigate
Brandywine.
General Swift always interested himself in the passing
events and movements of the day, especially in all new
improvements, both for utility and defence, and frequently
contributed valuable papers to the scientific periodicals of
the country.
In a characteristic letter to the author, in eighteen hun-
dred and fifty-nine, he modestly estimates the most im-
portant of his long public services to have been the pro-
motion of young men of merit in the army and civil
service, for which his official positions gave him many
opportunities. In his religious opinions he was a Low
Churchman, and in politics a Federalist of the Washing-
ton school.
General Swift died at his home in Geneva, after a few
days' illness, on the twenty-third of July, eighteen hun-
dred and sixty-five. Rarely has it fallen to the lot of an
American citizen to reap a more abundant harvest of
honors than those merited by him through the devotion of
half a century of life to the civil and military service of
his country, and to retire at threescore and ten with so
high a reputation and honorable record in the rank of
American Engineers.
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JESSE L. WILLIAMS,
CIVIL ENGINEER.
JESSE L. WILLIAMS, who for a period of over forty
years has been connected with the rise and progress of
public works in the States of Ohio and Indiana, was born
in Stokes County, in the State of North Carolina, on
the sixth day of May, eighteen hundred and seven. His
parents, Jesse Williams and Sarah T. Williams, of whom
he is the youngest son, were members of the Society of
Friends.
About the year eighteen hundred and fourteen his
parents removed to Cincinnati, Ohio. For some time
after the close of the war of eighteen hundred and twelve,
uncertainty attended every business enterprise. This in-
volved the father in pecuniary losses, which prevented
him from securing for his young son the most favorable
opportunities for acquiring a liberal education. In his
early youth the subject of this sketch was one of the pupils
of the Lancasterian Seminary at Cincinnati, and afterwards
at other places of residence in villages or on the farm, he
had only the small educational advantages offered in such
locations for the portions of time his other avocations
would allow.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
After he had chosen a profession, at the age of eighteen
years, his mind, one of the most marked traits of
which appears in its power of concentration on a single
object, was zealously devoted to an investigation of those
branches of knowledge which seemed to have the most
direct relation to the profession of his choice. In the
course of his studies his varied duties in engineering, loca-
tion and construction, enabled him to combine practice
with theory. It seems, indeed, that, trained up amidst
pioneer society, he is, in a great degree, like many others
in the West, in every profession, self-made and self-
educated. The few years which, under more favorable
circumstances, he might have passed in college, were em-
ployed necessarily in tilling the soil. A vigorous constitu-
tion thus acquired, with habits of industry, temperance,
and untiring energy, were the compensatory advantages ;
and with these sustaining and giving force to an inherent
ambition, he was doubtless encouraged in his early man-
hood to believe that success and honorable distinction in
his profession were not beyond his reach.
Although he has often been heard to regret the want of
opportunities and leisure in early life for the acquisition
of higher attainments in general learning, yet, as tested
by the demands of a long, varied, and successful profes-
sional career, it would seem that the lack of early advan-
tages has been mainly overcome. His acquirements,
theoretical and practical, under the guidance of a sound
and discriminating judgment, have been adequate to the
faithful discharge of the difficult and complex duties of the
various official stations in which he has been placed.
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The year eighteen hundred and twenty-five was marked
by an achievement in practical science and statesmanship
which, for the times, was bold and far-reaching in results.
The completion of water communication between Lake
Erie and tide-water placed the State of New York in a
greatly advanced position, attracting the attention of the
Union. Other States caught the spirit of internal im-
provement. Ohio accepted it as her mission to extend
the line of artificial water communication from the Lakes
to the Ohio river.
It was under the inspiration of these works of internal
improvement, great for their day, that the subject of this
memoir, then on the farm in Indiana, was permitted, at
the age of seventeen, to take a subordinate place in the
Corps of Engineers, which, early in the year eighteen hun-
dred and twenty-four, had been detailed in charge of
Samuel Forrer, Civil Engineer, to make the first survey of
the Miami and Erie Canal from the city of Cincinnati to
the Maumee Bay. In this corps his position was that of
rodman, and his pay nine dollars per month. The line of
the survey, for the distance of half its length, lay through
an unbroken wilderness. On one continuous section of
forty miles no white man was found.
Mr. Williams continued to serve in the Corps of Engi-
neers under Mr. Forrer, in the final location and construc-
tion of the Miami and Erie Canal, and had charge, as
assistant, of the heavy and difficult division next to Cin-
cinnati. He was present at the formal breaking of ground
in Ohio by De Witt Clinton, and, with other youthful
engineers in the service of the State, it was his fortune to
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
take the hand of that great man and to receive from him
kind and encouraging counsel, prompting to perseverance,
and expressive of ardent hopes that the young engineers
in his presence might attain honorable distinction in their
chosen profession, which was at that time SO intimately
related to the growing enterprise of the country.
On account of the sickness of the Principal Engineer
during the latter half of eighteen hundred and twenty-
seven, his active duties were temporarily extended over
the whole work between Cincinnati and Dayton.
In the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty-eight the
Chief Engineer of Ohio, David S. Bates, appointed Mr.
Williams to take charge of the final location of the canal
from Licking Summit, near Newark, to Chillicothe, inclu-
ding the Columbus side-cut ; and after the line was located
and placed under contract, the construction of the division
between Circleville and a point south of Chillicothe, was
committed to his supervision. Among the works on this
division which required in their construction great care
and skill were the dam and aqueduct across the river
Scioto.
In the autumn of eighteen hundred and thirty, the
Canal Commissioners of Ohio appointed a Board of En-
gineers to examine and decide the very responsible ques-
tion of supplying with water the summit level of the
Miami and Erie Canal, whether by a system of artificial
reservoirs or by long feeders from distant streams. Mr.
Williams, then twenty-three years old, was appointed one
of this Board. Reservoirs were recommended for the
main supply, one of which is still in advantageous use,
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covering fifteen thousand acres, and is probably the largest
artificial lake anywhere known.
Early in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-two Mr.
Williams was invited by the Board of Commissioners of
the Wabash and Erie Canal, to take charge, as Chief En-
gineer, of the location and construction of that important
work, then about to be commenced by the State of Indi-
ana. The appointment was accepted.*
In eighteen hundred and thirty-four Mr. Williams was
appointed, with William Gooding as associate engineer, to
survey the White Water Valley, for the purpose of deter-
mining the practicability of constructing a canal through
that valley to Lawrenceburg, on the Ohio. Their joint
report was made to the Legislature, and published among
the documents of the session of eighteen hundred and
thirty-four and five. At this session the Legislature
passed an act authorizing the making of surveys and esti-
mates for canals and railroads in almost every part of the
State.
The several surveys of new canals in Indiana, ordered
by the Legislature, in eighteen hundred and thirty-five,
were placed under his general supervision, in addition to his
This canal was constructed literally through a wilderness and in' places
amongst Indian villages and wigwams. At the village of White Raccoon, the log
cabin of Cha-pine, a Miami chief, the orator of the tribe, was found to stand exactly
on the line of the canal, and was necessarily moved and rebuilt at the expense of
the canal fund, and to the great disgust of the Indian. When the engineer's stakes
were first driven and marked by the side of his cabin, Cha-pine inquired their
meaning. On being told that a canal, or, to bring it to his comprehension, a river,
was to be made, his incredulity found this contemptuous expression : 'Can't do
it ; wont rain enough to fill it ; white man a fool ; the Great Spirit made the
rivers.' The idea of bringing in the distant St. Joseph of course did not enter his
untutored mind:"-From 'Stuart's American Engineering" in advance of publica-
tion.
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charge of construction on the Wabash and Erie Canal, and
throughout that year his professional duties were exceed-
ingly diversified and laborious. Still, they were regarded
by him as intensely interesting. A single exploring party,
engaged under his directions, in ascertaining, in advance of
the surveyors and for their guidance, the relative heights
of various summits, and of the watercourses for the supply
of the canals, ran accurately a continuous line of levels
six hundred miles in extent between early spring and the
succeeding autumn. More than five hundred miles of
definite location of canal lines were made by the different
locating parties, and estimates thereof were reported to
the Legislature in December, eighteen hundred and thirty-
five, by the respective engineers under whose especial
charge these surveys were made, with the general advice
of Mr. Williams.
On the passage of the law authorizing a general system
of internal improvement, approved January twenty-
seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, Mr. Williams
was appointed Chief Engineer of all the canals of the
State, including the Wabash and Erie Canal.
At this period he had under his charge the several canal
routes, amounting to about eight hundred miles, portions
of which, on each work, were in progress of location and
construction. In September, eighteen hundred and thirty-
seven, the Chief Engineer of railroads and turnpikes
having resigned, these works (also under like progress)
were, by the action of the State Board of Internal Im-
provement, placed under the charge of Mr. Williams as
State Engineer; his supervision then embraced more than
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JESSE L. WILLIAMS.
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thirteen hundred miles of authorized public works. After-
wards, when the appointing power was changed, he was
elected by the Legislature to the same position, and con-
tinued therein until eighteen hundred and forty-one, when
the prosecution of the public works, except the Wabash
and Erie Canal, was entirely suspended.
Perplexing duties and great labors and responsibilities
were necessarily attached to the position which he SO long
occupied as State Engineer of Indiana. The general
principles of every survey and location, the plans of every
important structure, and the letting of all contracts, came,
in their order, under his supervision.
In the course of the summer and autumn of eighteen
hundred and thirty-eight no less than thirteen public let-
tings of contracts took place by order of the Board of
Internal Improvement. These lettings, which were held
in different parts of Indiana at intervals of about two
weeks, embraced portions of each work included in the
general system of internal improvements which had been
adopted by the State. With such facilities for travelling
as belonged to that period, a punctual attendance at the
numerous lettings, and the making of necessary prepara-
tions for those meetings of contractors, must have taxed
the mental and physical energies of one man in no com-
mon measure. It was computed at the time by those who
felt some interest in such matters, that the journeyings of
the State Engineer, performed mainly on horseback,
during the three months, amounted to at least three
thousand miles. These facts illustrate in some measure
the difficulties that were encountered and overcome by
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the pioneers in the earlier improvements of the Western
States.
After March, eighteen hundred and forty, Mr. Williams,
in addition to his duties and responsibilities as State Engi-
neer, became, by appointment of the Legislature, ex-officio
a member of the Board of Internal Improvement, and
acting Commissioner of the Indiana division of the
Wabash and Erie Canal. In the discharge of the various
duties of these stations, he acted for a period of about two
years, having charge also of the selections, management,
and sales of the canal lands. It may be of historic inter-
est to state that the grant of alternate sections of land by
act of Congress of March second, eighteen hundred and
twenty-seven, to aid in building the Wabash and Erie
Canal, was the initiation of the Land Grant policy, which
has since given a financial basis to SO many of the leading
public works of the country. As State Engineer, the
public works in every part of the State were under his
general charge from eighteen hundred and thirty-six to
eighteen hundred and forty-two, and his special super-
vision of the Wabash and Erie Canal was continued during
this period.
The prostration of State credit that followed the finan-
cial revulsion of eighteen hundred and forty checked the
progress of public works in the United States. From
eighteen hundred and forty-two to eighteen hundred and
forty-seven, the subject of this memoir was occupied in
mercantile and manufacturing pursuits at Fort Wayne, the
place of his residence. Before leaving the capital of the
State of Indiana he was offered the Presidency of the
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Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, then about to be com-
pleted under the management of a company; the offices of
President and Chief Engineer being united in one.
After five years' suspension an arrangement was ma-
tured for the completion, to the Ohio river, of the Wabash
and Erie Canal, and through this, as a basis providing for
the adjustment of the Internal Improvement debt of the
State. In eighteen hundred and forty-seven the entire
canal, with its lands, passed into the hands of a Board of
Trustees, representing both the State and the holders of her
bonds. The law creating this trust, and providing for the
adjustment of the State debt, and the completion of the
canal, required the appointment of "a Chief Engineer of
known and established character for experience and in-
tegrity." To this responsible position Mr. Williams was
appointed in June, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, at
that date resuming the charge of this work, after five years'
retirement. He yet occupies this position, with the sanc-
tion of the Trustees and that of the Governor, thus making
his professional charge of the Wabash and Erie Canal ex-
tend over a period of thirty-four years, having at the
same time official connection with important railroads
during the last seventeen years.
In February, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, he was
appointed Chief Engineer of the Fort Wayne and Chicago
Railroad, which position was held up to the time of the
consolidation with the Ohio and Pennsylvania, and Ohio
During the last ten years the canal duties required but little personal atten-
tion from the Engineer, though as this office was established by the law creating
the canal trust, it could not with propriety be relinquished.
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and Indiana Railroads, in eighteen hundred and fifty-six.
From that date to eighteen hundred and seventy-one, fif-
teen years, he has been a Director of the Pittsburg, Fort
Wayne and Chicago Railroad.
In July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, Mr. Williams
was appointed by President Lincoln a Director of the
Union Pacific Railroad on the part of the Government.
The term being but one year under the law, he was re-
appointed each succeeding year until the work was com-
pleted in eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, receiving com-
missions from three successive Presidents.
As a member of the Standing Committee on Location
and Construction, the important engineering questions con-
nected with the location and plan of this work across the
mountain ranges of the Continent, came within his sphere
of duty, and called into exercise the professional experi-
ence which forty years of public service enabled him to
wield. The engineers of the Company, themselves no
doubt competent, appear to have treated Mr. Williams
with great respect. In the fall of eighteen hundred and
sixty-four, by invitation, he accompanied the Consulting
Engineer of the Company, Colonel Silas Seymour, over
the first forty miles of the route, then in process of con-
struction, to a point on the Platte river, west of Fremont.
The proper construction of the road, with a permanence
in some degree proportioned to the liberal appropriation
by the Government, seems to have early claimed 'his
attention. On the seventeenth of August, eighteen hundred
and sixty-five, he wrote to the Hon. Secretary of the
Interior as follows :
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It seems to me, both as respects location and the
general plan of construction of this great national work,
the Government, either through its Directors or otherwise,
should exercise more control. Furnishing as it does
almost the entire means for building the road, it is con-
trary to all analogy that the Government should divest
itself of power to direct, as respects the leading points in
the route and the character of construction, leaving the
great subjects so entirely in the control of the Company
and the contracting interest."
To which the Secretary of the Interior, entertaining the
same general views, replied, August twenty-sixth, eighteen
hundred and sixty-five, as follows:
"Your suggestion for the amendment of that act (Pa-
cific Railroad) will be laid before Congress at its next
session for legislative action. In the meantime I hope to
be able to obviate the defect in the law by convening the
Government Directors and several Boards of Commis-
sioners, in conjunction with the Government Engineers,
for the purpose of establishing what will, in the future, be
regarded as the standard of a first-class railroad."
Mr. Williams, with other Government Directors,
attended the Board thus convened, aiding, as far as in his
power, in the adoption of a judicious standard of con-
struction, and in establishing the general principles of
location.
The policy adopted by the Union Pacific Board, of mak-
ing very elaborate preliminary surveys, so necessary to
the selection of the very best route for this national work,
was earnestly seconded by Mr. Williams, as may be seen
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in his reports. The surveys of the first Rocky Mountain
range were continued on an extended scale during the
year eighteen hundred and sixty-six, under the direction
of General G. M. Dodge, Chief Engineer. In the fall of
that year, Mr. Williams, at the request of his colleagues,
accompanied the Chief and Consulting Engineers in a per-
sonal inspection of the several lines run. His report to
the Secretary of the Interior, of November twenty-third,
eighteen hundred and sixty-six,* presents a brief descrip-
tion of ten distinct routes or passes, all examined with
more or less care, crossing this range at various points
between the cañon of the South Platte, near Pike's Peak,
and the Laramie cañon, embracing an extent, north and
south, of nearly two hundred and fifty miles. Most of
these mountain passes. SO far from presenting a feasible
route for a railroad, were marked chiefly for the wild
grandeur of their scenery. One of these, the Laramie
cañon, is thus described in the report alluded to :
"In eighteen hundred and sixty-five Mr. Case explored,
without instruments, the upper portion of this cañon. But
until Mr. Evans, in his second attempt, in eighteen hun-
dred and sixty-six, succeeded in running a line entirely
through the cañon, it is not probable that any human
being, savage or civilized, ever passed through the whole
length of this deep and rugged gorge. Its direct length is
fourteen miles ; its length by the survey, twenty-five miles ;
its course in many places very tortuous, and its vertical
walls of rock from five hundred to one thousand five hun-
Executive Document No. 2, U. S. Senate Special Session, 1867.
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dred feet in height. The fall of the stream in places is
from one hundred and fifty feet to two hundred feet per
mile, and its current, of course, extremely rapid. It is
wholly impracticable for railroad purposes."
In striking contrast with this grand mountain scenery,
characteristic of the snowy range, whose bold and rugged
features warrant the high sounding name of the "Rocky
Mountains," Mr. Williams, in the same report to the
Secretary of the Interior, describes the route finally
adopted, ascending the Black Hill range on a smooth
divide at ninety feet per mile, and crossing the summit
where the mountain presents a broad and gentle rounded
surface, eight thousand two hundred and forty feet above
the sea. His description of the route adopted is intro-
duced by the following paragraph :
"Returning eastward from Fort John Buford,* on the
Laramie river, to which point our party had extended
their reconnoissance, in part to obtain a military escort,
which General Dodge deemed a prudent precaution
against Indian depredations on the Lodge Pole, we crossed
the Black Hills by the Lone Tree and Crow Creek Divide
route, which we followed to a point near the travelled
road from Denver to Fort Laramie at the eastern base of
the range."
During the same reconnoissance, Mr. Williams visited
the route surveyed for the Union Pacific Railroad, between
Denver City and Berthound Pass in the Rocky Mountains,
from the summit of which the ollowing letter was written
by him in September of that year :
*
About this time name changed to Fort Sanders.
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"Having reached the summit of this grand mountain
range, in company with Colonel Seymour, the Consulting
Engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad, and Mr. Brown,
Assistant Engineer, my first impulse is to write to my
I
friends at home.
" One of the experimental surveys for the Union Pacific
Railroad follows Clear Creek to this pass. That valley
was, therefore, our route from Denver, fifty miles east,
bringing us through a rich gold mining district. Eight
miles back we took saddle horses, rising by a mule trail
sixteen hundred feet in the last one and a half miles. The
point on which I write is some six hundred feet above the
pass, about six thousand seven hundred feet above Den-
ver, and about twelve thousand feet above the sea. It
appears to be some two or three hundred feet above the
line of arborescence, or 'tree line,' above which no tim-
ber or vegetation grows. Patches of last winter's snow
are lying around us on northern slopes, and some of them
two hundred feet below. The proposed railroad tunnel
pierces the mountain far beneath us. From the summit
the waters flow to the Pacific through the Colorado of the
West, and to the Atlantic through the Platte.
"Peaks five hundred feet, and one a thousand feet higher
than this are near us, while Long's Peak, supposed to be
nearly fifteen thousand feet above the sea, is in full view
This promising young engineer, in prosecuting the preliminary surveys of the
Union Pacific Railroad further west, during the following year, was killed at the
head of his corps by a band of hostile Indians. Another engineer, Mr. Hills, en-
gaged in the locating service, east of the Black Hill range, was also killed by the
Indians, about the same time, at the head of his party.
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forty miles to the north-east. During the next two weeks
Colonel Seymour and myself expect, in company with
General Dodge, the Chief Engineer, to look over the
routes surveyed across the Black Hill range, one hundred
miles to the north of this place.
"The Union Pacific Railroad is under good progress.
In November next the locomotive is expected to cross the
bridge over the North Platte, two hundred and eighty-five
miles from Omaha. The opening of this work across the
plains will soon make the people of the States more
familiar with this Rocky Mountain range and its grand
scenery ; and, what is more important, will afford ready
access to a new field of enterprise in the work of develop-
ing its vast mineral wealth."
The following letter was written by Mr. Williams on
the day of his arrival at Fort John Buford, Dakotah
Territory, September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred
and sixty-six
"My last was from Berthound Pass, September eight-
eenth. The day was delightful. The next day we
encountered a snow storm. Stopping half way down the
eastern slope of the mountain, we found the snow on the
morning of the nineteenth eight inches deep, icicles on the
eaves two feet long, and the thermometer only sixteen
degrees above zero. West of the mountain range, the
snow fell to the depth of two feet, compelling Mr. Brown's
engineer party to abandon the survey for the time being,
and cross the range for subsistence for the mules. At
Denver there was but a sprinkling of snow. Such are the
varied meteorological effects caused by difference of eleva-
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tion, and the influence of the mountain range, in arresting
and precipitating the moisture.
"Passing north to the Black Hills, and beginning the
ascent of this range at the Cache-la-Poudre, the largest
tributary of the South Platte, which takes its rise in the
snowy heights of Long's Peak, we followed on horseback
to this place, another of the experimental lines run for
the Union Pacific Railroad, crossing at Antelope Pass.
Our party in this most interesting reconnoissance consisted
of General Dodge, Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific
Railroad, Colonel Silas Seymour, Consulting Engineer,
and Mr. Evans, the Engineer who made the surveys.
Travelling in a north-west direction, we had the snow-
capped peaks of the grand snowy range always in view
twenty to thirty miles to the left. The highest altitude
reached on this survey is eight thousand and fifty feet
above the sea. The transition from the sedimentary rocks
forming the slope near the base, to the granite which
everywhere composes the central and higher parts of these
mountain ranges, is plainly marked. In the secondary
formation, and lying geologically next above the granite,
is observed, near the base of the mountain on both slopes,
what our geologist decides to be the veritable old red
sandstone of Hugh Miller, which the genius of that
distinguished devotee of geological research invested with
SO much interest in the scientific circles of Europe.
"The valley of the Laramie river, in which we have
travelled for twenty miles, on the western side of the
mountain, is a vast plain without a shrub. It is twenty-
five to thirty miles wide. The groves of pine on the
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Medicine Bow Mountains, forming its western boundary,
and on the Black Hills to the east, is a relief to the view.
"From this point we expect to return over another
experimental survey, crossing the Black Hills further north
at Evans' Pass, and thence to Crow Creek and Lodge Pole
Creek, branches of the South Platte."
In July, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, Mr. Wil-
liams made a tour of inspection over the road to the end
of the track, then just leaving the valley of the Platte and
entering that of the Lodge Pole, three hundred and eighty-
five miles west of Omaha. The last half of that season
was occupied professionally in surveys and estimates pre-
paratory to bridging the Missouri river, he being a mem-
ber of the Bridge Committee. A full engineering report
and estimate on three separate routes across this valley
was prepared by him, and submitted to the Union Pacific
Board, and by them put in print.
On the thirteenth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-
eight, Mr. Williams was instructed by the Secretary of the
Interior to examine and report specifically as to the con-
dition of the Union Pacific Railroad, where it has been
constructed or surveyed."
From his report to the Hon. Secretary, August fifteenth
eighteen hundred and sixty-eight,* it will be seen that
this important duty was performed; that the President
of the Railroad Company accompanied him in a special
train to the end of the track, then near Rattlesnake Pass,
Executive Document, House, No. 15, 40th Congress, 3d session.
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six hundred and sixty miles out from the Missouri river,
stopping to examine every station and all important
structures. At the end of the track, a company of United
States cavalry, for protection against Indian hostilities,
were in readiness, and the whole party, under command
of General Dodge, Chief Engineer, passed thence on horse-
back over the entire line of surveys to Salt Lake, about
four hundred miles.
The topographical formation of the region traversed by
the first one thousand miles of the Union Pacific Railroad
west of the Missouri river, embracing both the plains and
the mountain section, was described in his report to the
Secretary of the Interior, last referred to, as follows:
"The level plain of the Platte carries the road with
moderate grades and excellent alignment, to the eastern
base of the mountains, five hundred and twenty-six miles.
Hence to the basin of Salt Lake, at the mouth of Weber
cañon, about five hundred miles, the mountainous district
is encountered. The principal mountain ranges running
transversely with the road are, first, the Black Hill range ;
second, the Rattlesnake range third, the Continental
divide, or watershed; fourth, the Bitter Creek summit;
fifth, the eastern rim of Salt Lake basin; and sixth, the
Wahsatch range, separated from the Rim only by Bear
valley. The entire drainage of this mountainous section
between the Black Hills and the Rim of the Utah basin,
except as it sinks in the intermediate dry basins, passes by
lateral valleys into the two main rivers-the north fork of
the Platte, flowing first northwardly, and thence east to the
Missouri, and Green river, running southward to the Colo-
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JESSE L. WILLIAMS.
159
rado of the Pacific. Minor valleys, are, of course, found
leading the drainage from the ranges into these main
rivers in an easterly and westerly direction, and the engi-
neers have been fortunate in finding, through these sev-
eral lateral valleys, as the Bitter Creek and Black's Fork,
for instance, a very. favorable route for the railroad. The
granite formation, which, owing to its imperishable char-
acter, generally prevents a more precipitous and cliff-like
surface, is of limited extent on this route, occurring on the
entire line only at the Black Hill range for the distance of
about twenty miles, and at the western base of the
Wahsatch for three miles. The whole line between is in
the sedimentary formation, and the sandstone, everywhere
predominant, is generally of the most perishable charac-
ter. The natural action of the elements, through the ages
of the past, on the more elevated ranges has disintegrated
this sandstone, filling with the debris the valleys and
plains between, thus gradually lessening, with the lapse
of time, the difference of elevation, and moderating the
slopes."
The question of maximum grade on the mountain
ranges was, of course, an important one. His official
action on this question, referring to the Wahsatch range,
is stated in the following paragraph to the Secretary of
the Interior, of fifteenth of August, eighteen hundred and
sixty-eight
"It will be observed that the steepest grade is ninety
feet per mile, and this was found necessary only on the
two main ranges, the Black Hills and the Wahsatch.
The shortest curvature is six degrees on each hundred
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
feet, or nine hundred and fifty-five feet radius. After the
location on the Wahsatch range had been made by the
locating engineers, with the approval of the Chief Engi-
neer of the Company, further examinations were ordered
by the Vice-President, with a view to cheapening and
hastening the work on the western slope, using grades of
one hundred and ten and one hundred and sixteen feet
per mile. I earnestly remonstrated against a ruling grade
exceeding ninety feet, for reasons stated in the paper an-
nexed. I trust the change may not be made.
' On the location adopted, a train of cars once on the
summit of the Wahsatch range will meet no ascending
grade higher than sixty feet per mile thence to the western
base of the Black Hills. And so on the trip westward, an
ascending grade of sixty feet per mile is the highest to be
overcome from the summit of the Black Hills to Salt Lake
Valley, and probably to the Humboldt.
"The total ascent to be overcome by a train going west
between the Missouri high bridge and Salt Lake Valley,
including the elevation lost by intermediate undulations,
is twelve thousand one hundred feet, and by a train going
east, eight thousand five hundred and seventy feet."
The reasons for adhering to a maximum grade of ninety
feet per mile are more fully stated in the following tele-
gram, copied from the report to the Secretary of the In-
terior last referred to :
TELEGRAM TO OLIVER AMES, PRES'T. U. P. R. R.
" OMaHa, Aug. 6, 1868.
"The undersigned, one of the Government Directors
and member of Locating Committee, respectfully but
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JESSE L. WILLIAMS.
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earnestly remonstrates against any change of final location
on Wahsatch range, as made by J. Blickensderfer, Loca-
ting Engineer, and approved by the Chief Engineer, which
shall increase grades over ninety feet per mile. Having
examined the ground, I know this maximum to be feasible
at reasonable cost, and that it need not delay your rapid
track laying. Ninety feet maximum grade being adapted
to the general slope of the Wahsatch, and being the ruling
grade from Missouri river to the Sierra Nevada, to exceed
it here would materially impair the efficiency of this Con-
tinental road, injure both its stockholders and the com-
-mercial interests, and increase the hazard of travel over
this abrupt and icy range, with only a paltry advantage
to the contracting company. If there exists a purpose of
increasing this grade, I trust it will be abandoned.
"J. L. WILLIAMS."
The Secretary of the Interior, in his annual report to
the President of the United States, of thirtieth November,
eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, referring to this specific
examination of the Union Pacific Railroad, says : Mr.
Williams is an experienced Civil Engineer, and performed
the duty committed to him in a very satisfactory manner.
His report presented such statements that I deem it my
imperative duty, on presenting to you the report of the
Commissioners on the twenty-fifth section, to invite your
attention to the leading facts he communicated, and to
request that the Attorney-General be directed to advise
you whether said report, as to the facts covered by it, was
conclusive upon the Executive."
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
The result of the Attorney-General's opinion upon the
power of the Government was the appointment, by the
President, of a second and larger commission, consisting
of three experienced engineers, to wit : Brevet Major-
General Warren, U. S. Army ; J. Blickensderfer, Jr., of
Ohio, and J. L. Williams, of Indiana, to examine and
report on the entire road. Mr. Williams, appreciating
the high honor of this appointment, especially as it gave
assurance of approval by the Government of his course in
the important issues raised before the country by his sev-
eral reports, was nevertheless constrained by other duties
to decline. The report of the two engineers above named.
was confirmatory of his report.
In October, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, the
Government Directors were directed by the Secretary of
the Interior to collect from papers in the Union Pacific
Railroad Office in New York and report certain informa-
tion touching, amongst other things, the cost of the road.
The books of the office, however, did not furnish the
actual cost called for by the Secretary, but only the- con-
tract price per mile, known to be large, and the issue of
securities. The actual outlay in construction by the con-
tracting company, operating under a charter (the credit
mobilier), was to be found only amongst their private
papers, to which the Government Directors could not
claim access. Under this state of facts Mr. Williams
deemed it his duty, as Government Director, to prepare
an estimate of the actual outlay by the contracting com-
pany in building the road. This estimate was embodied
in his report to the Secretary of the Interior, dated Fort
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Wayne, Indiana, November fourteenth, eighteen hundred
and sixty-eight.* It seems to have been made with much
care from personal knowledge and inspection of the road,
and which gave an approximate estimate of expenditure
necessarily made by the contracting company in building
eleven hundred and ten miles of road, from Omaha to
Monument Point, in Salt Lake Valley. This report was
well timed, and wisely conceived for the public interest.
It met SO fully the then existing desire for information, as
to secure a very wide circulation through the leading
newspapers of the country. It attracted much attention
in Congress. Of it, the Secretary of the Interior, in his
annual report before referred to, gave the following
synopsis :
" As the actual cost of this road is a matter of public
interest, I deem it proper to present, in a condensed form,
the estimates submitted on the fourteenth instant, by
Jesse L. Williams, Civil Engineer. He states that the
cost of the road as shown on the books of the Railroad
Company is, of course, equivalent to the contract price per
mile. The actual cost to the contractors forming an asso-
ciation which embraces most of the larger stockholders of
the Company, is shown only by their private books, to
which the Government Directors have no access. The
calculations were therefore made from the most accurate
data, and the estimated cost of the first seven hundred
and ten miles of the road was taken as the basis for com-
puting that of the whole line. Should the road, as is
House Executive Document, No. 15, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
expected by the Company, form a junction with that of
the California Company, near the northern extreme of
Great Salt Lake, a little west of Monument Point, its
length would be about eleven hundred miles. The cost
of locating, constructing, and equipping it and the tele-
graph line, is thirty-eight million eight hundred and
twenty-four thousand eight hundred and twenty-one dol-
lars, an average per mile of thirty-four thousand nine
hundred and seventy-seven dollars and thirty-two cents.
"The Government subsidy in bonds for that distance at
par, amounts to twenty-nine millions five hundred and
four thousand dollars, an average per mile of twenty-six
thousand five hundred and eighty dollars. The Company's
first mortgage bonds are estimated at ninety-two per
cent., and would yield twenty-seven million one hundred
and forty-three thousand six hundred and eighty dollars.
'The fund realized by the Company from these two
sources amounts to fifty-six million six hundred and forty-
seven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars, being an
average per mile of fifty-one thousand and thirty-four
dollars, exceeding by sixteen thousand and fifty-six dollars
and sixty-eight cents the actual cost of constructing and
fully equipping the road, and yielding a profit of more
than seventeen million seven hundred and fifty thousand
dollars."
The tenor of Mr. Williams' reports shows a consistent
and earnest opposition throughout to the plan of letting
the road in very large contracts, as practised on this road,
at a price per mile, 80 large as to cover the means pro-
vided by law in Government and first mortgage bonds,
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JESSE L WILLIAMS.
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rather than at a rate proportioned to the amount of work
to be performed. It is well known that he ever urged
on all occasions a careful husbanding of the large subsidies
so liberally furnished by the Government, that there might
be means, without resort to excessive rates of traffic, to
maintain and strengthen the work during the first few
years after opening. A "reserve fund," in Government
bonds, to be retained in the hands of the Secretary of the
Treasury, and used in bringing up the road to the proper
standard, seems, from official reports, to have been his
favorite idea. His views on this point are explained in
the following letter to the President of the Company, at
the close of their examination of the six hundred and sixty
miles of track then laid. It is taken from the appendix to
his report of August fifteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-
eight, to the Secretary of the Interior:
"END OF TRACK, July 1, 1868.
"DEAR SIR,-I beg to submit for your examination
the enclosed paper, explanatory of the suggestions of
a 'reserve fund.' If not the best, it may lead to a more
feasible scheme.
"That there is a practical difficulty in the case all must
admit. Your very rapid progress with the track without
waiting, in all cases, to build permanent work, is for the
interest of both Company and the country, and should be
encouraged. But, on the other hand, those representing
the Government may well hesitate to sanction the deliv-
ery of the entire subsidy, liberal as it certainly is, for the
whole extent of the road, while the work is in so incom-
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
plete a state, as it must necessarily be when each succes-
sive twenty mile section is presented for inspection.
It is unnecessary to remind you of the large expendi-
ture required on any new road just opened, in the way of
improvement, enlargement, and equipment, before its
facilities are adequate to earn, at reasonable rates, the
large sum per mile which we all expect from the Union
Pacific Railroad. I respectfully ask of you a careful con-
sideration of this subject, that the true interest both of the
Company and the Government, which, it seems to me, do
not conflict, may be secured.
"I should add that if the control of the work would
certainly remain in the hands of the very respectable and
wealthy gentlemen now holding the stock, no such pre-
caution might be necessary, for they would put in fresh
money as needed to make an efficient road. But in the
ever-changing control of such works, this is not probable.
"Very truly,
"J. L. WILLIAMS,
" Government Director.
" OLIVER AMES, Esq.,
"President Union Pacific Railroad."
At the meeting of the Union Pacific Board in Septem-
ber, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, a copy of his re-
port of fifteenth of August previous was read to the Board.
At that time a resolution was offered by Mr. Williams for
adoption by the Board, assenting to the proposed " reserve
fund" in Government bonds, as suggested by that report,
to be retained in the hands of the Secretary of the Treas-
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JESSE L. WILLIAMS.
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ury. Though not adopted by the Board in any efficient
form, the principle was afterwards adopted by the Gov-
ernment, and formed the basis of its action under the
opinion of the Attorney-General.
On the nineteenth of January, eighteen hundred and
sixty-nine, Mr. Williams was appointed Receiver of the
Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad by the United States
Court for the Western District of Michigan.
This work, three hundred and twenty-five miles long, is
designed to connect the city of Fort Wayne and the region
further south with Little Traverse Bay and the Straits of
Mackinaw. In the distribution of the lands granted by
Congress to the State of Michigan, this work was endowed
with a valuable land grant.
The work was commenced twelve or fourteen years
ago. A failure to negotiate its bonds, the natural result,
perhaps, of a premature beginning in a district of country
SO little settled at that time, had caused very serious finan-
cial embarrassments, and a suspension of the construction,
with only twenty miles in running order. Other and
rival interests were watching the haltings of this work in
expectation of obtaining a transfer of the land grant for
their benefit.
Under the law of Michigan, a failure to complete twenty
additional miles by July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-
nine, extending northward into the Pineries, forfeited
absolutely the land grant, thought to be worth seven mil-
lions of dollars. The stake was large, the work to be
done remote from settlements, and the time only some
fifty days after the yielding of the frost
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
The Court, for the protection and benefit of all the
interests involved, had ordered the Receiver to borrow
money by pledge of the land, and build the road as
required by law. Seldom has so large a responsibility
been laid on any one. For no provision was made for a
second effort to recover the land grant, if lost by a single
day in the time of completion. Much interest was felt
along the line and with capitalists who had already in-
vested largely on the security of the land grant and the
road. The following telegram, sent eight days before the
time fixed by the statute, announced the result of the
effort:
"GRAND RAPIDS, June 22, 1869.
"To HIS EXCELLENCY,
"THE GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN.
'The last rail of the twenty miles was laid last evening.
J. L. WILLIAMS."
By further orders of the Court, Mr. Williams, as Re-
ceiver, was authorized and directed to build and put in
good running order the entire remainder of the line
between Fort Wayne and the Muskegon river, a distance
of two hundred miles.
In addition to the duties and responsibilities ordinarily
belonging to a financial trust like this, he had also the
professional charge as Directing Engineer of the work.
These several duties were found SO exacting as to leave no
time for the proper performance of Pacific Railroad duties.
He, therefore, in October, eighteen hundred and sixty-
nine, resigned his position as Government Director of the
Union Pacific Railroad.
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JESSE L. WILLIAMS.
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After being relieved from duty under the Government,
he devoted his whole time and energies to the completion
of the two hundred miles of the Grand Rapids and Indi-
ana Railroad north of Fort Wayne, and opened it for
traffic early in October, eighteen hundred and seventy.
One hundred and sixty miles of track was laid, besides
closing up a large part of the grading, delivery of cross
ties, etc., from the middle of April to the thirteenth of
September, eighteen hundred and seventy, a rate of pro-
gress which has perhaps not been equalled on any other
work except on the Pacific roads.
The professional life of Mr. Williams has been in a
remarkable degree full of useful activity. It is honorably
and inseparably identified with many of the great public
enterprises which have effected important changes in the
condition of the country. Commencing at a time when
the superior advantages for the carrying on of inland
trade and commerce by means of canals were attracting
universal attention to their construction, he will probably
close it, long after this kind of improvement has become
secondary in importance (except in peculiar localities) to
another of still higher perfection-the railroad. Indeed
it may be said that, in the regions west of the Alleghany
Mountains, he has witnessed the origin, the growth, the
maturity, and the decline of the canal system.
Turning his attention early to railroad construction, he
has devoted the last twenty years of his professional labors,
mainly in aiding forward to successful completion some of
the most prominent railroads in the country.
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COLONEL WILLIAM McREE,
CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEER.
COLONEL WILLIAM McREE was a military engineer at
the commencement of the war of eighteen hundred and
twelve with Great Britain, and probably at that period
the best informed mind of the military men of our coun-
try. He was prominent among those who distinguished
themselves on the Niagara frontier in eighteen hundred
and fourteen, where he won two brevets, and the high
regard of the Commander-in-Chief.
Colonel McRee was the son of Major Griffith McRee, of
the North Carolina line in the Revolutionary War, and
was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, in the year
seventeen hundred and eighty-eight. His mother was the
daughter of Dr. John Fergus, a distinguished physician of
Wilmington, N. C., who had been educated in Edinburgh,
and was of Scottish descent.
At the age of sixteen, William became acquainted with
Colonel Jonathan Williams, while that officer was on a
visit of inspection of the defences of Cape Fear harbor, and
the Colonel, discovering a fine mind in the youth, pro-
cured for him a cadet's warrant at the Military Academy
of West Point. The youth soon evinced a fondness for
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COLONEL WILLIAM McREE.
171
mathematics, at the Academy; was very studious in mili-
tary history, and became a Lieutenant of Engineers in
eighteen hundred and five. Until the " War of Twelve"
he was employed in the repairs of the forts on the Atlantic
coast. In the year eighteen hundred and sixteen he was
associated with Major Thayer in a mission to France
and Belgium to visit the fortifications of those countries,
and to collect a military library for the West Point
Academy, duties which these officers executed with ex-
emplary success and usefulness. In eighteen hundred
and eighteen Colonel McRee took similar views as his
Chief, General Joseph G. Swift, as to the impolitic mode
of introducing a foreign engineer into the United States
military service, and after completing the first general sur-
vey made by the Board of Military Engineers, he resigned
his commission in the United States Corps of Engineers.
He was shortly after appointed Surveyor-General of Il-
linois, Missouri, and Arkansas, and while commending to
the Government very important improvements in that
service, he fell a prey to the cholera at St. Louis in eight-
een hundred and thirty-two, in the very prime of his life
and usefulness.
Colonel McRee was distinguished for quick perception,
sound judgment, modesty of deportment, and very studi-
ous habits.
He instituted experiments in regard to suitable food and
its quantity, to enable a soldier to sustain health with the
longest daily march, and came to the conclusion that
about half the ordinary ration, suitably prepared, with
regular daily exercise, would sustain the soldier in con-
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
tinued marches of twenty miles per day for one month,
and that ground-parched Indian corn, with one-fourth of
its weight in sugar, commingled and packed, would enable
a soldier to carry ten days' provisions on a forced march.
This last fact was proved by General Jackson in a march
during the Creek and Seminole war of eighteen hundred
and eighteen.
Colonel McRee studied the best authorities with refer-
ence to the physical powers of soldiers.
His habits of life were abstemious, and his character and
conduct pure. He was never married. His political
sentiments were of the most simple republicanism. He
had few personal associates, and fewer personal intima-
cies, though his acquaintance was sought by many for his
high attainments and unexceptionable private life.
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SAMUEL H. KNEASS,
CIVIL ENGINEER.
SAMUEL HONEYMAN KNEASS was of the list of Civil En-
gineers who started in their profession with the first pro-
ject of internal improvements in the State of Pennsylvania.
He was born in the city of Philadelphia on the fifth day of
November, eighteen hundred and six, and was the second
son of William Kneass, who was for many years engraver
for the United States Mint. In the year eighteen hundred
and twenty-one, he entered the office of William Strick-
land, the then leading Architect and Civil Engineer of the
State, and, with him, assisted in the erection of several
buildings that now ornament the city of Philadelphia,
among them the United States Bank, now occupied as the
Custom House. One of his earliest attempts at architec-
ture was the triumphal arch, erected from his design, at
the time of Lafayette's visit, in eighteen hundred and
twenty-four, the original drawing of which now hangs in
Independence Hall. His inclinations, however, were for
the duties devolving more especially upon the Civil Engi-
neer ; he, therefore, directed his attention to that branch,
and was engaged at an early date in the field-work, of im-
provements in charge of Mr. Strickland ; among them was
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
the survey for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. In
eighteen hundred and twenty-five he was appointed to
accompany Mr. Strickland to England, under the auspices
of the "Society for Promoting Internal Improvements,"
of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of examining and report-
ing upon the public works of that country. All the draw-
ings which accompanied this report were made by him,
and were afterwards copied in the extensive work entitled
"The Public Works of Great Britain," published in eight-
een hundred and thirty-eight by John Weale, of London.
After his return from England, he joined the corps organ-
ized by Mr. Strickland for the construction of the Susque-
hanna division of the State Canal, and, as Principal Assist-
ant Engineer, remained with him until eighteen hundred
and twenty-eight, when he was transferred to the Dela-
ware division, with Mr. Sergeant as Chief. In eighteen
hundred and twenty-nine he left the service of the State,
and assumed the charge, as Chief Engineer, of the Mine
Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad, from which he retired
in eighteen hundred and thirty-one, to leave his native
State and commence the construction of one of the first of
the chain of Western railroads-the Lexington and Frank-
fort-but left this road in eighteen hundred and thirty-
two to take the position of Chief Engineer of the Phila-
delphia and Trenton Railroad. Upon the completion of
this work, he again left Pennsylvania, and, in Louisiana,
started the West Feliciana Railroad ; here his health fail-
ing, he returned to the Philadelphia and Wilmington
Railroad (a portion of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and
Baltimore Railroad), at the same time having in charge
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SAMUEL H. KNEASS.
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the construction of the Delaware and Schuylkill Canal.
This latter work was never completed. The former he
finished, and remained in the service of the Company
until eighteen hundred and forty. Again he visited Eng-
land, and examined, with care, the improvements in ma-
chinery and construction that had been made during the
intervals of his visits. Immediately after his return he
took charge of the surveys for the extension of the lower
districts of the city of Philadelphia, then beyond munici-
pal limits, which, with other work of construction for the
city, occupied him until eighteen hundred and forty-three.
From this time until eighteen hundred and forty-five-
during the time when railroad undertakings were, from
the financial state of the country, in a very adverse con-
dition-he was engaged in various sections of the State
upon explorations and the examination of projects that
waited upon a favorable opportunity for development,
and, in eighteen hundred and forty-five, left for South
America, as United States Consul at Carthagena, in New
Grenada, and as contractor for the construction of a canal
from Carthagena to the river Magdalena. In eighteen
hundred and forty-six he returned, and took charge of the
Wisconisco Canal, on the Susquehanna river, in Dauphin
County, Pennsylvania. After finishing this, or nearly so,
he was engaged for a short time upon the Pennsylvania
Central Railroad; but in eighteen hundred and forty-
eight he left this service to take a position upon the
Northern New York Railroad, between Ogdensburgh and
Rouse's Point. In eighteen hundred and forty-nine he
was elected City Surveyor of Philadelphia, which post he
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
occupied until May, eighteen hundred and fifty-three,
during which time he constructed the new bridge over the
Schuylkill at Market street, and arranged the approaches
so that the Western Railroad could have a direct connec-
tion with the city proper. This bridge was erected upon
the site of the old "Permanent Bridge," and was so built
that, notwithstanding it was upon one of the most crowded
thoroughfares of the city of Philadelphia, yet the travel
was not interrupted one day during its construction.
Having resigned the surveyorship of Philadelphia in eight-
een hundred and fifty-three, Mr. Kneass commenced the
surveys and location of the Franklin and Warren Rail-
road in Ohio, in charge of which he remained but a short
time, as in eighteen hundred and fifty-four he was
appointed Chief Engineer of the North Western Railroad of
Pennsylvania, extending from the Pennsylvania Railroad,
at Blairsville, northwest, to the Cleveland and Mahoning
Railroad. This position he held at the time of his decease,
which took place in Philadelphia in February, eighteen
hundred and fifty-eight. In professional acquirements
Mr. Kneass held an enviable position among American
Engineers, which, combined with his social qualities as a
man and friend, has endowed his memory with a reputa-
tion at once honorable and enduring.
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John Childe
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CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE,
CIVIL ENGINEER.
JOHN CHILDE was born in West Boyleston, Mass., Au-
gust thirtieth, eighteen hundred and two. He was the
son of Zachariah Childe, and one of a family of twelve
children. His father, a soldier of the Revolution, was an
earnest advocate of liberty and equal rights, was high-
spirited, courteous, and kind to his friends, and hospitable
to strangers. The poor and needy never went unrefreshed
from his door. He had a strong affection for his children,
and was especially proud of his boys. To see them rise in
the world and become good and useful citizens was his
highest happiness. He was the son of David Childe, one
of the earliest settlers in the neighborhood, who owned a
large tract of land, on which he lived, and where Zachariah
was born.
His mother was the daughter of David Bigelow, of
Worcester, Mass., and niece of Colonel Timothy Bigelow,
of Revolutionary memory. She was a woman of superior
intellectual gifts, improved by education and extensive
reading. She had a womanly heart, full of tenderness and
devotion to her children, and ambitious for their highest
good.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
During his boyhood, John worked upon his father's
farm. His early educational advantages were those of the
district school, with the exception of two years spent with
an elder brother in Canada, and one year of preparation
at Georgetown College, D. C. In his youth he was
remarkably studious. He was full to overflowing of boyish
spirit, fond of all manly sports, full of affection and tender
consideration for those around him, and self-denying for
those he loved, in a remarkable degree.
July first, eighteen hundred and twenty-three, he
entered West Point Academy. The official report says he
excelled in Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry,
Mineralogy, Engineering, Drawing and Tactics. He was
appointed, July first, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven,
Second Lieutenant of the Third Artillery. After the usual
short leave of absence given to all graduates, he was placed
on duty at the Artillery School of Practice, at Fortress
Monroe, Virginia, then commanded by Colonel, afterwards
Brigadier-General, A. Eustis.
Shortly after his arrival there, the commanding officer,
desiring a complete plan of the fortifications made, selected
Lieutenant Childe to prepare the drawings, which he
executed satisfactorily. He continued on this duty, and
those connected with his position as an officer of Artillery
at the School of Practice, until selected for Ordnance duty
in December, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight. He was
then assigned to the United States Arsenal, at Washing-
ton City, and remained on duty at that station until
November, eighteen hundred and thirty, when he was
selected to make drawings of the public buildings and
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CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE.
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machinery at the United States Armory at Springfield.
Remaining there until December, eighteen hundred and
thirty-one, he again returned to his previous station at the
Washington Arsenal. In addition to his regular duties,
he was, in November, eighteen hundred and thirty-two,
appointed to discharge those of Assistant Inspector of
Ordnance. In this capacity he visited, in company with
Major Worth, then Inspector of Ordnance, all the foundries
established by the Government, and assisted in the inspec-
tion and proof of the ordnance and projectiles, until Febru-
ary, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, when he was ordered
to join his regiment, with which he served, at Fort Wolcott,
until December, eighteen hundred and thirty-five, when
he resigned his commission in the army, to apply his tal-
ents and acquirements to civil engineering,-a profession
then attracting to its ranks many of the first officers of the
army. During his whole career in the military service
Lieutenant Childe never failed to acquit himself with
credit, and to give satisfaction in whatever duty he was
engaged.
Entering his new field of labor, Lieutenant Childe was
employed from eighteen hundred and thirty-five to thirty-
six as Assistant Engineer on the York and Wrightsville
Railroad, and from eighteen hundred and thirty-six to
eighteen hundred and forty-four he was in the service of
the Western Railroad Company of Massachusetts ; first in
the surveys and location of their road between Wilbraham
and the State line of New York, under General William
Gibbs McNeil, and Major George W. Whistler as Con-
sulting Engineers, and Captain W. H. Swift as Resident
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Engineer, and afterwards in the surveys, location, and con-
struction of the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad,
as Resident Engineer, with General McNeil and Major
Whistler as Consulting Engineers.
The route between Springfield and Pittsfield crossed the
Green Mountain range. At that early period grave doubts
were entertained of the practicability of constructing a
railroad over this range, to be worked by locomotives.
No experiment had then been made in this country of
running a line through a district with such formidable
obstacles, and he was deemed a bold man who could give
promise of success. In their report, the Engineers say :
"This six and a half miles, from Chester to Washington
Summit, is the most difficult and expensive part of the
route. The river is exceedingly crooked and the moun-
tains shut in on both sides, leaving scarcely room for a
road, and requiring numerous crossings. The rocky points
thrust themselves quite down to the stream, and no alter-
native is left, except a resort to very objectionable curva-
tures between these points. The grade here is also very
steep, being eighty-two feet per mile."
Captain Childe had the direction of the surveys and
location through this district, and he entered upon the
work with great professional enthusiasm. A friend who
accompanied him in his first reconnoissance, represents
him, on winding in among the hills, as swinging his hat
and exclaiming, " This is the place for engineering." After
great labor and industry he accomplished the task assigned
him to the entire satisfaction of the Managers of the
road.
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From eighteen hundred and forty-four to forty-five he
was Chief Engineer of the Troy and Albany Railroad, and
also Chief Engineer of the Connecticut River Railroad to
eighteen hundred and forty-seven.
From eighteen hundred and forty-seven to forty-nine
Captain Childe was actively employed as Consulting En-
gineer by the Connecticut River Railroad Company in
their alterations at Hadley Falls, also in the survey of the
line between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Camden, one
hundred and eighty miles ; by the Lehigh and Schuylkill
Coal Company and the New Boston Coal Company ; by
the Cattawissa and Somerville Railroad Company ; by
the Cincinnati and Hamilton Railroad Company, as
to the termination of their line in Cincinnati ; by the
Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad Company, on the
proposed extension of the line to Lewiston ; and at
Zanesville, on the best mode of proceeding with the Ohio
Central Railroad. He made also, in eighteen hundred
and forty-eight, a survey and report of the Albany and
Cohoes Railroad, and in June, of the same year, was Con-
sulting Engineer, with Benjamin H. Latrobe and Jona-
than Knight, in the service of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Company, on the location of that road over one
of the most difficult of the mountain passes beyond Cum-
berland. He spent a fortnight in the reconnoissance of
this pass, and confirmed, with his able and experienced
colleague, the location made by Mr. Latrobe the previous
year, upon which the road was subsequently built, and
operated with success. In eighteen hundred and forty-
nine, he was consulted by the Hartford and New Haven
Railroad Company, on a tunnel and new depot.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
From eighteen hundred and forty-eight to eighteen
hundred and fifty-one, Captain Childe was Chief Engineer
of the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad, Ohio,
and this road, of one hundred and thirty-six miles in
length, was located and constructed under his supervision,
though only a portion of his time was devoted to it.
The connection of Captain Childe with the internal im-
provements of the Southern States commenced in the
autumn of eighteen hundred and forty-eight.
The Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company having organ-
ized for the purpose of building a road from Mobile to the
mouth of the Ohio river, a distance of about five hundred
miles, the Directors determined to place at the head of its
Engineering Department the most competent man that
could be secured. It was the longest road that had been
attempted in the United States at that time, under one
management, and running across four different States,
through a region where railroads were wholly unknown,
many difficulties were anticipated, not only from the
nature of the country, but from the inexperience of the
inhabitants of everything connected with railroad con-
struction and operation.
The following extract from the report of the Directors
at the first annual meeting of the stockholders, held at
Mobile, February fifth, eighteen hundred and forty-nine,
shows the feelings actuating them in making the appoint-
ment of Chief Engineer
One of the earliest and most important duties devolv-
ing upon the Board, was the selection of a competent
engineer, to make a thorough and accurate survey of the
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CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE.
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route. Fully impressed with the bearing which this
appointment would have upon the prospects of the road,
and with the necessity of securing an engineer of the
highest character for professional skill, the matter was
given in charge of a Committee of three Directors, two of
whom immediately proceeded North upon the duties
assigned them. They found the best engineering talent
everywhere employed, and commanding large salaries
upon the various public works in progress in the Northern
States, and they experienced much difficulty and delay
before they were able to fill the appointment. The Board
have less reason to regret this delay, however, as it has
enabled the Committee to obtain the services of Captain
John Childe, as Chief Engineer of the Company, a gentle-
man whose high reputation and great and varied experi-
ence in railroad construction, qualify him eminently for
the work, and command for his reports the highest degree
of public confidence."
The appointment was tendered and accepted in Sep-
tember, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, and Captain
Childe entered upon the discharge of his duties with
characteristic promptness and energy.
Four parties of engineers were placed on the line of the
road to make the preliminary surveys, under principal
assistants of tried skill and ability, and in December, of
this year, Captain Childe himself came upon the route.
He first visited the northern terminus, opposite Cairo,
from thence to Columbus, and then over the whole line to
Mobile, where he made a preliminary report to the Board,
on the fifth of January, eighteen hundred and forty-nine.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
During the spring and summer of this year the surveys
were vigorously prosecuted and brought to completion,
and in the autumn ensuing the maps, profiles, and esti-
mates of the entire road were finished.
During the summer, a section, thirty-three miles long
at the southern end, extending from Mobile to Citronelle,
was located, and the work of construction commenced.
Having determined the character and cost of the road,
with its general location, the next step was to raise the
necessary funds to build it. An unsuccessful application
had already been made to Congress for an appropriation
of a portion of the unoccupied public lands along the
route.
During the session of eighteen hundred and forty-nine
and fifty, Captain Childe spent most of the time at Wash-
ington, laboring with his usual energy and discretion, and
the result was the passage of an act donating about one
million acres of land in aid of the Company. This was the
first of a series of acts of Congress on this subject.
Captain Childe now returned to the line of the road,
and, being clothed by the Board of Directors with full
powers as General Agent of the Company, as well as Chief
Engineer, he commenced a course of successful labor that
has seldom been excelled in the annals of American rail-
road construction.
From one end to the other of its long line, with unflag-
ging energy, did he labor to accomplish the desired end.
He organized, placed in the field, and superintended the
surveying parties engaged in perfecting the location from
Citronelle to the mouth of the Ohio. On horseback he
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CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE.
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explored the country tributary to the road, to determine
the feasibility of constructing branch lines from sections
whose commerce would justify the outlay. He examined
the eastern part of the State of Missouri, to ascertain the
practicability of continuing the railroad on the west side
of the Mississippi river to St. Louis, and the great North-
west.
He directed the classifying and arranging of the lands
donated by Congress, and superintended the surveys.
In addition to his professional labors, he canvassed the
whole country through which the railroad was to be built,
county by county, town by town, and almost house by
house, to obtain subscriptions of stock, and to interest the
people in the work. He organized a system of subscrip-
tions by the counties through which the road passed, and
his efforts were successful in obtaining aid in almost every
county along the road. He visited the Legislatures of the
States through which the road was located, and obtained
valuable privileges from them for the Company.
The Railroad Company having made a large issue of
bonds, based upon a mortgage of the road, its franchises,
and the lands donated by Congress, Captain Childe, with
the President, Sidney Smith, were charged with their
negotiation. In pursuance of this object, he went to Eng-
land in eighteen hundred and fifty-three, and again in
eighteen hundred and fifty-five. Though not succeeding
in disposing of the bonds to the extent anticipated, Capt.
Childe obtained the iron and equipments for about two
hundred miles of the lower portion of the road, and for a
part of the northern section.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-two, trains commenced
running over the finished road to Citronelle, gradually
reaching farther into the country, year by year, as the
road was extended. In addition to his duties as Chief
Engineer and General Agent, Captain Childe acted as
General Superintendent of Transportation. The labors
which he performed for this road until eighteen hundred
and fifty-six, when, owing to a change of the Directors,
his professional connection with it terminated, can scarcely
be exaggerated.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-two Captain Childe
was appointed Chief Engineer of the Tennessee and
Alabama Railroad, designed to connect Nashville, the
capital of Tennessee, with the Mobile and Ohio Rail-
road, in Mississippi, about one hundred and fifty miles
distant.
He immediately organized an efficient corps of engi-
neers, directed their movements for surveying and loca-
ting the line, planned the mode of construction, and had
the work commenced upon it at the northern end before
the close of this year.
In the spring of eighteen hundred and fifty-three he
was appointed Chief Engineer of the Nashville and Cin-
cinnati Railroad. The object of this road was to connect
the cities of Nashville, Tenn., and Danville, Ky. From
the latter point a railroad was already in progress to Cin-
cinnati. He immediately organized two parties of engi-
neers, had the surveys carefully made, the cost estimated,
and on the second day of the following December made a
report to the Board of Directors upon the cost of the road,
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CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE.
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and the resources of the country through which it would
pass.
He took charge of constructing the New Orleans and
Ohio Railroad in eighteen hundred and fifty-three, ex-
tending as a branch of the Mobile and Ohio, from near the
northern boundary of Tennessee to Paducah, at the con-
fluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, organizing their
affairs upon a sound basis, and stimulating them to exer-
tions that finally were crowned with success.
In the spring of eighteen hundred and fifty-five he was
appointed to report upon two surveys, made by different
engineers, for the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad. It
resulted in recommendations and suggestions that were
adopted by the Company, and insured the completion of
their road.
About the same time the Nashville Chamber of Com-
merce applied to him for a professional opinion upon the
proposed location of the railroad bridge over the Cumber-
land river at Nashville. His professional connection with
the New Orleans and Ohio Railroad ceased in eighteen
hundred and fifty-six, and with the Tennessee and Ala-
bama Railroad in June, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven.
In October, eighteen hundred and fifty, he was asso-
ciated with General Wm. Gibbs McNeil and C.S. Growski,
a Civil Engineer of Canada, in examining and making a
report upon the most feasible plan for the improvement
of the navigation of the river St. Lawrence, particularly
at Lake St. Peters. This lake being but eleven feet deep
at low water, presented a very serious obstacle to the
navigation of the river. To improve this navigation the
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Provincial Parliament, as early as eighteen hundred and
forty-three, made a grant of money for deepening the
channel to fourteen feet at low water, to be done under
the direction of the Board of Public Works. They under-
took to form an entirely new channel, and in four seasons
spent upon it about three hundred thousand dollars, when
the Government stopped the work as a complete failure.
Nothing further was done until eighteen hundred and
forty, when, by the procurement of the Hon. John
Young, the Board of Harbor Commissioners of Montreal
were authorized to undertake the work, and Mr. Young
was appointed upon the Commission. The first step taken
at his suggestion was to appoint the above Board of Engi-
neers, to report upon the best course to be pursued to
obtain a ship canal, sixteen feet in depth at low water.
After a careful examination and survey, the Board of
Engineers made a report, recommending the abandonment
of the work done on the new channel, and the excavation
of the old one to sixteen feet in depth and forty-five feet
in width.
The recommendation to abandon a work upon which
the Government had expended such a large sum of money
met with much opposition, and the business community
were for a time divided in opinion on the subject. The
plan was, however, adopted by the Harbor Commissioners,
and with complete success in the result.
When, in eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, the Board
of Harbor Commissioners was established for constructing
an extensive harbor at Montreal, Captain Childe was
employed and authorized to organize a corps of engineers
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CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE.
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to make the necessary examinations for this work and
report thereon to the Commissioners. This enterprise
contemplated a very large expenditure in money, and its
execution required superior engineering talent. Captain
Childe was placed at the head of the corps, and Messrs.
William J. McAlpine and James P. Kirkwood were asso-
ciated with him. He devoted himself with great assiduity
and industry to the preliminary surveys, plans, and esti-
mates for the extensive masonry and other work required.
In preparing a report for the Commissioners, he main-'
tained an extensive correspondence, gathering the statistics
of trade which would be affected by the harbor, or have
an influence in recommending its construction. He had
collected a large amount of statistical information relating
more particularly to the commerce of the St. Lawrence
and to Canada, and, while occupied in arranging these
materials for the official report, which he was designated
to prepare, together with the necessary maps and draw-
ings, he was suddenly prostrated by illness, which termi-
nated his life, on the second day of February, eighteen
hundred and fifty-eight.*
To a lover of nature, to one who is fond of adventure,
and finds real companionship in the solitude of forests,
the profession of a Civil Engineer has a peculiar attrac-
tion, free as it is, alike from the trammels of social
Captain Childe, during his professional career, was the inventor of many
mechanical improvements, the most prominent of which are : the Hoisting
Machinery at Greenbush depot, opposite Albany, for transferring freight from cars
to boats, and vice versa; the Variable Cut-off for locomotive engines, and the
Extended Fire-box for locomotives.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
etiquette, and the monotony which attaches to almost
every profession connected with city life.
Captain Childe's enthusiasm for the Mobile and Ohio
Railroad, and his devotion to it, were like that of the
artist for his model of clay, as he looks forward to its
glorious resurrection in living marble, or the painter, who,
as he adds touch after touch to the canvas, each so little
in itself, dreams and warms into enthusiasm as he antici-
pates the finished landscape which shall rouse the
'beholder to a fresher appreciation of the glories of nature.
No doubt, to the uninitiated an absorbing enthusiasm
for a railroad seems improbable, but to one like Captain
Childe, a railroad is endowed with a personal and moral
power, inculcating patriotism, lessening sectional preju-
dices, and binding together, by social and commercial
interests, North and South, East and West.
He looked forward to the day, when the road being
finished, its passing trains should, as a shuttle, weave into
closer bonds the commercial interests of the whole valley
of the Mississippi, from the Northern Lakes to the Gulf
of Mexico.
Such were the sentiments, and such the spirit, in which
Capt. Childe labored.
The character of Captain Childe, whether it be regarded
from a professional or personal point of view, was not an
ordinary one. That his industry was incessant, and his
power of executing the most elaborate work unusually
great, it is only necessary to peruse this outline of his pro-
fessional labors, to understand. In reference to his great
professional work on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, a
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CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE.
191
friend, who was a witness of his efforts, says : "These
labors cannot easily be so described as to give any correct
idea of what annoyance and vexation he met with. To
plan the road, to induce the public to sustain it, to smooth
asperities, to supervise, and to be the fiscal agent also,
left his mind and body but little repose. Those employed
by him, no matter how or where, had a ready compliance
with his requirements, arising from his just and impartial
character."
In connection with another road, a friend writes of him:
"I had constant opportunities to admire his sound judg-
ment, his resolute, laborious, and self-sacrificing fidelity,
and the modest firmness and dignity with which he main-
tained his position on disputed questions of theory and
practice. His official reports were models for logical force
and accuracy, and for remarkable terseness and clearness
of statement, and were generally conclusive in the matters
they discussed. They also exhibited a trait of character,
which gave to all his representations hardly less weight
than the reasons he urged. I refer to his unswerving
integrity and fearless independence. All who knew him
or heard him felt that his loyalty to truth was so uncom-
promising that he never spoke without uttering his honest
thought, irrespective of persons, place, or policy, and
regardless alike of whom it might please or displease, and
of its effect on himself or others."
With a mind of undeviating honesty and unflinching
integrity, severe in his requirements of himself, but gentle
as a woman in his judgment of others, he combined a ten-
derness for the weak, the erring, and the ignorant, as rare
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
as it is beautiful to see. With a mind which he himself
said grew strong with opposition and obstacles, he had
yet a ready sympathy to help upward and onward all who
appealed to him. Few persons, in proportion to their
means, have given more to others. His private papers
are a noble record of generous deeds.
He fully embodied the ideal of the Christian gentleman.
His courtesy was a marked feature, and was never laid
aside, because it was nothing assumed, but the natural
outgrowth of his manly, generous, and deeply religious
nature. He was an ardent lover of nature. A friend
once said of him : "It seems to me not a cloud passes
over his head, not a bud blossoms, not a tree waves in the
sunlight, but brings him a real pleasure. The rising and
setting sun, the moonlight and the starlight, are fresher
enjoyments to him than to any one I have ever known.
Each morning seemed to rouse him naturally to grateful
devotions ; and he often remarked, 'That nature did all
things gently and gradually,' and he used the dawning of
day as one of the many reproofs nature offers to man for
his reckless haste in bringing about his own wishes and
purposes."
He often expressed himself thus : "When I feel that I
have exhausted the capacities for enjoyment of a single
day, I may entertain the idea of being weary of this life.
It is a glorious world ! and there is so much to do in it!"
He was a member of the Unitarian Church, and, both
in his private and public life, he walked worthily of his
profession of a follower of Christ. He was specially fond
of devotional exercises, both private and public.
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CAPTAIN JOHN CHILDE.
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In all the relations of social life he was genial and
sympathetic in a high degree, and in addition to that in-
fluence over others which truly cultivated and spiritually
minded men usually have, he possessed in a large measure
what might be termed a magnetic personal attraction.
His fine, erect figure, and martial bearing, and his
strikingly intellectual countenance impressed even those
who casually met him. He was eminently gifted in con-
versation, and in that rare power of imparting knowledge
to others, which gave to his companionship a peculiar
charm and value.
In his friendships there was a singular character of
tenacity and devotion. As husband and father, he was
all the Christian should be-anxious for the welfare of
those he loved with deepest devotion, never sparing him-
self for one moment in anything that could contribute to
their pleasure or happiness.
To his keen appreciation of the beauty of the world
around him was added a full enjoyment of the minor
pleasures of the fireside, and the seemingly grave man,
full of plans, minute calculations, and weighty duties, was
always ready to frolic with children, and to join in all the
pleasures of the home circle. His manner was singularly
calm and self-possessed, and gave an impression of purity
of heart, which was a silent rebuke to every unworthy
word or deed, and seemed to throw an exalting influence
upon all around him.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-two Captain Childe
married Laura, daughter of James S. Dwight, of Spring-
field, Mass. Their only son died in eighteen hundred and
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
thirty-eight. Mrs. Childe, and the oldest daughter, aged
nineteen years, were lost on board the ill-fated Arctic,
while returning from' Europe.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-six he married Ellen W.,
daughter of Mark Healy, of Boston. He died at his home
in Springfield, leaving a widow, daughter, and son, and
was buried in the Springfield Cemetery, where a monu-
ment is erected to his memory.
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FREDERICK HARBACH,
CIVIL ENGINEER
FREDERICK HARBACH, the fourth child of Thomas and
Nancy Harbach, was born in the town of Sutton, Worces-
ter County, Massachusetts, the twenty-ninth day of April,
eighteen hundred and seventeen. His father was a woollen
manufacturer. Frederick, at his thirteenth year, had re-
ceived only the education afforded by a common district
school, but at this period the removal of his father to
Worcester afforded him the advantages of the excellent
schools of that city. From early childhood he manifested
that ingenuity, decision, and indomitable perseverance,
which were through life his special characteristics.
From infancy Frederick suffered from some malady of
the heart, and active exercise would cause violent palpita-
tions, accompanied by bleeding of the nose, and although
this weakness unfitted him for manual labor, he never
pleaded sickness as an excuse for the avoidance of duty,
and very rarely, even when a child, mentioned to any one
the pain he suffered.
At an early period he displayed great fondness for
machinery, spending most of his leisure hours in visiting
factories and machine shops, and was often engaged in
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
fashioning some toy engine or invention of his own.
Railroad construction soon attracted his attention.
In the spring of eighteen hundred and thirty-six he
obtained the situation of chain-man under the late Herman
Stebbins, C. E., and was engaged upon the surveys and
location of the railroad from Springfield to Albany, at a
salary of sixteen dollars per month. Later, Mr. Stebbins
was placed in charge of the construction of the third divi-
sion of this work, and held this position till his death in
the fall of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight. Mr. Har-
bach was then promoted to the place thus made vacant,
and successfully completed the division in the latter part
of eighteen hundred and thirty-nine.
In July, eighteen hundred and forty, he was appointed
Assistant Engineer on the Albany and West Stockbridge
Railroad, under Captain John Childe. His execution of
the work of this division added to his growing reputation.
In June, eighteen hundred and forty-three, he was called
to the Hartford and Springfield Railroad, and remained
upon it as Chief Engineer, until its completion in the
spring of eighteen hundred and forty-five. The same year
he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Pittsfield and
North Adams Railroad, and remained in charge until its
completion in eighteen hundred and forty-seven. The
thorough and economical construction of this work estab-
lished for him a high professional reputation.
He purchased, in eighteen hundred and forty-seven, an
interest in Gordon McKay's machine shop, at Pittsfield,
Mass., and entered into engagements with parties to start
a woollen factory in the same town ; but shortly after dis-
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FREDERICK HARBACH.
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posed of his interests and accepted an appointment upon
the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, under
Captain John Childe, Chief Engineer, and made the pre-
liminary surveys of that railroad. In the spring of
eighteen hundred and forty-eight, he formed a partner-
ship with Amasa Stone, Jr., and Stillman Witt, and
executed a contract to build, and equip, entire (except the
iron), the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad.
This was successfully accomplished, Mr. Harbach, with his
indefatigable energy pushing forward all parts of the great
undertaking. At the same time he was Chief Engineer of
the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad,
carrying that enterprise along with equal vigor. Scarcely
was the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad
completed, when Messrs. Harbach, Stone and Witt con-
tracted to build the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula
Railroad, and, in his own name, contracting to execute the
work of the Pennsylvania section of the road, twenty-five
miles in length.
With all the responsibilities attending the construction
of five hundred miles of railroad, he found time to invent
and procure Letters Patent for a rotary dumping car, for
a saw to cut off pile heads under water, for a safety
switch, for an improvement in steam saw-mills, for car
wheels, for an iron railroad bridge, and for a coal-burning
locomotive engine. In the purchase and improvement of
Western real estate, he was likewise largely interested.
But his labors and unremitting application told heavily
on a constitution naturally weak. The old malady of the
heart was doing its fatal work, and at the Astor House,
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
New York, where he had gone on business, he breathed
his last, on the thirteenth day of February, eighteen hun-
dred and fifty-one. With his genius still culminating and
his brain yet teeming with broad ideas of commercial
progress and brilliant creations for that great civilizer, the
railroad ; with riches at his command, and with a princely
fortune gathering in the train of his gigantic projects, thus
died the foremost of the young engineers of America.
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MAJOR DAVID
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MAJOR DAVID BATES DOUGLASS,
CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEER
DAVID BATES DOUGLASS, son of Nathaniel and Sarah
Bates Douglass, was born at Pompton, New Jersey,
March twenty-first, seventeen hundred and ninety. His
mother, a woman of superior mind, was a sister of David
S. Bates, a distinguished engineer, whose memoir is con-
tained in this volume.
Mrs. Douglass superintended personally the education of
her son, carefully directing his studies until his entrance
at Yale College, from which he graduated with high
honors in September, eighteen hundred and thirteen.
Young Douglass directed his steps immediately from
Yale to the Military Academy at West Point, where he
made application to General Joseph G. Swift, for an
appointment in the Engineer Corps of the United States
Army, and received from him a recommendation to the
Secretary of War, then engaged at Sackett's Harbor. His
journey to that place, and the result of his application, is
told in the following extracts from a letter to Professor
Olmstead, of Yale College, under date of October, eight-
een hundred and forty-three :
"We took our degrees, I remember, on the eighteenth
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
of September. On the first of October I was an officer of
Engineers in the United States Army. My determination
had been previously formed, and I travelled alone and
almost unaided to Sackett's Harbor to prefer my applica-
tion. Men of education were in great request for that
department of service, and I was commissioned in ten
minutes after presenting myself. Could you realize the
discouragements of that journey through woods and over
corde-du-roi roads, or sinking in the swamps at that season
of the year, you would better imagine the happiness of the
moment which crowned my perseverance with such suc-
cess. I returned immediately to West Point to prepare
for the next year's campaign, and there found myself a few
weeks after, the commander of a corps of Sappers and
Miners, and presently commander of the post. These were
to me, then, very novel responsibilities. I mention them
not vauntingly, but for the moral they contain ; they
compelled me to take position, to assume responsibility,
and to sustain myself in both ; to the habit of doing this
is owing whatever of usefulness I may have achieved in
all my subsequent life."
In eighteen hundred and fourteen he was detailed with
his command in the North-western campaign of that year.
To Professor Olmstead he wrote : "The whole campaign
was a rapid series of occasions requiring the greatest
promptness and energy. The bayonets of a numerous
hostile foe were glittering in plain sight when I joined the
division. The battle of Lundy's Lane occurred only
twelve days after, and was followed by the siege of Fort
Erie, where a series of sharp encounters and an unceasing
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cannonade was sustained for about six weeks, when the
memorable sortie broke up the enemy's line and compelled
him to retire."
During this siege, the little army at Fort Erie, pressed
by the reinforcements of General Drummond, was saved
from annihilation by the intrenchments which were built
by this youthful officer, who, to use his own words, " was
there day and night, regardless of rest and shelter, to
superintend and direct them. The working parties were
relieved, but myself never." By this means the army was
covered with defensible intrenchments in less time than
was ever before known. On the fifteenth of August the
attack was made by the reinforced enemy, under cover of
night, in three strong columns, of which the centre one,
moving upon Fort Erie proper, succeeded in gaining a
footing in the salient bastion of that work. The interior
arrangements fortunately prevented further penetration,
and the assailants were dislodged. But, had the left
column which attacked the "Douglass Battery" and the
intrenchments of the extreme right succeeded, Fort Erie
must have been lost. No interior works were there to
prevent the enemy's progress. Had he entered, the centre
column would have been enabled to take advantage of the
position ; it was strongly organized under an experienced
commander, and did not cease its assaults until its effective
strength had been reduced from seven hundred and fifty
men to less than two hundred, and the commander slain.
General Gaines, writing upon this event in eighteen
hundred and fifteen, remarks:
"Among the many brilliant scenes which combined to
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dispel the clouds and darkness, and brighten the dawn of
that memorable morning, the defence of the 'Douglass
Battery' stands equalled by few, and, according to the
relative number of guns, surpassed by none. The youth-
ful commander of that battery excited my admiration.
His constancy and courage during a brisk cannonade and
bombardment of several weeks, often in the night as well
as in the day, his gallantry and good conduct in the
defence against a vigorous assault by a vast superiority of
numbers, are incidents which can never cease to be cher-
ished in my memory as among the most heroic and pleas-
ing I have ever witnessed."
For his brilliant services upon this occasion Lieutenant
Douglass was promoted Captain by brevet, and in eight-
een hundred and fifteen was detailed for duty with the
army then organizing against Castine, when the proclama-
tion of peace changed his destination. He returned to
West Point, and in the same year married Miss Anna E.
Ellicott, daughter of Major Andrew Ellicott, who was then
Professor of Mathematics at the Academy.
In April of this year Captain Douglass was ordered by
General Joseph G. Swift to repair to the States of Con-
necticut and Rhode Island to examine the condition of the
fortifications in the harbors of New Haven, New London,
Stonington, and Newport. Subsequently to this, Captain
Douglass received the appointment of Assistant Professor
of Natural Philosophy in the Military Academy. The
succeeding fifteen years of Professor Douglass's life were
occupied in active official duties at West Point and in
civil engineering.
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In eighteen hundred and seventeen he received instruc-
tions from General Swift to make a reconnoissance of the
eastern entrance to Long Island Sound, with a view to the
construction of fortifications.
By a resolution of the Board of Canal Commissioners of
Pennsylvania, Major Douglass was called upon to make
surveys and estimates for a canal from Conneaut Lake to
Lake Erie and the French Creek feeder, in accordance
with an Act of the Legislature of that State, passed in
February, eighteen hundred and twenty-six. This work
was completed to the satisfaction of the Board of Commis-
sioners, and in June, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven,
he was appointed by the same Board to survey the line of
canal to Lake Erie, and in the summer of the following
year was employed upon the surveys and location of the
Upper Delaware Canal. Upon the completion of this
work, in April, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, he
was appointed by the Sandy and Beaver Canal Company
of Ohio to revise the surveys for that work, which was
performed, under his instruction, by Mr. J. Mahlin, as
Engineer. Major Douglass also accepted an appointment
from the Board of Commissioners of Internal Improve-
ments of Pennsylvania to make surveys and examinations
in the vicinity of Philadelphia, with a view to design the
most advantageous terminus for the Pennsylvania Rail-
road.
In November, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight,
Major Douglass received an invitation from Hon. C. D.
Colden, to accompany a corps of engineers along the line
of the Morris Canal (New Jersey), with a view of obtain-
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ing an opinion relative to the use of inclined planes in the
place of locks on the contemplated improvement.
This question had been agitated many years, and, as
early as eighteen hundred and twenty-three, letters were
exchanged between Governor De Witt Clinton and Major
Douglass relative to their practicability upon the Morris
Canal
Having devoted much attention to the subject, he gave
his views, and the preference of the Board for his plan
resulted in a proposition that he should take charge of the
construction of the work, to which he replied : "Having
duly considered the request made by you, in behalf of the
Morris Canal Company, that I should undertake the special
direction and management of the inclined planes on the
line of canal, as Chief Engineer of the same, and in view
of the explanations which have passed between us on this
subject, I beg leave to submit the proposition enclosed as
a basis of an arrangement under which I will cheerfully
comply with your request, provided I can obtain the
necessary dispensation from my public duties in the Mili-
tary Academy."
The proposition was cheerfully acceded to by the Board,
and a resolution passed to appoint Major Douglass Chief
Engineer at a compensation of four thousand dollars per
annum.
The petition of Major Douglass for a furlough was twice
refused by the Secretary of War, but the unwillingness of
the Canal Company to relinquish their claim upon his ser-
vices, induced him to make an effort to carry forward the
work with the aid of a Resident Engineer, if it should be
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deemed practicable. With this design, he appealed in
March, eighteen hundred and thirty, to the Department
for a furlough, as follows:
" A necessity, which I find impossible to avoid without
dishonor, compels me to ask leave of absence from my
duties in the Military Academy for the term of four weeks,
commencing on the twenty-fifth of the present month.
An arrangement has been made for the performance of
my duties during that time, and as the class has nearly
completed its studies for this year, it is believed no mate-
rial inconvenience will result to my pupils in consequence
of my absence.
"I was induced in September last to make an engage-
ment for services upon which heavy responsibilities depend,
and from which I could not afterward, and cannot now,
honorably retract. The strict performance of this engage-
ment would require me, situated as I now am, to relin-
quish my position in the public service altogether ; but as
I am not prepared to act upon this question, thus sud-
denly and unexpectedly forced upon me, I submit the
present application as my only alternative."
A furlough was granted, and Major Douglass imme-
diately gave his personal attention to the work. In a
letter from one of the Directors, Major Douglass was thus
advised :
"You are authorized by the Board to proceed forth-
with to the completion of one of the two planes at Mont-
ville. You know we have had several Plane Engineers,
and must expect some tenacity of opinion in the several
projectors. But your drawings, models, and explanations
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will doubtless be effectual for this purpose, and inspire
more confidence. I pray you proceed at once, and have
the work completed before the river opens."
Major Douglass, finding his personal attention indispen-
sable to the successful completion of the inclined planes,
relinquished his position in the public service in the
autumn of eighteen hundred and thirty, his resignation to
take effect the first of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-
one.* In a letter to General Gratiot he thus explained
his position :
It is known to the Department that I have become
connected with the Morris Canal Company, for the pur-
pose of bringing inclined planes into effective operation in
lieu of locks for canal navigation. I have become in some
degree identified with this improvement, and as it is one
of great importance in civil engineering, I have thought it
due to myself as well as to the Company that I should
give it my whole time and attention. I would gladly have
accomplished this object as an officer of the United States,
but as this seems incompatible with my engagement in the
Military Academy, I have no alternative but to relinquish
my station entirely. This, and not the offer of higher
pay, as stated by the Board of Visitors, is the occasion of
my resignation."
Major Douglass directed his efforts to the completion of
one of the Montville planes," in the autumn of eighteen
hundred and thirty. The inclined plane proved a success;
Major Douglass was Professor of Mathematics" from August twenty-ninth,
eighteen hundred and twenty, to May first, eighteen hundred and twenty-three,
and Professor of Civil and Military Engineering' from May first, eighteen hun-
dred and twenty-three, to March first, eighteen hundred and thirty-one.
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Major Douglass received the congratulations of the Board,
with a copy of the following report, under date of October
twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and thirty :
"The Committee of Directors appointed by the Board
to witness a trial of the inclined plane at Montville, beg
leave to report that on Saturday last they visited and
inspected the said "plane," and witnessed the passage of
a loaded boat up and down the incline, and into the level
at its head and foot. The Committee being satisfied with
the operation of the machinery, and the solidity as well as
the durability of the whole work, and feeling confident
that it will realize in practice the most sanguine expecta-
tions, beg to offer their congratulations to the Board upon
the happy result of the experiment."
The "Newark Eagle thus describes this opening of the
work : "The machinery was set in motion under the
direction of Major Douglass, the enterprising Engineer.
The boat, with two hundred persons on board, rose majes-
tically out of the water ; in one minute it was upon the
summit, which it passed apparently with all the ease that
a ship would cross a wave of the sea. As the forward
wheels of the car commenced their descent, the boat
seemed gently to bow to the spectators and the town be-
low, then glided quickly down the wooden way. In six
minutes and thirty seconds it descended from the summit
and re-entered the canal, thus passing a plane one thou-
sand and forty feet long, with a descent of seventy feet,
and advancing seven hundred and seventy feet, in six and
one half minutes."
In conjunction with his duties upon the Morris Canal,
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which was completed and ready for the opening of navi-
gation in the spring of eighteen hundred and thirty-two,
Major Douglass made a reconnoissance to ascertain the
practicability of uniting the city of Pittsburgh with the
Ohio Canal by railroad. The Philadelphia, Germantown
and Norristown Railroad also occupied a portion of his
attention.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-two he entered the New
York University, its first Professor of Natural Philosophy;
but, finding his Professorship to interfere with his engi-
neering pursuits, he relinquished this position after one
year's duty, but was borne on the roll of the Institution
as Professor of Civil Engineering and Architecture, and,
during the years of eighteen hundred and thirty-six and
thirty-seven, delivered a course of eighty lectures on these
subjects.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-three he was called
upon to survey the route for the Brooklyn and Jamaica
Railroad on Long Island, which he completed in the
winter of that year.
An Act was passed by the New York Legislature,
February, eighteen hundred and thirty-three, authorizing
surveys and estimates for supplying the city of New York
with water. Immediately after the passage of this Act,
the Board of Water Commissioners appointed Major
Douglass and Canvass White, Engineers. But the profes-
sional duties of Mr. White in the State of New Jersey
preventing him from making the examinations desired by
the Commissioners, the whole duty devolved upon Major
Douglass, who completed the preliminary surveys, in
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November of that year, and made his report soon there-
after ; regarding which the Commissioners, in their report
of November, eighteen hundred and thirty-three, say :
'For a more particular and detailed description of the
surveys and other important information on the subject,
the Commissioners beg leave to refer to the able and lucid
report of the Engineer, Major D. B. Douglass, hereunto
annexed."
In the report referred to, Major Douglass recommended
the use of the Croton river and its tributaries, to be con-
veyed to the city by an enclosed stone aqueduct, and esti-
mated the length of the same from the confluence to the
Receiving Reservoir at Manhattanville, at thirty-seven
miles, and from the latter to the Distributing Reservoir, five
and one half miles. The report states that the structure
of masonry has been adopted instead of iron pipes, on the
ground of its superiority in point of economy, durability
and efficiency." Also, the crossing of the Harlem river
is proposed to be effected by means of an aqueduct bridge,
eleven hundred and eighty feet long from abutment to
abutment, consisting of nine semi-circular arches. The
height of the structure, from the water-line of the river to
the water-line of the aqueduct, would be one hundred and
twenty-six feet, exclusive of the hydraulic foundations,
which would be from ten to twenty feet more. A structure
adapted to these dimensions would, of course, be a work of
considerable labor and expense, but by no means of para-
mount difficulty in either respects."
A feasible and durable plan for supplying the city of
New York with pure water in abundance for not only its
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population at the time, but for the anticipated rapid in-
crease in the future, had, since the year eighteen hundred
and twenty, agitated the public mind, and various methods
had been devised, and plans reported upon, none of which
to this period, proved acceptable to the citizens.
Major Douglass at once comprehended the importance
of the undertaking, both as to the health and its bearing
upon the future growth of the city, and earnestly devoted
himself to the successful accomplishment of the work.
The first investigations were directed to finding an
abundant and unfailing supply of pure, wholesome water,
and at an elevation that would allow of its flow into the
city by its own gravitation, and with a head that would
supply the upper stories of the buildings, and that could
be used from the hydrant for the extinguishment of
fires.
With these purposes in view Major Douglass commen-
ced his explorations and surveys in May, eighteen hundred
and thirty-three, and in the following month he reported
examinations of "all the chief tributaries of the Croton
river and several of the remarkable reservoirs from which
they derive their supply ; generalizing meanwhile the
slope of the left bank with reference to the various routes
of exit in the direction of the city. This is indeed a
wonderful country for water, whether we regard the
abundance or the purity of its fountains; and the inter-
vening obstacles appear less formidable than I had sup-
posed them to be."
On the completion of the preliminary surveys and
an estimate of cost, Major Douglass submitted a report to
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MAJOR DAVID BATES DOUGLASS.
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the Board of Commissioners, and the feasibility of the
plan was so clearly shown, that the sanction of the Legis-
lature was readily obtained in an Act of May, eighteen
hundred and thirty-four, for proceeding with the construc-
tion of the work. Douglass was appointed by the Commis-
sioners Chief Engineer.
As early as October, eighteen hundred and thirty-five,
the surveys necessary for the location of the Croton Dam
were completed, but, in opposition to the judgment of the
Chief Engineer, the Commissioners changed the location
to Garretson's Mill, with a graduation of forty feet as its
height.
Throughout his term of service Major Douglass found
great difficulty in maintaining proper discipline in his
corps of engineers, from the limited power with which
the Commissioners invested him. They were unwilling to
admit the necessity of an Engineering Department, and
while Major Douglass fully realized the magnitude of the
undertaking, the Board regarded it as little more than an
extended job of plain masonry, that might easily be con-
structed upon very economical principles.
There existed widely different views of economy and
discipline between the first Board of Commissioners and
the Chief Engineer, which finally led to a change that was
universally regretted by the numerous friends of Major
Douglass. In October, eighteen hundred and thirty-six,
he was removed from the charge which his experience and
high scientific attainments so ably qualified him to prose-
cute to completion. His surveys, plans, drawings and
reports were submitted to the Board, and by them
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adopted, and the construction of the work passed into
other hands.
The various surmises and rumors consequent upon the
abrupt and unexpected discharge of Major Douglass by
the Board of Commissioners, in many instances prejudicial
to his reputation, and from which he would not undertake
to exonerate himself, although urged by several members of
the Board to do so, is fully explained in the following
letter to one of the Commissioners, in eighteen hundred
and forty
"In addressing a few lines to you on the subject of the
unpleasant controversy which occurred in eighteen hun-
dred and thirty-five and six, I cannot think it will be
necessary to say much in the way of vindicating myself.
You did not indeed witness but a very small portion of the
violence and overbearing of Mr. Allen's conduct to me,
but enough must have been seen to assure you that it was
wholly as involuntary as it certainly was free from person-
ality on my part. Should you have any doubts on this
point, they cannot but be removed when I assure you that
painful as the controversy was in itself, and disastrous as
the consequences have been to me to be thus thrown out of
employment suddenly and unexpectedly, at a time when
all other resources were unavailable; to have a great work,
the only one which I had thought worthy of my ambition,
taken out of my hands after being matured in all its most
difficult features; my professional character-the capital
on which I and many others depend for our daily bread-
assailed,-to have experienced all this at the hands of Mr.
Allen, while my friends were importuning me to write,
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and members of the Common Council urging me to fur-
nish statements, yet I resisted all influences, and published
not a line.
It would have been very easy to show the unsound-
ness of every allegation brought against me, either in the
Commissioners, report or in the papers, from eighteen
hundred and thirty-five to the present time. I pledge my-
self to do this for you, or for the new Board, whenever you
or they may desire it; but I abstain from doing it before
the public, simply because I resolved that no consideration
of a personal kind should induce me to do anything to
disturb or interrupt the progress of the great work. Let
me beg you to consider the exceeding injustice of the
assertion often made by Mr. Alleys and Mr. Allen, that I
had been a partisan in opposition to the Water Commis-
sioners. Had I been such a partisan these gentlemen
would have heard from me in different style, but I have
not been."
In eighteen hundred and thirty-seven and thirty-eight
Major Douglass made an examination and report on the
hydraulic power of the Monmouth Purchase, also a recon-
noissance of the coal region of the Upper Potomac, and
from eighteen hundred and thirty-seven to eighteen hun-
dred and forty, he was occupied in laying out the grounds
of Greenwood Cemetery. This beautiful locality was
observed by him as highly appropriate to such a purpose
while engaged in the construction of the Brooklyn and
Jamaica Railroad. These surveys, although they had no
reference originally to this object, were incidentally applied
to it in public lectures, which he was called upon to deliver
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in Brooklyn, about the period of eighteen hundred and
thirty-five. The original cemetery comprised only one
hundred and seventy-eight acres, the ground declining in
some places to valleys of less than twenty feet above tide
water, and in others rising to hills of more than two hun-
dred feet. Mount Washington is two hundred and sixteen
feet, being the most elevated ground in Kings County, and
one of the highest points on Long Island. A heavy
native growth of fine old forest trees suggested the name
of Greenwood" as appropriate for this cemetery. The
artistic skill and classic taste of Major Douglass is beauti-
fully illustrated in the laying out of this quiet and roman-
tic home for the dead.
It contains four hundred and thirteen acres of hill and
dale. Mount Auburn is beautiful, Laurel Hill has its
charms, but none of the cemeteries of the country can
compare with Greenwood in the wonderful grandeur of its
views, its variety of landscape, and its extent. The ave-
nues extend for nearly twenty-five miles, and it has several
hundred miles of walks and paths within its enclosure.
From eighteen hundred and thirty-nine about five mil-
lion dollars have been received, and nearly all of it ex-
pended on improvements. To grade the grounds, and lay
out the avenues and walks, was an immense work, and it
has continued through many years, not being entirely
completed even now.
The principal entrance to Greenwood is on Fifth avenue,
South Brooklyn the gateway is a magnificent and costly
structure of Gothic form, and constructed of the finest
brown sandstone. It is very large, and presents an im-
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posing and massive appearance. This gateway is probably
the finest piece of architecture of its kind in this country.
In his letter of resignation to the Board of Trustees of
Greenwood Cemetery, of which he was President, ten-
dered in January, eighteen hundred and forty-one, Major
Douglass remarked : "The local organization and the lay-
ing out of the grounds is now essentially completed. To
have left this in an imperfect or unfinished state would
have incurred the loss of much previous labor. I have
felt it imperative, therefore, to remain in office at all
hazards until it was finished. It has been a work of much
greater labor than I supposed when I commenced it. The
extent as well as the varied features of the ground have
called for long-continued, oft-repeated, and very careful
study ; and this I have given it, but with what effect can-
not be seen until the design shall have been in some de-
gree carried out by the opening of the avenues."
The immediate cause of Major Douglass's resignation
was his acceptance of a call to the Presidency of Kenyon
College, in Ohio. Before leaving for his new charge, he
submitted the plans and drawings for the improvement of
the cemetery grounds to the Board. Mr. J. A. Perry, of
Brooklyn, writing to him upon the subject a year subse-
quently, observed :
"Anything about Greenwood, and especially its long
desired success, would not be an uninteresting theme to
its old and faithful friend. We are now opening our ave-
nues through the forests, and they open most beautifully.
Having, providentially it would seem, nothing to occupy
my time since March last, I have devoted it all to Green-
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wood, and delightful work, now that it is crowned with
success, has it been. In June we propose to consecrate
our grounds. It is but meet that one who has contrib-
uted so greatly to the establishment, and developed SO
admirably the beauties of Greenwood, as we delight in
thinking you have done, should participate in the cere-
monies of that occasion. Can you not be with us?"
Major Douglass replied as follows :
"Believe me, you could not have done me a greater
favor than in thus communicating the future brightness of
Greenwood. My own associations with it are as fondly
cherished, and all my recollections of it are as fresh as
ever. How delighted would I be could I promise myself,
with any degree of assurance, the pleasure you hold up to
my view SO temptingly, of joining with you in the ap-
proaching consecration; but I fear it is impossible.
" I can realize how delightful a relief the Green-
wood improvements must be to your mind. Pressed and
borne down as I frequently was while there engaged, its
associations were always vivifying and gladdening to me.
Its deep shades and quiet retreats, its old oaks and green
cedars, the umber foliage during its Indian summer, the
setting sun from Mount Washington, its breezes and its
flocks of birds, every thing about it was unlike any thing
else in this world. I yearn to see them again. Indeed,
every thing about Brooklyn continues to interest me as
much as ever. No lapse of time can efface the smallest of
the recollections by which it is endeared to me."
The following letter from Professor Olmstead, of Yale
College, to Rev. Malcolm Douglass, indicates the feelings
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of those with whom Major Douglass was early associated,
and the deep interest his class-mates manifested in his
subsequent varied and brilliant career :
"I send herewith the interesting letter addressed by
your honored father to his class-mates at their thirty
years' meeting, in eighteen hundred and forty-three. It
was read in the meeting and listened to with lively inter-
est, but with deep regret that the writer could not make
one of our most delightful party. Professor Douglass
was justly regarded as a member who had done great
honor to his class, by his gallantry in the service of his
country during the war of eighteen hundred and twelve,
and by his eminence as a man of science, particularly by
the great public works which he projected, several of
which remain as durable monuments of his genius and
skill."
Major Douglass continued his association with Kenyon
College until eighteen hundred and forty-four, when he
returned to the East and occupied his time until eighteen
hundred and forty-eight, in the active discharge of various
duties, among which were the planning and laying out of
the Albany Rural and of the Quebec Cemeteries, the sur-
vey of the Albany Water Works, the drainage and gradu-
ation of South Brooklyn, the planning a supporting wall
for a portion of Brooklyn Heights, in examinations and
reports upon the best method for supplying that city with
water, and the laying out of the grounds of the New
Brighton Association of Staten Island. In eighteen hundred
and forty-eight he was called to the chair of Mathematics at
Geneva (now Hobart) College, which he accepted although
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other propositions were laid before him with offers of
greater compensation.
Major Douglass died at his residence in Geneva, New
York, October twenty-first, eighteen hundred and forty-
nine, from the effects of a paralytic stroke, at the age of
fifty-nine years. His remains were deposited at Geneva.
After the lapse of little more than twelve months they were
removed thence to the Greenwood Cemetery, in answer
to a request based upon the following resolution by the
Cemetery Board, December second, eighteen hundred and
fifty, as follows : "Resolved, that two lots for the use of
the family of the late Major Douglass be designated by
the Standing Committee, and when the remains of Major
Douglass are deposited therein, the said Committee shall
cause the lots to be suitably enclosed, and an appropriate
monument to the memory of Major Douglass erected
thereon." His remains now repose in that beautiful
Necropolis, to the creation of which his admirable genius
so largely contributed No monument to his memory has
yet been erected there. At this period the only perman-
ent public memorial of his life and of his death, is to be
found in the large and richly stained monumental windows
of the South Aisle of Trinity Church, Geneva, upon which
is traced the following inscription : "To the glory and
praise of God. The children of the late David Bates
Douglass, filled with affection for his memory, and with
devout gratitude for his paternal precepts and Christian
example, erect this Memorial Window."
Major Douglass in stature was several inches above the
medium height, slender, but finely proportioned, with an
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energetic, earnest movement and distinguished military
presence. His features, without being regular or hand-
some, were strongly marked and striking; his hair was
dark, and his eyes black, large, and restless; his voice
deep-toned and firm. With brilliant conversational powers
he combined a manner of address polished, quiet, and
unostentatious. He was a favorite of the drawing-room
and of the family circle. Religious in his proclivities, he
superintended with pious vigilance the education of his
family. His two eldest sons were graduates of Kenyon
College. The eldest, Charles Edward, was destined for
the Church. After graduating, he passed regularly
through the University Course at Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, England, with high honor, and is now the Rector
of St. Stephen's Church, Brighton, England. The second
son, Andrew Ellicott, entered into business in New York.
The third son, Malcolm, graduated at Trinity College,
Hartford, Connecticut, and is now the Rector of St. Paul's
Church, Windsor, Vermont. From him many valuable
papers were obtained and used in the preparation of this
imperfect sketch of his distinguished and venerated father.
The fourth son, Henry, after going partly through a col-
lege course, entered the U.S. Military Academy at West
Point, and graduated in eighteen hundred and fifty-one.
Major Douglass also left four daughters.
One might deem the years of Major Douglass compara-
tively few in number and his death premature, but in
glancing at the leading events of his life from his early
graduation at Yale College to the period of his death, with
the reflection that within the narrow limits of a biography
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
of this nature, only the professional incidents could be
recorded, he had lived long in useful mental exertion.
Every hour had been occupied in earnest labor for the
cultivation of others, or in plans for the military defence
or public improvements of his country. While Professor
of Architecture of the University of the City of New York,
the University buildings were constructed from his design,
being the first introduction into this country of the Eliza-
bethan style.
The following tribute to the peculiar qualities of Major
Douglass as a teacher, and his character as a Christian, is
from the sermon of the Rev. Dr. Hale, President of
Hobart College, upon the death of Major Douglass, and,
coming from one who was SO well qualified to judge, and
who had been associated with him as a teacher and neigh-
bor, gives it greater value and force :
By the caste of his mind and the qualities of his heart,
no less than by the extent of his attainments, he was
fitted to be a teacher. He had a rare facility in acquiring
knowledge and making himself master of it in all its
broadest principles and minutest details ; but it seemed to
be his greatest pleasure and the peculiar tendency of his
mind to impart it. He loved books, but if I may judge
from my acquaintance with him, which was intimate, he
was less a reader than a thinker. He looked reverently
upon books-books which he desired and sought-and read
them, not for amusement, but a serious occupation for the
nourishment of his mind and heart. He read, therefore,
not superficially, but intently, as he would have listened to
the voice of a teacher in answer to earnest and important
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MAJOR DAVID BATES DOUGLASS.
221
inquiries. He possessed great powers of analysis, which
he exercised, not in a captious or doubting spirit, but that
he might better know and form the material whereon to
exercise that faculty of his intellect, which was more
peculiarly his characteristic, the constructive talent.
Hence whatever he knew, he knew thoroughly and system-
atically. Hence his views, his opinions, his aims, were all
definite. Hence the depth and clearness of his instruction.
Hence in conversation he was still the teacher, and with-
out any of the forms of argument, his discourse, clear in its
own light, was full of information."
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
SURVEYOR AND CIVIL ENGINEER.
THE name of Jonathan Knight, associated as it is
with the first important American railroad, of which
he was the first Chief Engineer for a period of twelve
years, must ever be regarded with interest by American
Engineers.
Jonathan Knight, the son of Abel Knight and Ann S.
Knight, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on the
twenty-second day of November, seventeen hundred and
eighty-seven. His father was a weaver by trade, but
could survey land and teach school. He removed his
family in eighteen hundred and one into the town of East
Bethlehem, Washington County, where Jonathan resided
until his death.
In early life the limited means of his father did not per-
mit of his being educated in an academy or college; his
facilities for instruction were necessarily confined to the
ordinary primary schools then in the country. He was
required by his father to be very industrious when quite
young, and his unquenchable thirst for knowledge im-
pelled him to read and study at home, mostly at night,
thus acquiring a habit of close application to work and
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
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study, and laying the foundation of a good American edu-
cation.
He early showed a peculiar talent for the exact sciences
and mathematics, and at the age of twelve years had
worked Dilworth's Arithmetic through, and set the result
down in a blank book. Soon after commencing with this
Arithmetic, he was looking forward in the book, and dis-
covered the process of extracting the square root, and so
told his father, who hesitated to believe it; but he satisfied
him by immediately working a number of examples.
After this he needed but little instruction as he advanced
in the science of numbers.
He studied surveying with his father, and when he was
eighteen years of age he obtained Bonnycastle's Algebra,
and studied it successfully into quadratic equations. At this
time he had never seen a person who understood algebra.
During the next year, being informed of a teacher who
was teaching algebra in a neighboring town he went there,
and received lessons in this branch for three or four months,
which was the extent of his schooling in mathematics.
About this time he cultivated the habit of solving ques-
tions or problems mentally, when engaged in working on
his father's farm, or in drawing fire-wood home in the
winter. Upon starting to the woods for a load he would
read a question, and when he returned and unloaded his
sleigh, he would go into the house to warm, and while
there set the solution down, and read another question,
then start to the woods again, and so continue. He was
in the habit, at an early age, upon entering a building
that was being erected, of obtaining its dimensions, and
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
then proceed to estimate the quantity of materials used in
the construction; if brick, the number of them, and even
the number of nails and shingles used.
In eighteen hundred and nine he married Ann Heston,
in a meeting of the Society of Friends, in accordance with
their Order, and continued during his life in the fellowship
of that Society.
When twenty-one years of age, Jonathan commenced
teaching school and surveying land on his own account,
which occupation he pursued until the spring of eighteen
hundred and fifteen, when he purchased some land, intend-
ing to devote his time to farming and surveying. His
engagements for surveying land became so numerous that
he found very little time to attend to his farm. And the
next year (eighteen hundred and sixteen) he was ap-
pointed by the State Government of Pennsylvania to make
the surveys and a map of Washington County, in order to
facilitate the forming of Melish's map of the State. This
duty involved much field labor, the instrumental survey-
ing requiring one hundred days' work in its performance.
This service having been satisfactorily performed, Mr.
Knight served three years as County Commissioner, to
which office he was elected by the people.
Soon after, he entered upon civil engineering, having
served in subordinate stations in the preliminary surveys
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and in those for the
National Road between Cumberland and Wheeling. He
was appointed, in eighteen hundred and twenty-five, by
the Federal Government, a Commissioner to extend that
road from Wheeling, through the States of Ohio and
Indiana, to Illinois.
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
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In eighteen hundred and twenty-two he was elected a
member of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and served in
the House of Representatives, and in the Senate for six
consecutive sessions.
Immediately after the organization of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company, in April, eighteen hundred and
twenty-seven, Jonathan Knight and Colonel Stephen H.
Long were selected by the Board of Directors to make the
necessary surveys of the country through which the road
was to pass. The Government of the United States, justly
appreciating the importance of the enterprise, also ex-
tended to it a most liberal patronage. Several able and
efficient members of the Topographical Corps were detailed
to the service of the Company, among whom were Captain
William Gibbs McNeill, Lieutenants Joshua Barney, Isaac
Trimble, Richard E. Hazard, William Cook, Walter Gwynn,
and John L. Dillahunty, of the United States Army, and
William Harrison, Jr., Assistant Engineer, who proceeded
to examine the various routes from the city of Baltimore
to the valley of the Potomac, and along that river and
valley to Cumberland, and from thence to a general re-
connoissance of the country between the Potomac and
the Ohio river. Messrs. Knight and Long, on the fifth of
April, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, made an able
report, accompanied by statements of the officers detailed
by the Government, recommending what they deemed to
be the most practicable route.
These reports having been carefully examined by the
Board of Directors, President Philip E. Thomas reported
to the stockholders that the preliminary examinations had
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resulted in a conviction of the entire practicability of a
railroad from Baltimore to the Ohio river, and that " they
were convinced that of the various routes which had been
suggested, the one along the valley of the Patapsco, and
thence in the direction of Linganore Creek, to the Point
of Rocks, was so decidedly preferable as to preclude any
hesitation in awarding it the preference."
The construction of the road was commenced on the
fourth of July, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, and
the event was celebrated with great ceremony. The first
stone was laid by the venerable Charles Carroll, of Carroll-
ton, then over ninety years of age, on the south-west line
of the city. In the month of August following, the loca-
tion of the line, adopted by the Directors, having been
effected and unanimously approved by the Board of Engi-
neers, contracts were entered into for the grading and
masonry of fourteen miles, between the city and Ellicott's
Mills, on the Patapsco. On this section of the road is the
" Carrollton Viaduct," a fine structure of dressed granite,
with an arch of eighty feet span, over Gwynn's Falls, near
the city.
CARROLLTON VIADUCT.
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
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A few miles further on a deep cut was required-famous
for the difficulties it presented in the early history of this
road-seventy-six feet in extreme depth and nearly half a
mile in length. The traces of the slides and gullies of
over forty years are to be seen upon its furrowed sides,
tinted with various ochrous colors of the richest hue.
Eight miles from Baltimore, the open country of sand and
clay ends, and the region of rock begins at the entrance to
the gorge of the Patapsco river. At this point is the
"Thomas Viaduct," a noble granite structure of eight
elliptical arches, each of about sixty feet chord, spanning
the stream at a height of sixty-six feet above its bed, and
of a total length of seven hundred feet. This bridge is on
the Washington branch road, which departs from the
main line at this place. Three miles from the Relay House,
on the main road, is the "Patterson Viaduct," a fine
granite work of two arches of fifty-five feet, and two of
twenty feet span over the river, at a very rugged part of
the ravine.
At Ellicott's Mills, the Frederick Turnpike is crossed
by the railroad upon the "Oliver Viaduct," a handsome
stone bridge of three arches of twenty feet span. The
road was completed to this point and opened for travel
on the twenty-fourth of May, eighteen hundred and
thirty. Those who had doubted the utility of the enter-
prise became its advocates and supporters, the whole
country was satisfied, and railroads were commenced in
other States on the result of this experiment. The follow-
ing interesting account of the early history of this pioneer
improvement, and the motive power used upon it, is
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
copied from an interesting lecture of the Hon. John H. B.
Latrobe, the distinguished legal counsellor of the Com-
pany, delivered in Baltimore, in eighteen hundred and
sixty-eight :
" It is amusing, with the knowledge we now have of
such things, to look back to the fancies of eighteen hun-
dred and twenty-five and six. In the latter year a suffi-
cient feeling had been gotten up to justify a town meeting
on the subject of Western communications. A committee
was appointed, resolutions were adopted, a charter,
modelled mainly on the old turnpike charters, was pre-
pared, the Legislature was applied to successfully, and, in
March, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, the first railroad
company in the United States for general purposes of trans-
portation was launched into existence, with a capital of one
and a half million dollars, with liberty to increase it, and
the city of Baltimore and the State of Maryland were
authorized to subscribe to the stock.
Then came a scene which almost beggars description.
By this time public excitement had gone far beyond fever
heat, and reached the boiling point. Everybody wanted
stock. The number of subscribers were to be apportioned if
the limit of the capital should be exceeded, and every one
set about obtaining proxies. Parents subscribed in the
names of their children, and paid the dollar on each share
that the rules prescribed. Before a survey had been made
-before common sense had been consulted even, the
possession of stock in any quantity was regarded as a pro-
vision for old age, and great was the scrabble to obtain it.
The excitement in Baltimore roused public attention else-
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
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where, and a railroad mania began to pervade the land.
But Baltimore led all the rest ; there can be no doubts
of that.
"Then came the surveys. The greatest work in the
country in those days was the National Road from Wash-
ington city to Wheeling, and its Chief Engineer, Jonathan
Knight, a member of the Society of Friends, a profound
mathematician, and an honest and able man, was brought
into the service of the new Company. Along with him
came his Superintendent of Construction, Mr. Weaver, who
had built miles and miles of turnpike in Ohio. They came
from a sandstone country, where rocks could be cut like
cheese almost, to win a pretty costly experience in the
granite districts of Maryland. To these were added engi-
neers from the United States Army, who brought West
Point to bear upon the road. A mission of engineers
were sent to England while the surveys were going
on at home. Every thing was done with an eager
enthusiasm that was unexampled even in our enterprising
annals.
"In the beginning, no one dreamed of steam upon the
road. Horses were to do the work ; and even after the
line was completed to Frederick, relays of horses trotted
the cars from place to place. In this, the Relay House, at
the junction of the Washington branch, obtained its name.
One great desideratum was to reduce the friction of the
axles in their boxes, and about this time Mr. Ross Winans
made his appearance in Baltimore, and instantly became a
celebrity, with his friction wheel, unquestionably an in-
genious and beautiful contrivance.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
'The town went wild with 'the Winans friction wheel,'
and the speaker remembers well, as though it were but
yesterday, seeing Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, who was
the great man on all great occasions in Baltimore, seated
on a little car in one of the upper rooms of the Exchange,
and being drawn by a ridiculously small weight attached
to a string passed over a pulley and dropping into the
hall below. Around him were all the prominent men in
Baltimore, and all were as much pleased as children
with a new toy. In fact, there was a verdant freshness
about railroad things in those days that it is wonderful to
recollect.
And yet the Company, stumbling along, with many a
fall and many a bruise, made headway notwithstanding,
and gave to the Companies fast multiplying in all direc-
tions the benefit of its experience. Nothing was more
sought after by engineers than the Company's reports.
With a great deal now useless there was mixed a great
deal of scientific and mathematical information. Accurate
tables for the location of curves, for estimating quantities,
for regulating grades, were to be found there. The Com-
pany's very errors imparted lessons of wisdom. What
now seems simple was then abstruse, and it was only nat-
ural that the managers of new works should resort to the
first railroad which had arrived at practical results in the
United States, for information.
"When steam made its appearance on the Liverpool
and Manchester Railroad it attracted great attention here.
But there was this difficulty about introducing an English
engine on an American road. An English road was
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
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virtually a straight road. An American road had
curves sometimes of as small radius as two hundred feet.
There was not capital enough in the United States appli-
cable to railroad purposes, to justify engineers in setting
nature at defiance. If a tunnel through a spur could be
saved by a road around it, the tunnel was postponed and
the circuitous route adopted, although the distance was
increased in consequence ; so, if embankments could be
saved by heading valleys, in place of crossing them. This
led to sharp curves here, where they would have been
straight lines in England. No better illustration of this is
to be seen than near the Relay House, or Washington
Junction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where the
curve, as the road turned into the gorge of the Patapsco,
was originally located with less than three hundred feet
radius, to avoid the necessity of the cut, that has since
been made through the rocky, northern jaw of the gorge.
A tunnel is now cut at the Point of Rocks, through the
hard intractable material which is there met with, in a
spur of the Catoctin mountain, which, in the first instance,
the road was located to avoid. For a brief season it was
believed that this feature of the early American roads
would prevent the use of locomotive engines. The con-
trary was demonstrated by a gentleman still living in an
active and ripe old age, honored and beloved, distinguished
for his private worth and for his public benefactions one
of those to whom wealth seems to have been granted by
Providence that men might know how wealth could be
used to benefit one's fellow-creatures. The speaker refers
to Mr. Peter Cooper, of New York. Mr. Cooper was
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
satisfied that steam might be adapted to the curved roads
which he saw would be built in the United States, and he
came to Baltimore, which then possessed the only one on
which he could experiment, to vindicate his belief. He
had another idea, which was that the crank could be dis-
pensed with in the change from a reciprocating to a rotary
motion ; and he built an engine to demonstrate both
articles of his faith. The machine was not larger than the
hand-cars used by workmen to transfer themselves from
place to place ; and, as the speaker now recalls its appear-
ance, the only wonder is that SO apparently insignificant
a contrivance should ever have been regarded as compe-
tent to the smallest results. But Mr. Cooper was wiser
than many of the wisest around him. His engine could
not have weighed a ton ; but he saw in it a principle
which the forty-ton engines of to-day have but served to
develop and demonstrate.
The boiler of Mr. Cooper's engine was not as large as
the kitchen boiler attached to many a range in modern
mansions. It was of about the same diameter, but not
much more than half as high. It stood upright in the car,
and was filled above the furnace, which occupied the lower
section with vertical tubes. The cylinder was but three
and one half inches in diameter, and speed was gotten up
by gearing. No natural draught could have been suffi-
cient to keep up steam in so small a boiler ; and Mr.
Cooper used therefore a blowing apparatus, driven by a
drum attached to one of the car wheels, over which passed
a chord that in its turn worked a pulley on the shaft of
the blower.
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
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"And this was the first locomotive for railroad purposes
ever built in America, and this was the first transportation of
persons by steam that had ever taken place on this side of the
Atlantic.
FIRST AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE.
"Mr. Cooper's success was such as to induce him to try
a trip to Ellicott's Mills, and an open car, the first used
upon the road already mentioned, having been attached to
his engine and filled with the Directors and some friends,
the speaker among the rest, the first journey by steam in
America was commenced. The trip was most interesting.
The curves were passed without difficulty at a speed of
fifteen miles an hour ; the grades were ascended with com-
parative ease ; the day was fine, the company in the
highest spirits, and some excited gentlemen of the party
pulled out memorandum-books, and when at the highest
speed, which was eighteen miles an hour, wrote their names
and some connected sentences, to prove that even at that
great velocity it was possible to do SO. The return trip
from the Mills, a distance of thirteen miles, was made in
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
fifty-seven minutes. This was in the summer of eighteen
hundred and thirty."
LETTER FROM MR. LATROBE.
BALTIMORE, January 29th, 1870.
Genl. CHARLES B. STUART :
DEAR SIR,-
*
I give above all that I recollect of the tout ensemble of
the first trips to Ellicott's Mills, described in my lecture, to
which you refer.
It is generally correct in the look of the Cooper Engine,
save that perhaps the boiler is larger than it should be in
proportion to the size of Mr. Cooper, the Engineman for
the occasion. The fan is shown, that was driven by a
cord retained in a groove in a wooden rim attached to the
wheel. I think the cylinder was upright and fastened to
the boiler, and that the piston rod moved a cross-head,
which had connecting rods that either worked cranks or a
spur wheel mashing into a pinion on the axle, or was con-
nected with Mr. Cooper's contrivance to dispense with the
crank as a means of converting the reciprocating motion
of the piston into a rotary motion. There was a narrow
platform outside the wheels and below the axles, which I
well recollect, and a railing that one might hold on to,
while standing on the platform. I recollect it, for when
steam was let into the cylinder for the first time in the car
shops at Mount Clare, I remember that several of the
Directors and myself stepped upon the platform and
steadied ourselves by the rail when the wheels made their
first revolution, and the first yard of movement followed.
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
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The passenger car is about right in the above representa-
tion of it. The likeness of the passengers is not flattered ;
the idea of a perfect jam, however, is sufficiently indicated.
These I do not recollect in detail. About the tout ensemble,
the general effect, there can be no question, nor can there
be any question with regard to the facts stated by me, as
such, in the lecture you refer to.
I have brought to my mind by this sketch, the whole
scene of the railroad trip, and am altogether satisfied with
my illustration, not as a work of art, of course, but as the
idea of that which startled the country people along the
line of the Patapsco, who turned out to gaze upon the
strange exhibition on the twenty-eighth of August,
eighteen hundred and thirty.
It may be interesting here to compare the pioneer
American passenger car attached to the Cooper Loco-
motive, with the first passenger car built for the Stock-
ton and Darlington, the first railroad for passengers
constructed in England, in eighteen hundred and twenty-
five, from a design by Mr. Stephenson, C. E. It was,
however, a very unpretentious, and indeed a somewhat
uncouth machine, more resembling the caravans still to
be seen at country fairs, containing the "Giant and the
Dwarf," and other wonders of the world, than a passen-
ger coach of any extant form. A row of seats ran along
each side of the interior, and a long deal table was fixed in
the centre, the access being by means of a door in the rear
end, in the manner of an Omnibus. Mr. Stephenson was
consulted as to the name of the coach, and he at once
suggested, " The Experiment," and by. this name it was
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
called. The Company's arms were afterwards painted on
its side with the motto, "Periculum privatum utilitas pub-
lica."*
FIRST RAILROAD PASSENGER CAR.
Between Baltimore and Ellicott's Mills there were
several curves in the line, of four hundred feet radii, and
the use of locomotives on this portion of road was thought
to be impracticable. The manner, however, in which this
obstacle was overcome is alluded to by Mr. Ross Winans,
who witnessed the performance of the engine constructed
and run by Mr. Cooper, in a letter to Philip E. Thomas,
President of the Railroad Company. This admirable effect
of turning curves of four hundred feet radii at fast speed
with very little if any resistance, I believe to be new in
the history of railways, or at least that it is brought
to a greater degree of perfection on the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad than on any other. It results from
the judicious and scientific construction of the tread of the
main wheels introduced by Mr. Knight, your Principal
Engineer, by combining the cone and cylinder, which
Smilie's " Lives of Engineers," third volume, page 170.
To avoid the friction of the flanges of the wheels against the rails, Mr. James
Wright, of Columbia, Pa., had invented a method which consisted in giving a
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
237
expedient, as far as I know, has never been attempted in
Europe.
The trite adage that "necessity is the mother of inven-
tion," was never more fully verified than in the adaptation
of rolling machinery to this railway. "The unavoidable
curves and ascents of the road induced many to believe
that the use of steam to any extent was impracticable, and
that horse-power must be applied, at all events upon much
the greater portion of the road."* To overcome these im-
pediments, Mr. Knight instituted a series of most careful
experiments, based on elaborate scientific calculations in
reference to the best form of rail ; the best form for the
tread of the wheel ; resistance to motion ; the tractive
power of horses and locomotives adhesion of wheels upon
the rail, and other relative subjects bearing upon the most
efficient adaptation of machinery to the movement of rail-
way trains. His conclusions, deduced from these experi-
ments, are recognized as correct, and are accepted by rail-
way engineers to the present time.
During the construction of the railroad between Balti-
more and Ellicott's Mills, Mr. Knight visited England to
acquire knowledge in that then new department of Civil
Engineering. Upon his return, in eighteen hundred and
thirty, he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Company,
but his duties did not embrace the superintendence of con-
struction. He located the road, planned the structures
conical form to the rim of the wheel, so that wherever the road curves, the larger
part of the rim of the outer wheel comes on the rail, and consequently travels
faster than the inner wheel-Treatise on Railroads by Thomas Earle, Phila, 1830.
Report, President and Directors B. and O. Railroad, Oct., 1832.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
and machinery, and prepared the work for contract, after
which it was placed in charge of the Engineer of Construc-
tion. This organization continued until eighteen hundred
and thirty-six, at which time the main stem of the road
was completed to Harper's Ferry, and the branch to
Washington in operation. The road was opened to Har-
per's Ferry, eighty-two miles from Baltimore, December
first, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, at a cost of about
four millions of dollars.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-five Mr. Knight made a
personal examination of the country between Cumberland
and the Ohio river, to ascertain its general adaptation to
a route for the railroad across the Alleghany range. His
report of this reconnoissance is comprehensive and instruc-
tive, and ably. develops the principle upon which a rail-
road, located over such a country, should be made. In
these examinations he exhibited the correctness of eye, and
the accuracy in computing distances and elevations, for
which he was very remarkable.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-nine the construction of
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, between Harper's
Ferry and Cumberland, ninety-eight miles, was com-
menced, and opened for travel in November, eighteen hun-
dred and forty-two. During the progress of this work,
and until April of the latter year, Mr. Knight was em-
ployed in various duties of a general character, occasion-
ally visiting the line to inspect the work, but chiefly em-
ployed in the preparation of reports upon various subjects
connected with the general interests of the Company.
The able reports and elaborate analytical papers which he
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
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prepared during a series of years, and which appear in the
annual publications of the Company, do him great credit
as a scientific investigator. In April, eighteen hundred
and forty-two, he resigned his position as an officer of the
Company, and retired to his farm in Pennsylvania. Sub-
sequently, however, he was employed as Consulting Engi-
neer by the Company on important engineering questions,
and, in eighteen hundred and forty-four and forty-seven,
he co-operated with the city of Wheeling in the contro-
versy and negotiations between that city and the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad Company, respecting the route
to Wheeling, and which was compromised in eighteen
hundred and forty-seven; the Company accepting, in part,
the line recommended by him, and commencing the work
in eighteen hundred and fifty.
"Mr. Knight," says Benjamin H. Latrobe, the successor
of the subject of this sketch, in a recent letter to the
author, "showed much science and skill in his locations.
His thorough knowledge of elementary mathematics, and
his readiness in applying them to the solution of the many
questions which arose in that early day of railroad practice,
and his investigation of the elements of resistance to cars
moving upon railroads, displayed fine powers of analysis,
and were also marked by sound judgment in the state-
ment of results. Some of these investigations were pub-
lished in the early annual, and other reports of the Com-
pany. These papers display his distinguished ability as
an investigator of railroad questions, and great force and
perspicuity as a writer, the latter especially creditable to
one whose early education had of necessity been so limited.
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
In his location of the Washington Branch Road, Mr.
Knight exhibited much judgment. Although this road
was chiefly built for passenger business, and the features
of the country were unfavorable for low grades, he made
twenty feet per mile the limit, and the cheap working of
the line, with its heavy travel and increasing trade, is now
justifying his foresight. In locating the part of the main
stem beyond Ellicott's Mills, he adhered to the same prin-
ciples as far as was practicable, upon a route of so differ-
ent a character. He personally superintended the loca-
tion over Parr's Ridge for inclined planes, and thence on-
ward to the Point of Rocks, on the Potomac, sixty-seven
miles from Baltimore. Here commenced the great con-
test with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company for the
right of way up the Potomac, which Mr. Knight conducted
on the part of the railroad company, with signal talent,
both in adjusting the location of the two works on the dis-
puted ground, and in the controversial papers, wherein
the relative merits of canals and railroads were discussed
in that connection."
The leading characteristics of Mr. Knight, as a profes-
sional man, were strongly marked, and entitled him to a
high rank in the roll of American Civil Engineers. His
natural aptitude for the acquisition of knowledge in
the exact sciences, and especially those which depend
upon the skilful use of algebraic analysis, was unsur-
passed. The habit of close thinking, into which he was
led by the natural tendencies of his mind to mathe-
matical investigation, made him reason rigidly on all
subjects, and gave a philosophical cast to his conver-
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JONATHAN KNIGHT.
241
sation, upon almost every topic that he touched. Yet his
remarks were not a series of dry abstractions, but were
practical in their bearings, and enriched by illustration
and anecdote. In political economy he was well versed,
and expressed enlightened and comprehensive views upon
the subject of banking, trade, manufactures and agricul-
ture, of the last of which he possessed much practical
knowledge, derived from experience and careful obser-
vation. Politics, also, was a favorite theme with him,
and upon public measures he always expressed broad
and national views. He discussed the characters of our
public men with great spirit, and often with a sarcastic
humor which marked his conversations upon most sub-
jects. The character of Henry Clay appeared to be his
ideal of a statesman and orator.
In private life, he was distinguished by many excellent
qualities. He reared a large family-ten children-fulfill-
ing his domestic duties in the most exemplary manner,
bringing up his children in the fear of God, providing
for them with a judicious regard to their several capaci-
ties and dispositions. He left a comfortable estate, after
having settled all his children during his own lifetime ; and
among his neighbors and many friends, a character of
unsullied probity and consistent Christian kindness.
Mr. Knight was taken suddenly ill with bilious colic,
in a very severe form, at his home, on the thirteenth day
of November, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight. In a few
hours inflammation had set in, causing a severe pain and
a continued oppressive sensation in the chest. He died
on the ninth day of his illness, being the seventy-first
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
anniversary of his birth-day. During his last illness he
was very patient and calm, conversed little, but always
spoke pleasantly to those about him, recognizing them
until the last moment, and with his last words expressed
his belief " that he had made his peace with God and had
no matter to make up with any man ; and that he believed
he was entering upon a state of rest and happiness in the
life to come."
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BENJAMIN H. LATROBE,
CIVIL ENGINEER.
BENJAMIN H. LATROBE was born on the nineteenth
of December, eighteen hundred and six, in the city of
Philadelphia. He was the fifth child and youngest son of
Benjamin H. Latrobe, well known as an eminent civil en-
gineer and architect, in the early part of the present cen-
tury, and especially in connection with the Capitol of the
United States, the best features of which were designed
and executed by him, although he did not live to com-
plete the building. Mr. Latrobe, Senior, was descended
from a French Protestant family, which had emigrated
to Ireland. His father was an English clergyman, but
his mother was a Pennsylvania lady of the Antes family,
well known in Montgomery county of that State. He
emigrated to America in seventeen hundred and ninety-
se eight; and being a widower, married in eighteen
hundred, the eldest daughter of Isaac Hazlehurst, a Phil-
adelphia merchant, and also an Englishman by birth.
The subject of the present memoir was not educated
for the profession he afterwards pursued, and to which he
might have been so well trained in his father's office. He
was intended for the law ; and, although his father died
243
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
when his son was but fourteen, his purpose in regard to
him was adhered to, and having graduated at the Roman
Catholic College of St. Mary's, in Baltimore, at the age
of seventeen, he entered a law office, as a student, and
was admitted to the Baltimore bar before he had com-
pleted his twentieth year. He went soon after to New
Jersey, and commenced the practice of law in Salem
County ; but the climate not agreeing with his health, he
returned to Baltimore in eighteen hundred and twenty-
nine. Having meanwhile discovered that the legal profes-
sion was not to his taste, he left it the following year and
entered the service of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Company, as an assistant of Jonathan Knight, then Chief
Engineer of that Company.
The brother of the subject of our sketch, J. H. B. La-
trobe, Esq., the distinguished legal counsellor of the Bal-
timore and Ohio Railroad Company, was educated as an
engineer ; but maturity brought to him a taste for meta-
physics and law, and they have each chosen the path for
which nature intended them, and are leading men in their
respective professions.
Benjamin H. Latrobe, being already an accomplished
draughtsman, and a fine mathematician, soon rose
through several subordinate positions, to the rank of
principal assistant to Mr. Knight, and, in eighteen hundred
and thirty-two, began the location of the Washington
Branch Railroad, under his directions. This service oc-
cupied him until the close of eighteen hundred and thirty-
three. In the following year, he located that portion of
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, between the Point of
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BENJAMIN H. LATROBE.
245
Rocks and Harper's Ferry, which had not been previously
established by Mr. Knight, conjointly with the Engineer
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company.
In the same year he reconnoitred and reported upon
a railroad route from Harper's Ferry to Chambersburgh,
through Hagerstown, Maryland.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-five, Mr. Latrobe was
appointed Chief Engineer of the Baltimore and Port De-
posit Railroad, which was located and built under his
direction from Baltimore to Havre-de-Grace, thirty-four
miles. The features which distinguished this road were,
three bridges of considerable length, two of them with
draws, over rivers of moderate depth of water, but almost
unfathomable mud. They were supported upon piles,
and were the first long railroad bridges of this description
erected in the United States. The ferry at Havre-de-
Grace was also peculiar, the cars, with freight and bag-
gage, being transported across the river, three-fourths of
a mile wide, upon tracks laid upon the upper deck of a
steamboat, SO as to avoid breaking bulk ; a plan since
adopted successfully upon other railroads in this country.
Mr. Latrobe left the service of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, when he entered the other, in eighteen hundred
and thirty-five, but was recalled in eighteen hundred and
thirty-six, and appointed "Engineer of Location and
Construction," by that Company.
In this capacity, he executed all the surveys, planned
and superintended all the works of construction, with the
advice of Jonathan Knight, the Chief Engineer. He
remained in the service of the Baltimore and Port Deposit
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Railroad Company until the opening of that work in
July, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, and thencefor-
ward devoted his exclusive attention to the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad surveys, which were prosecuted during that
year to Wheeling and Pittsburg, on the Ohio. In
eighteen hundred and thirty-eight Mr. Latrobe made
an elaborate report upon these surveys, which extended
over a section of a mountainous country upwards of
three hundred miles in length and fifty or sixty miles in
breadth, in a manner to give much professional credit to
himself. It was through this able report that Mr. Latrobe
became well known to the profession throughout the
country, and he gained soon after a higher reputation by
a report upon the principal railroads of the Eastern and
Middle States, in which he was associated with Mr.
Knight.
In this year, also, the four inclined planes over Parr's
Ridge were replaced by a railroad, with grades of eighty
feet per mile, as located by Mr. Latrobe and constructed
under his supervision, and the general direction' of the
Chief Engineer. Some important changes were also
made in the bed of the road, by which a part of its
most objectionable curves were dispensed with.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-nine the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad from Harper's Ferry to Cumberland,
ninety-eight miles, was finally located, and its construc-
tion, upon the plans prepared by Mr. Latrobe and
approved by Mr. Knight, commenced. The work of chief
interest upon that part of the road were three tunnels—
the longest twelve hundred feet-and several bridges of
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BENJAMIN H. LATROBE.
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considerable magnitude, built of timber, upon a plan
approved by Mr. Latrobe, and in which arch braces were
adopted, with counterbraces and tie-rods between them.
The plan of these structures is fully described in Haupt's
work on Bridges.
This important division of the road was opened for
travel in November, eighteen hundred and forty-two,
Mr. Latrobe having previously been appointed Chief
Engineer, upon the retirement of Jonathan Knight in
April of that year.
After the completion of the road to Cumberland, Mr.
Latrobe was occupied during the succeeding years, up to
eighteen hundred and forty-seven, in a variety of duties,
all of which, however, related to the extension of the
railroad beyond Cumberland to the Ohio river. He
reconnoitred the country through Virginia, in eighteen
hundred and forty-three and forty-four, and in the latter
year pursued his examinations into Ohio, to the leading
centres of trade of that State. He also visited Richmond
during each winter of these years, in aid of the efforts
the Company were making to obtain an acceptable right
of way through Virginia, and was deputed by President
McLean, then on the eve of his departure as Minister to
England, to make the annual report to the stockholders,
in July, eighteen hundred and forty-five, and on his
recommendation they rejected the Virginia law of that
year
The transportation department of the railroad from
Baltimore to Cumberland, was also under his general
direction during that time, and in eighteen hundred and
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
forty-six the old plate rail track was replaced by T rail,
and many additional changes were made in the road bed.
and its most objectionable curves.
In eighteen hundred and forty-seven the surveys west of
Cumberland were resumed, and in that, and the two suc-
ceeding years, the line to Wheeling, two hundred miles in
length, was located, and most of it placed under contract.
In the location, plans, and construction of this part of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Mr. Latrobe performed a
most difficult task. The country presented unusually bold
features, even for a mountainous region. Two main sum-
mits, one of twenty-six hundred, and one of two thousand
feet above tide water, had to be passed, with a valley
between them less than fourteen hundred feet above the
ocean. Lines of better grade might have been had, but
with shorter curves and a greater expenditure of distance
and cost of construction. Mr. Latrobe selected the most
direct, and easiest to build, although it involved an
inclination unprecedented in leading railroad routes.
The principal summit of twenty-six hundred feet above
tide water, between the Potomac and Youghiogheny, was
passed by a grade averaging one hundred and sixteen
feet to the mile, for fifteen continuous miles. The same
grade was used for eight and one-half miles in descending
to the valley of Cheat river; and in crossing the second
summit of two thousand feet, between this river and
Tygart's Valley, about six miles of one hundred and five
feet grade was used on either side.
Mr. Latrobe had adopted this location on his own
responsibility, as the Company's Chief Engineer; but as
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BENJAMIN H. LATROBE.
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it presented novel and important questions, a Consulting
Board, composed of Jonathan Knight, Capt. John Childe,
and himself, was appointed to consider the subject.
Under the direction of this Board, new surveys were made
in eighteen hundred and forty-eight, which resulted, how-
ever, in showing that the best ground had already been
selected ; and in an elaborate report, made soon after,
the location of Mr. Latrobe was approved by his col-
leagues, and finally adopted by the Company.
The road was accordingly constructed upon that line,
and its natural features, and the works connected with
them, have become well known throughout the country.
Upon the two hundred miles between Cumberland and
Wheeling, there are twelve tunnels of various lengths,- -
the longest the 'Kingwood,"-four thousand one hun-
dred feet, through a compact slate rock, overlaid in part
by a good limestone roof, and for the rest of its length
supported by brick arching. There is a long deep cut at
each end of the tunnel. It was worked from both ends,
and from three shafts fifteen by twenty feet square, and
one hundred and eighty feet deep. The greatest height of
the ridge over the tunnel is two hundred and twenty feet.
The time employed on the work was about two years and
eight months, and the number of cubic yards removed in
the tunnel, was about ninety thousand, together with
about one hundred and ten thousand yards of earth and
rock outside, for the approaches.*
* At the crossing of the mountain over this tunnel, previous to its completion
in eighteen hundred and fifty-three, the grade was upwards of five hundred feet
per mile, over which a locomotive engine propelled a single car at a time, weigh-
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
The next most important work was the "Doe Gully"
tunnel, twelve hundred feet in length, where a bend in
the Potomac river is crossed, and a distance of nearly
four miles saved. The approaches to this work are
imposing; for several miles on each side of the tunnel, the
road occupies a high level on the steep hill sides, afford-
ing an extensive view of grand mountain scenery. The
tunnel is through a compact slate rock, which is arched
with brick to preserve it from future disintegration by
atmospheric action. The fronts or façades of the arch,
are of fine white sandstone, procured from the summit of
the neighboring mountain. The height of the hill above
the tunnel, is one hundred and ten feet. The excavations
and embankments adjacent, are very heavy, through slate
rock. The bridges are also numerous, and the "tres-
tling," across the gorges, on the ascent of the Cheat River
Hill, are structures of novel character, being viaducts sup-
ported by slender pillars of cast iron, very light in ap-
pearance, yet strong, and durable. One of these viaducts
is forty-six, and the other fifty-eight feet high; the former
resting on a solid wall of masonry, whose foundation is
one hundred and twenty feet below the base of the col-
umns; the latter on a similar wall, with foundations
seventy-four feet below base of columns. The pillars
lean inwards to give stability, and are thoroughly tied
and braced, and carry two tracks of rails at the grade of
the road.
ing, with its load, thirteen tons, at a speed of upwards of ten miles per hour. When
the track was wet or frosty, the engine and its load occasionally slipped back-
wards, and often ran with locked wheels, down to the bottom of the grade without
injury.
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BENJAMIN H. LATROBE.
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In the design and erection of the bridges and viaducts,
Mr. Latrobe was assisted by Albert Fink, a talented
German engineer, who was associated with Mr. Latrobe
as an assistant for several years, and is now earning a
high reputation as an engineer and bridge architect, in
the South-West.
The cost of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from
Baltimore to Wheeling, three hundred and seventy-nine
miles, completed June first, eighteen hundred and fifty-
three, was fifteen millions six hundred and twenty-nine
thousand dollars, including nearly one million dollars for
reconstruction east of Cumberland, after the road was
opened to that point in November, eighteen hundred and
forty-two.
The working of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
between Cumberland and Wheeling, has abundantly mani-
fested the judiciousness of its location and manner of
construction. The high grades have been operated with
great economy and entire safety, by means of a class of
locomotives, using the extremely cheap mineral fuel which
abounds in that region. In addition to the work already
described, and upon which Mr. Latrobe has been engaged
as Chief Engineer, he acted, from eighteen hundred and
fifty to fifty-four, as Consulting Engineer of the Cin-
cinnati, Hillsboro and Parkersburg Railroad, and, in
eighteen hundred and fifty-five, the Fredericksburgh and
Gordonsville Railroad Company employed him in the
same capacity.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-four he visited South
Carolina to examine the location of the Blue Ridge
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Railroad of that State, upon which he made an able
report of some length, which was published by that Com-
pany. He again visited the road in eighteen hundred and
fifty-seven to give his professional testimony upon ques-
tions connected with the object of his previous visit.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-one Mr. Latrobe was
appointed Chief Engineer of the North-Western and Vir-
ginia Railroad Company, extending from Grafton, a point
on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, to Parkersburg on
the Ohio river, ninety-two miles below Wheeling. In the
contest for the right of way through Virginia for the Bal-
timore and Ohio Railroad, Mr. Latrobe always favored the
most direct line to Cincinnati, and opposed the Wheeling
terminus. He, therefore, entered con amore into the con-
struction of the Parkersburg Railroad, under the charter
which the citizens of that place had succeeded in obtaining.
The country between Grafton and Parkersburg was
very much broken, and required patient examination to
secure the best line, which was only obtained by a free
resort to tunnelling through the numerous high and sharp
ridges dividing the many watercourses. No less than
twenty-three tunnels, in one hundred and four miles, had to
be driven, the longest twenty-seven hundred feet. These
tunnels are the most striking features of the road. There
are many bridges, but none of great magnitude, and
several embankments, but none of extraordinary altitude
or length. The depot arrangements upon the Ohio river
at Parkersburg are worthy of attention, for their excel-
lent facilities for handling freight by means of machinery
used for raising and lowering it from steamboats.
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BENJAMIN H. LATROBE.
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In eighteen hundred and fifty-six, Mr. Latrobe was
appointed President of the Pittsburgh and Connellsville
Railroad Company, and also of the Northern Virginia
Railroad Company. From this last position he retired in
the latter part of eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, and
devoted his whole attention to the direction of the Pitts-
burgh and Connellsville Railroad, performing, from early
in eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, the duties of Chief
Engineer of the same Company. In eighteen hundred
and sixty-four he retired from the Presidency of this Com-
pany, retaining, however, the Chief Engineership, which
he still holds.
In eighteen hundred and sixty-three, he became Con-
sulting Engineer of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and
Baltimore Railroad Company, in connection with the
bridge then about to be built across the Susquehanna
river at Havre-de-Grace. In eighteen hundred and sixty-
five, he was appointed Consulting Engineer of the Mis-
souri Railroad Company, more especially in reference to
the bridge about being erected over the Missouri river
at St. Charles, which position he held for about two
years.
In eighteen hundred and sixty-six he was appointed
Consulting Engineer to the Governor and Council of Mas-
sachusetts, in connection with the Troy and Greenfield
Railroad, and Hoosac Tunnel, and held the office until
January, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, when he re-
signed.
Early in eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, on the invi-
tation of the late John A. Roebling, he became one of a
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Consulting Board of Engineers upon the plans of the
East River Suspension Bridge," and continued to act
with the Board until its services were terminated, and
report made in the autumn of the same year.
Such is a brief summary of forty years of the profes-
sional life of this distinguished Civil Engineer. In looking
through the numerous reports from his able pen, the
author is at a loss to select from among them, such as
might be considered most worthy of notice and deserving
of preservation, as part of the professional history of his
time.
In eighteen hundred and forty-six, when the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad Company was hesitating whether it
would extend its road west of Cumberland to Pitts-
burgh through Pennsylvania, or to some point below on
the Ohio, in Virginia, the Pittsburgh and Connellsville
Railroad Company, having located a part of its road,
offered its charter to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Company (to whom Pennsylvania had refused to renew
its former right of way on terms that would be accepted).
The Company decided, however, to go through Virginia
rather than through Pennsylvania, even if they were
compelled to make their terminus on the Ohio as far
down as Wheeling. This decision was an unfortunate
one for the Company ; for if the road had been first made
to Pittsburgh, the State of Virginia would have finally
accorded the right to Parkersburg (as has since been
proved), and the one hundred miles to Wheeling would
have been saved, and could well have been spared, for in
the final arrangement it has become mainly a local road.
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BENJAMIN H. LATROBE.
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Mr. Latrobe is now engaged in endeavoring to accom-
plish that which he desired to have seen effected at first,
and should he be SO favored, may live to fill up the meas-
ure of his professional ambition-the completion, under
his direction, of two great lines of railroad which are
equally necessary to Baltimore.
He has been invited to take charge of other lines
of railroads, but the interest he has always felt in the
city of Baltimore, and the completion of her connections
with the West, has always led him to decline engage-
ments incompatible with that paramount object of his
career as a Civil Engineer.
Mr. Latrobe is as distinguished for his modesty, urban-
ity and gentlemanly deportment, as for his eminence as
an Engineer. When complimented on the opening of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, at the Fairmount banquet,
he characteristically replied, in part as follows :
"The merit which has caused my name to be men-
tioned in this connection, would doubtless have been
exhibited to the same extent by any other professional
man, who had the same opportunity of constructing a
similar road over such a country. The general maps
indicated the courses of the streams that were to facilitate
the work ; but where the mountains were to be crossed
and tunnelled, and the rivers to be spanned, was a matter
of careful examination, in which I was aided by the talent
and perseverance of skilful assistants, whose valuable
services I shall always take pleasure in acknowledging."
In another place he says : "In crossing or tunnelling
the mountains, and spanning the rivers, sometimes one
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
plan had to be adopted and sometimes another, and I
have been constantly surrounded by able and accom-
plished assistants, to whom I take pleasure in according
their share of whatever merit there may be found in the
task I have accomplished."
A less sanguine temperament than that possessed by
Mr. Latrobe would have recoiled from the task he saw
before him, but its very difficulties seemed to give the
work new attractions.
These works, from the Chesapeake to the Ohio, are a
noble monument to his professional skill and indomitable
perseverance.
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Truly yours
Charles Ellth
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COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JR.,
CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEER,
THE public services of Charles Ellet, Jr., have not
received the general recognition and appreciation they so
highly merit. The Engineering profession in this country
has never had a more industrious worker, or intelligent
and original thinker. His vigorous mind challenged, with
the greatest satisfaction, enterprises of a bold and difficult
character. His views were broad and far-seeing; his judg-
ment on matters pertaining to his profession, aided by
his superior mathematical knowledge, was rarely at fault,
although his opinions were often in advance of the times.
Work, persistent and unflagging, with brain and hand,
was the means he used for attaining success, and no
amount of discouragement or opposition with which
he might be confronted, would deter him from pursuing
his object, no matter how remote the end might at first
seem to be. He was impatient of opposition, bearing
down all objections by a torrent of argument, sustained
by the most exact logical and mathematical deductions.
His career was full of interesting incidents, a few only
of which can be embodied in this sketch, too brief to
satisfy the desires of the compiler.
257
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
Charles Ellet, Jr., was born January first, eighteen
hundred and ten, at Penn's Manor, Bucks County, Penn-
sylvania, within five miles of Bristol. Destined by his
father to the life of a farmer, he received, in common
with the children of his large family, the plain English
education afforded by the country grammar schools of the
time, and no other, with the exception of a few months'
attendance upon a day-school in Philadelphia. He gave
evidence, from an early period, of mental development,
of the great mathematical talent for which he was after-
wards distinguished, and at the age of fourteen or fifteen
he began that insatiable pursuit of knowledge which
enabled him, through many difficulties, to stock his ready
mind and retentive memory with an extraordinary amount
of information. At this period of his life he studied at
every opportunity, hiding his books beneath his pillow in
sickness, and carrying them with him to the plough and
the harvest field. While thus eager after knowledge,
he was conspicuous among the youth of his community
for skill, agility and strength, and tales are still told of
his daring feats, by those who knew him in his early days.
At the age of seventeen, young Ellet left home to serve
for a few months as rodman, in a survey then being
conducted by Canvass White, along the north branch of
the Susquehanna, where he acquired the rudiments of his
profession.
In eighteen hundred and twenty-eight he was appoint-
ed by Judge Wright, then Chief Engineer of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio Canal, to act as volunteer assistant, without
any fixed position or salary. In this capacity he did
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COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JR.
259
almost all the office work of his party, drawing the
maps and making the computations, almost without
assistance, after walking from ten to twenty miles a
day surveying, and fording the Potomac river in many
places. He soon received from Judge Wright, as a
recognition of his services, the position of Assistant
Engineer of the Fifth Residency, under the supposition,
afterwards admitted, that he was at least twenty-two
years of age, and had considerable experience in engi-
neering. During the whole period of his connection with
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, he devoted every leisure
hour to the prosecution of his studies, especially in the
languages, for which he had a marked talent, and acquired
command of several.
In two years, by great economy and self-denial, young
Ellet had set aside from his slender salary a sufficient sum
to enable him to go abroad and complete his education in
Paris, where he spent the winter of eighteen hundred and
thirty-thirty-one in close study, and in following the
course of the Ecole Polytechnique. The knowledge of
French which enabled him to do this had been gained
since he left his home, in eighteen hundred and twenty-
seven. He had the entrée into the most intellectual and
interesting French society, where he was received in a
very flattering manner. He declined all social overtures
for the sake of his studies, with the exception of the kind
attention of General Lafayette, whose interest in him was
very marked, and who talked with him much of the poli-
tical condition of France, and foretold to him the Revolu-
tion Des Trois Tours" (which he witnessed within a
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
week of the prediction), unless his Majesty Charles the
Tenth' should change his policy."
By husbanding every resource he made his small stock
of money last through a year, during which time he visited
England, and also travelled on foot through France and
much of Germany, carefully examining the public works
of these countries. He calculated his means so closely
that on his journey home he was forced to sell many of
his treasured books and instruments.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-two, when only twenty-
two years of age, with a boldness and originality of thought
and action, by which his whole professional career was so
strongly characterized, he proposed to Congress a plan
for the erection of a wire suspension bridge across the
Potomac, of one thousand feet span. The novelty of the
plan presented, and at a time, too, when the practicability
of works of this nature had been demonstrated only in the
mind of the Engineer, and the general principles of the
subject so little known and understood by the public, met
with no encouragement in the National Legislature.
In the summer of eighteen hundred and thirty-three he
was engaged as Assistant Engineer in the location of the
western division of the Utica and Schenectady Railroad,
now part of the New York Central, under William C.
Young, Chief Engineer.
The first survey of the western division of the New
York and Erie Railroad (present Erie Railway) was con-
ducted by him in eighteen hundred and thirty-four, and it
is worthy of note that when, after being discontinued for
several years, this enterprise was resumed, and the Engi-
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COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JR.
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neers in charge endeavored to find a more favorable loca-
tion, after an expenditure of much time and money upon
other surveys, they fixed finally upon the line located by
Ellet through the wilderness of Western New York, in
the early part of his professional career.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-five he entered the ser-
vice of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company, as
Assistant, and was very soon appointed Chief Engineer of
the entire work.
In compliance with a resolution of the Board of Direc-
tors he made, during the next year, a very able report on
a survey for a ship canal from Richmond to Warwick, and
presented a plan for the connection of the James River
and Kanawha Improvement with tide water. He recom-
mended the construction of a canal four and one-third
miles in length, to extend from a basin to be raised by the
construction of a dam across the river, below Mayo's
Bridge, through the low grounds on the south side of
James river, to the deep water at Warwick. The dimen-
sions of the canal proposed were : width at surface one
hundred and twenty feet, and at the bottom fifty-two feet,
and seventeen feet deep. This was thought to be amply
sufficient for the passage of the largest ships of that time
from tide water to the wharves at Richmond.
His reasons for the construction of a canal instead of
attempting to remove the obstructions between Rocketts
and Warwick, and using the bed of the river, are clear and
philosophical: "The bars, which are deposited at the
head of tide, are formed by the materials brought down
by the streams from the interior of the country, and they
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consist, in fact, of the waste of the whole district drained
by the tributaries of the river, at the mouth of which the
material subsides. This matter is loosened by the action
of rains, and moved by the current, the heavier particles
subsiding as the transporting power of the water dimin-
ishes, while the lighter are swept on and contribute to
the formation of bars at the head of tide, and of deltas at
the mouth of the streams. The deposit is greatest where
the diminution of the fall of the river is most abrupt, and
the resistance to the motion of the water is greatest, and,
consequently, on approaching tide water, where the trans-
porting power of the river is suddenly neutralized, much
of the matter which was forced along the bottom is left by
the current, and of that which was held in suspension,
much is precipitated.
"The wearing away of the upland is unceasing, and the
process of transportation is not less constant, and no plan
for the navigation at the points where the resistance of
the material which is deposited is superior to the tidal
force, can be perfect which does not provide for the dis-
posal of this matter.
"The objection, then, to the project of a dam below
shoal water, and raising the surface from that point up to
Richmond a sufficient height to float the shipping that can
come to Warwick, is, that instead of disposing of this
material, we prepare calm water to destroy the force of the
current, and a basin to receive the sediment that is pre-
cipitated. We have not the necessary data to determine
the time that would be required to fill this basin, so as to
again interfere with the navigation of the pond ; but when
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we observe the great quantity of sediment that is dis-
charged by the river at every freshet, and know that the
deposit would occur chiefly above this dam, and that it
would continue to increase until the depth of water would
be reduced to the point where the transporting power
would again become superior to the resistance, we shall
appreciate the uncertainty of the expedient."
During the four years of his connection with this Canal
Company he wrote many excellent pamphlets, reports,
and articles for the public press, chiefly on topics relating to
the improvement and prosperity of the State of Virginia ;
and forcibly advocated a continuous line of improvements,
extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ohio river, an
enterprise now being consummated in the construction of
the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.
While engaged upon this work, he married, in eighteen
hundred and thirty-seven, Miss Daniel, daughter of Judge
William Daniel, of Lynchburgh, Virginia, who proved a
partner in every way worthy of her husband.
On retiring from the service of the James River and
Kanawha Company, in eighteen hundred and thirty-nine,
he returned to Philadelphia, where he published in the
same year an 'Essay on the Laws of Trade," a work of
two hundred and eighty-two pages, devoted to the works of
internal improvement in the United States. The subject
of railroad, canal, and river transportation, was thoroughly
examined and discussed. American internal improvement
was then but in its initiative stage ; yet with remarkable
judgment and keen perception he forecast the sources and
lines of trade, as since developed ; the tonnage and cost
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of transportation ; the sources of economy, and the causes
from which failure might be apprehended. He earnestly
advocated, and gave his reasons, which have been very
generally verified by railroad practice, both in this country
and in Europe, for a low rate of speed in the movement of
heavy freight trains, the use of heavier locomotives, and the
construction of the most perfect and permanent road bed and
superstructure.
This work attracted much attention at the time, and
was extensively read by statesmen, economists, and mana-
gers of railway and canal enterprises, and may, at the
present day, be found profitable reading by the same class
of public men.
In the same year he published his Popular Exposition
of the Incorrectness of the Tariffs of Toll in use on the
Public Improvements of the United States," in which he
"endeavors to demonstrate the incorrectness of the tariffs
of toll in common use on the canals and railroads of
this country, and to point out a method of assessing
the charges on heavy tonnage, which will be the means of
securing the highest revenue, and of rendering the tax on
the public most equitable."
During the next few years Mr. Ellet gave to the Council
of the city of St. Louis, a design and report for a suspen-
sion bridge across the Mississippi river at that city ; was
employed to survey the city and county of Philadelphia ;
paid a visit of some months to Cuba with a view to the
restoration of his health, then SO much impaired as never
to be permanently restored ; and issued a number of
publications referring mainly to the railroads of the
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COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JR.
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United States, their tariffs, and the causes which conduced
to their general want of prosperity. The following
extracts will give, as briefly as can be condensed, his
opinions on these subjects. After remarking, there are
completed, or in progress of construction,* between three
and four thousand miles of railroads in the United States,
on which have been expended more than one hundred
millions of dollars," he says :-
"Of these works some few have thus far sustained
themselves, and distributed considerable dividends; the
receipts of some others are sufficient to keep them in
repair, and pay the interest on the loans incurred for their
construction, but the balance, having an aggregate length
of some two thousand miles-the capitals may be regarded
as positively sunk, and many of the companies as insol-
vent."
In his opinion this disastrous result is not the conse-
quence of attempting improvements in positions where
trade and travel were insufficient to authorize the neces-
sary outlay of capital but proceeds from the fatal
practice of imitation, and a thorough disrespect of first
principles."
"The roads constructed by these unfortunate companies,
instead of being such as appeared to be justified by the
condition of the country in which they are situated, were
only such as the Engineer, or President, or leading stock-
holders, had somewhere seen or read about. In the
beginning there was no particular object proposed to be
attained; and in the progress of the work, there was
1841.
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nothing to rule the general plans, or govern the arrange-
ment of the detail-and they failed, of course."
"The object of a railroad is to convey passengers and
freight, and the first questions which every company about
to embark in such an enterprise, should propose for exam-
ination is, What is the amount of trade and travel to be
accommodated ? for this amount furnishes us the value of
the object sought by the improvement, and ought to
prevent us from paying more for it than it is worth ; and
the second is, What should be the location and character
of the road, and the character of its furniture, for the
econominal accommodation of the trade which it is found
may reasonably be anticipated."
"The amount of trade to be accommodated has
never yet governed the plan, location, and execution
of any public work. All such enterprises in this country,
and indeed nearly all the railroads in the world, bear one
common impress, and every important sign of imitation
of one common standard. They are all struck, as it were,
with the same die, and belong to the same set. The
same width of track, the same strength of rail, engines
of the same weight, and cars of the same magnitude,
prevail on the roads between the great cities, which carry
half a million of tons, and some hundreds of thousands
of passengers every year, and those of the obscurest
districts of the United States, where as many persons and
as much trade will scarcely be witnessed in the course of
half a century."
"This imitation is universal. The same powerful
engine, with its vast cars, is driven when loaded with a
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hundred tons of freight, or more than a hundred pas-
sengers, as when conveying its mere 'tender' and empty
train. It is so universal that the expenses of transpor-
tation are now frequently estimated, by ascertaining the
number of times the engine passes over the line, without
reference at all .to the load which it draws. The error
consists simply in providing a power too great for the
business to be done."
"They make costly roads, build expensive superstruc-
tures, rear extravagant edifices, to contain their cars and
engines, run heavy locomotives, and use carriages almost
as capacious as dwelling-houses, to carry as many pas-
sengers as could, without much inconvenience, be drawn
in a hand-cart."
" If railroads do not sustain themselves it is not because
they are railroads, but because great roads have been con-
structed where little ones only are required. I do not
believe that there has been such a work commenced, nor
probably authorized, which could not pay a liberal and
honest dividend, if the road, stock, and entire appa-
ratus were duly proportioned to the duty to be per-
formed." In making a homely comparison, he says :
'The power contrived to drive a grist-mill, would make
but small dividends if applied to turn a churn."
In further explanation of his views of railway econ-
omy, he remarks: It is far from my object to advocate
the exclusive employment of cheap roads, and light
stock ; my intention is only to recommend them as I
would a light carriage, or light machine, when true econ-
omy, convenience, and comfort dictate their adoption. A
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large business will demand more extensive preparations."
An increase of business will give rise
to improvements in the system adequate to its wants.
When the business created by a popu-
lation of many millions has to be transacted along a line
of canal or railroad, every resource that can be obtained
from the increasing application of science and art, will be
brought in requisition."
*
*
In eighteen hundred and forty-one and two, he
designed and constructed the wire suspension bridge
across the Schuylkill at Fairmount, the first structure of
its kind in this country, and considered at the time a
triumph of engineering skill.
This bridge still remains in good condition, after a
service of thirty years of constant use, and is justly
regarded with feelings of pride by the city of Phila-
delphia. Its destruction would be the removal of one of
the most interesting landmarks of that city.
FAIRMOUNT BRIDGE.
After a second visit to Europe, Colonel Ellet engaged
in the well-remembered controversy between the Schuyl-
kill Navigation Company and the Reading Railroad.
The discussion was carried on through the public press,
and by circulars and pamphlets, and was conducted with
much earnestness on both sides, and in which he fully
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COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JR.
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established his reputation as a most forcible and unspar-
ing writer.
In eighteen hundred and forty-six, he was chosen Pres-
ident of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, in which
he was a large stockholder, and although in feeble health,
and greatly hampered by strong opposition, he accom-
plished an almost incredible amount of labor.
The navigation was increased from a canal of a very
irregular and contracted area to one averaging more than
seventy feet in width ; from a depth of four feet to six
feet, and from a capacity for boats of sixty tons to not less
than one hundred and eighty tons burthen. Seventy-one
locks, one hundred and eighteen feet long by eighteen
feet wide, and eleven stop gates, were built; twenty-five
culverts were lengthened, and four new ones built ; ten
aqueducts were raised, improved, and strengthened ;
eighty-two bridges were raised, and seventy-four new ones
built ; twenty-two dams were permanently raised ; two
new channels were cut for the river ; eleven new guard
locks were built, and many of the old ones raised and
strengthened ; one hundred and twenty boats and scows,
and one hundred and fifty additional cars, were con-
structed, besides many changes and enlargements made
in waste weirs, sluices, and tow-paths.
In charge of divisions, Colonel Ellet had to assist him
in arranging and carrying out his plans, Ellwood Morris,
Antes Snyder, and James F. Smith, Civil Engineers of
skill and experience.
The author, while engaged in locating the Great West-
ern Railway of Canada, and what is now the Rochester
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and Niagara Falls branch of the New York Central Rail-
road, proposed to connect them by a railway suspension
bridge over the Niagara river, between the Falls and the
"Whirlpool," where the chasm was about eight hundred
feet wide, and over two hundred feet deep. As the pro-
ject was a novel and bold undertaking, and generally
believed to be impracticable, a circular letter was addressed
to a number of the leading Engineers of America and
Europe, asking their opinion of the undertaking. Various
replies were received, some in open condemnation of the
project, others expressive of grave doubts of its practica-
bility and safety at any cost.
Charles Ellet, Jr., John A. Roebling. Samuel Keefer,
and Edward W. Serrell, alone favored the project, and it
is a somewhat remarkable coincident that each of these
Engineers have since constructed a suspension bridge over
the Niagara river, below the Falls, thus demonstrating the
accuracy of their early faith. The following letter was
received from Colonel Ellet, dated Philadelphia, October
twelfth, eighteen hundred and forty-five:
"In the case which you have presented, I can, however,
say this much with all confidence : A bridge may be built
across the Niagara below the Falls, which will be entirely
secure, and in all respects fitted for railroad uses. It will
be safe for the passage of locomotive engines and freight
trains, and adapted to any purpose for which it is likely
to be applied. But to be successful it must be judiciously
designed, and properly put together ; there are no safer
bridges than those on the suspension principle, if built
understandingly, and none more dangerous if constructed
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COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JR.
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with an imperfect knowledge of the principles of their
equilibrium. To build a bridge at Niagara has long been
a favorite scheme of mine. Some twelve years ago I
went to inspect the location, with a view to satisfy myself
of its practicability, and I have never lost sight of the pro-
ject since. I do not know in the whole circle of profes-
sional schemes a single project which it would gratify me
so much to conduct to completion."
In eighteen hundred and forty-six a Company was
chartered by the Legislature of New York to construct a
bridge over the Niagara river, at or near the Falls, with
power to connect with any other Company for that pur-
pose. A charter with similar provisions was granted to
a Company in Canada by the Provincial Parliament, and
approved by the Home Government. After repeated
efforts, made during this and the following year, subscrip-
tions to the capital stock, sufficient to warrant the com-
mencement of the work, were secured, and soon thereafter
plans and estimates were invited. The following letter
relating to the subject was written by Colonel Ellet, dated
Philadelphia, February thirteenth, eighteen hundred and
forty-seven :
CHARLES B. STUART,
Commissioner of the Niagara Bridge Company.
DEAR SIR,-I promised to give you my views of the
practicability and probable cost of the proposed bridge
across Niagara river below the Falls. Immediately after
inspecting the site, in eighteen hundred and forty-five, I
gave the whole subject a careful investigation, and made a
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fair, but not extravagant, estimate of the cost of such a
structure as I thought would be appropriate and of
adequate strength.
This estimate amounted to two hundred and twenty
thousand dollars for a railroad bridge competent to sustain
the weight of locomotive engines and heavy freight trains,
and one hundred and ninety thousand dollars for one
suitable for common travel, with a railway track in the
centre, to be crossed by passenger and burthen cars drawn
by horses.
When I made my estimate, I had in view a work of the
first order, and as I do not wish to be in any way
connected with one of a lower grade, I cannot offer to
reduce my proposition. But I will now repeat, that a
secure, substantial and beautiful edifice, not one, however,
equal to the claim of the locality-for nothing can match
that-but a noble work of art, which will form a safe and
sufficient connection between the great Canadian and the
New York railways, and stand firm for ages, may be
erected over the Niagara river for the latter sum named.
If it should be built by me, or under my charge, it will
cost about that sum, and I trust it will be worth the
money.
With my best wishes for the success of the enterprise in
all its magnificence,
I remain dear sir,
Yours truly,
CHARLES ELLET, Jr.,
Civil Engineer.
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On the ninth of November, eighteen hundred and forty-
seven, the Directors of the American and the Canadian
Niagara Bridge Companies made a contract with Charles
Ellet, Jr., for the construction of a railway and carriage
bridge over the Niagara river, two miles below the Falls,
for the sum of one hundred and ninety thousand dollars.
The span was to be about eight hundred feet, and twenty-
eight feet in width between parapets, divided as follows :
Two carriage-ways, each seven and one-half feet, two foot-
ways, each four feet wide, and one railway track in the
centre of the floor. Ultimate strength of cables, six
thousand five hundred tons. Trains not to exceed
twenty-four tons, to be drawn by a locomotive of about
six tons weight. The towers to be of stone. The bridge
to be tested to two hundred tons, and to be completed by
May first, eighteen hundred and forty-nine.
The work was commenced early in the following spring,
by the erection of a light structure of nine feet wide,
to be used as a service bridge in the erection of the main
work, and was also used for a foot-bridge for ten months
after its completion in the following July. Its cost was
about thirty thousand dollars, and the tolls received
during this time amounted to nearly five thousand dollars,
notwithstanding the constant interruption to travel by
the progress of the work. This bridge was strengthened in
the summer of eighteen hundred and forty-eight sufficient
to accommodate the ordinary travel of the country until
the completion of the present railway bridge in eighteen
hundred and fifty-five.
In the summer of eighteen hundred and forty-eight, a
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difference arose between the contractor and the Directors,
respecting the application of the tolls taken on the foot-
bridge, which, after some litigation, ended by a compro-
mise, by which Ellet relinquished his contract; and his
connection with the work terminated on the twenty-
seventh of December, eighteen hundred and forty-eight.
The following letter describes the first basket ride over
the Niagara by the daring engineer, a faithful sketch of
which is given in the accompanying engraving.
ELLET'S BASKET-RIDE OVER NIAGARA RIVER.
NIAGARA FALLS, March 13th, 1848.
CHARLES B. STUART.
DEAR SIR,-I raised my first little wire cable on
Saturday, and anchored it securely both in Canada and
New York. To-day (Monday) I tightened it up, and
suspended below it an iron basket which I had caused to
be prepared' for the purpose, and which is attached by
pulleys playing along the top of the cable.
In this little machine I crossed over to Canada,
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exchanged salutations with our friends there, and
returned again, all in fifteen minutes.
The wind was high and the weather cold, but yet the
trip was a very interesting one to me-perched up as I
was two hundred and forty feet above the Rapids, and
viewing from the centre of the river one of the sublimest
prospects which nature has prepared on this globe of ours.
My little machine did not work as smoothly as I
wished, but in the course of this week I will have it so
adjusted that anybody may cross in safety.
Truly yours,
CHARLES ELLET, Jr.
In eighteen hundred and forty-seven and eight Colonel
Ellet constructed a wire suspension bridge across the
Ohio river at Wheeling, remarkable at the time as the
longest span in the world-one thousand and ten feet.
This bridge was built for a roadway and foot-bridge ; was
twenty-four feet wide, and ninety-seven feet above the
low water in the river. The weight of the bridge was
nine hundred and twenty pounds per lineal foot, sup-
ported by twelve cables, six on each side, with an aggre-
gate number of wires of six thousand six hundred, num-
ber ten, Birmingham gauge. This bridge was destroyed
on the seventeenth of May, eighteen hundred and fifty-
four, by a violent tempest of wind. The floor was torn
by the force of the wind into three sections the eastern
portion measured five hundred feet, the western three
hundred feet, leaving the central part about two hun-
dred feet long. All the cables but two broke in succes-
sion from the anchorage; one cable, composed of one
hundred and fifty wires, broke in the centre.
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In eighteen hundred and forty-nine Colonel Ellet
made a very elaborate report on a railroad suspension
bridge across the Connecticut river at Middletown, in
which he discussed with much minuteness the whole sub-
ject of this class of bridges. The span he proposed was
one thousand and fifty feet ; the floor elevated one hun-
dred and forty feet above the surface of the water.
The same year he proposed to construct a suspension
bridge across the Ohio at Cincinnati, with a single span
of one thousand four hundred feet, at an elevation of
one hundred and twelve feet. The proposed height of
the towers was two hundred and thirty feet above low
water, the floor to be suspended from twenty wire
cables, each four inches in diameter-deflection one hun-
dred feet, width twenty-six feet, permanent weight of
bridge eight hundred and twelve tons, moving load four
hundred and fifty tons, or six hundred and forty-three
pounds per lineal foot ; estimated cost, three hundred
thousand dollars.
.This was his second offer to construct this work, in.
reference to which he remarks: "It is now nine years
since I gave formal assurance to many of your citizens
that it was quite within the present state of art and
mechanical knowledge, to throw a bridge over the Ohio
which should offer no obstruction to the current, nor
appreciable impediment to the navigation. I cannot say
that further experience has strengthened that opinion,
for the fact was susceptible of absolute proof then."
In the same year he contributed to the Smithsonian
Institute a very interesting and valuable manuscript, on
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COLONEL CHARLES ELLET, JR.
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the physical geography of the Mississippi Valley, with
suggestions for the improvement of the navigation of the
Ohio and other rivers.
In eighteen hundred and fifty, Colonel Ellet was
appointed Chief Engineer of the Hempfield Railroad, a
short but important line, connecting the city of Wheeling
with the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Greensburg. While
thus engaged, he conducted, on the part of the city of
Wheeling, the controversy in regard to the location of
the western division of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road, and published two reports in which he supported
the "Grave Creek route," over the Fisk Creek route."
Colonel Ellet passed the winter of eighteen hundred
and forty-nine and fifty, in Washington, in the endeavor to
obtain from Congress a small appropriation for the pur-
pose of testing a plan for the improvement of the Mis-
sissippi and Ohio rivers, by means of reservoirs, which
had become a favorite project of his life. The bill passed
the Senate, but was defeated at the last moment, in the
House. He then accepted an appointment from Mr.
Conrad, Secretary of War, to examine into the floods of
the Mississippi river, and report upon their causes, as
well as some plan for the prevention of their destructive
influence. He spent the winter of eighteen hundred and
fifty-fifty-one, in a close examination of the Lower Mis-
sissippi, its channels and deltas, and made many orig-
inal observations upon the formation of the bars at the
mouth of the river. He gave the results of his labors in
a report to the War Department. This report he after-
wards incorporated with his "Memoir on the Ohio River,"
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
printed by the Smithsonian Institute, entitled, 'Ellet
on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers." This work presents,
with its author's beauty of style, and originality of
thought, the plan which was, in his estimation, the crown-
ing conception of his professional career, that on which he
rested his hopes of future fame. It was to this plan of
improving the navigation of the great rivers of the coun-
try, by means of vast reservoirs erected at their head-
waters, by which the surplus water of the seasons of floods
might be stored up, to be set free in the droughts of sum-
mer, that he devoted his most earnest thought, until his
interest was diverted from every subject connected with his
profession, by the political difficulties of the country. It
was certain that one feature of this comprehensive plan,
which rendered it so captivating to Colonel Ellet's mind
and heart, was its general utility to the whole country,
tending by its wide-spread benefits, to draw more closely
the bonds between the North and South.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-three Colonel Ellet
accepted the position of Chief Engineer of the Central
Virginia Railroad, and, during a connection of some years
with this work, had occasion to familiarize himself
thoroughly with the public improvements of the State of
Virginia, in regard to many of which he was consulted.
In order to bring this road into immediate use, while wait-
ing for the completion of a long tunnel through the Blue
Ridge, he constructed a temporary track across the moun-
tain at Rock Fisk Gap, which, from its steep grades and
sharp curves, attracted considerable attention from Engi-
neers at home and abroad. Maximum grade two hun-
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dred and ninety-six feet per mile. Least radius of curva-
ture two hundred and thirty-four feet.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-two he offered, in response
to a call from the citizens of Georgetown, a second plan
and report for a suspension bridge across the Potomac
river.
Colonel Ellet passed the years of eighteen hundred and
fifty-four and fifty-five in Europe, partly in the service of
the Virginia Central Railroad, and partly on account of
his health. He took a lively interest in the Crimean
War; and when the Russian fleet was closely blockaded
by the Allies in the harbor of Sebastopol he per-
fected a plan for destroying ships of war by means of
steam rams, already suggested by observations upon the
usual results of collisions at sea, and offered it to the
Russian Government at a time when, if adopted, it must
have resulted in the destruction of the entire Allied fleet.
Before returning to the United States, and immediately
afterwards, in view of the possible contingency of a war
with Great Britain, Colonel Ellet wrote several letters to
the Secretary of the Navy, urging his plan upon the
Department, but, failing to attract other attention than a
courteous acknowledgment, he issued in eighteen hundred
and fifty-five a pamphlet, entitled "Coast and Harbor
Defences, or the Substitution of Steam Battering Rams for
Ships of War," addressed to Congress, which fully justifies
his claim to be considered the author of this new mode of
naval warfare. The pamphlet attracted much attention at
the time, particularly in the Southern States, where Colonel
Ellet was well known, and which were subsequently the
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first to put his views into practice, and in a cause opposed
to his patriotic sentiments and principles.
On his return from Europe, after a brief residence in
Philadelphia and Richmond, in the service of the Virginia
Central Railroad, he settled in Washington for the pur-
pose of carrying a bill through Congress for an appropria-
tion only sufficient to enable him to demonstrate, on a
small scale, the practicability of his Reservoir plan for the
improvement of the Mississippi river. He had, at the
opening of the session, every hope of success; but Congress
soon became so absorbed in the political questions of the
day, that he found it impossible to accomplish his purpose.
The bill passed the Senate, as before, and was lost in the
House. He then retired to his country seat on the
Heights of Georgetown, but was called from thence, in
eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, to survey the Great
Kanawha, with a view to ascertaining the applicability of
his Reservoir system to the improvement of that river.
As early as the summer of eighteen hundred and sixty-
one his attention was attracted by references in the South-
ern newspapers to certain vessels in course of construc-
tion in the harbors of Norfolk, Mobile, and New Orleans,
and he became convinced that the rebels were putting into
execution his plan for steam battering rams. He en-
deavored, by a series of letters to the Secretary of the
Navy, to arouse the Department to a sense of the mena-
cing danger, and, failing in this, a few weeks before the
naval disaster in Hampton Roads, in his second pamphlet,
he gave a startling warning in regard to the steamer Mer-
rimac in words which might serve as a description of her
subsequent deeds.
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A few days after the battle of Hampton Roads, on the
receipt of alarming telegrams from the West, Colonel Ellet
was commissioned by the War Department to do what he
could, speedily, to aid and protect the Mississippi gun-
boat squadron against a fleet of rebel rams, understood to
be advancing up the river. The need was too pressing to
admit of the construction of boats. In six weeks Colonel
Ellet had procured and so strengthened nine ordinary
river steamboats as to serve temporarily as rams. Of this
fleet he was placed in independent command, with the
rank of Colonel, and proceeded at once with his unfin-
ished and ill-protected wooden vessels down the river.
Detained for some time above Fort Pillow by the unwil-
lingness of Commodore Davis, commander of the gunboat
squadron, to advance, he became so uneasy lest the rebels
should desert Forts Pillow and Randolph, that he pushed
down alone, and, taking possession of the forts, found
his fears realized, the rebels having retired the preceding
night.
On the sixth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-
two, the battle of Memphis was fought. Colonel Ellet
had given orders that the Stars and Stripes at the mast-
head of his flag-ship should be the signal to his little fleet
to follow him at once into action. On that morning, at
the first shot from the rebel fleet of iron-clad vessels and
rams, Colonel Ellet hurried on deck of his vessel, the
"Queen of the West," and waving his hat to his brother
Alfred, who commanded the "Monarch," next in order,
he caused his flag to be run up, and his vessel to bear
down upon the foe. The "Monarch" alone obeyed the
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signal, and, in presence of both fleets, and of the thousands
of spectators who lined the shores, these two wooden
boats passed through an iron squadron, and selecting two
of the most prominent of the advancing fleet, ran them
down. The two rebels boats sank-the one instantly, the
other in a few moments-with all their living freight ; the
"Monarch" was uninjured the Queen of the West" re-
ceived a blow which rendered it necessary for her, shortly,
to go ashore. The results of the engagement were, that
of the eight rebel boats, three were sunk outright by his
two rams, two were captured, and one escaped below ; the
remaining two were disabled by long shots, and captured
by the gunboats. During the encounter with the enemy,
Colonel Ellet became so much interested in the practical
illustration of his theory, and so anxious to witness the
result, that he again stepped out alone upon the deck, and
received a pistol shot in the knee from the hand of some
one on the sinking ship struck by the "Monarch." His
wound was not, at first, deemed serious. He sent a num-
ber of despatches to the Secretary of War, continued in
command of his fleet, and sent his young son, with three
companions, before the firing had ceased, to demand the
surrender of the city, and to replace the rebel flag upon
the post-office by his own. The order was executed with
great gallantry, in presence of a large and hostile crowd.
In the course of a few days it became evident that his
feeble frame could not resist the effects of a wound which
would have proved fatal to a stronger constitution.
Colonel Ellet was transferred from his flag-ship to the
"Switzerland," and, even when sinking under the heat of
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the climate, and assured by his physicians that his only
hope of recovery lay in a prompt removal, he refused to
have the vessel turned back for his accommodation until
he ceased to notice external things, when his brother
Alfred, who had taken temporary command, had the
course of the boat directed up the river. He was taken
to Cairo, at which point, on the twenty-first of June,
eighteen hundred and sixty-two, surrounded by his family,
who had been able to join him, he breathed his last, so
peacefully that it was truly a "falling asleep."
Great as was his professional reputation and his fame
as a soldier and patriot, it will never exceed the high
regard in which he was held by those who were favored
by his intimate acquaintance and friendship. Colonel
Ellet possessed many sterling qualities. His whole
conduct was governed by a high sense of integrity and
honor. His friendship was reliable and unselfish. When
wronged, his pride was quickly aroused, even to an
appearance of conceit, which, however, could be attributed
to strong convictions of being right, and a consciousness of
superiority over those by whom he was unjustly treated.
In personal appearance Colonel Ellet was tall, spare
in figure, but commanding in presence. His eyes dark
and piercing, and when aroused in a controversy that
called out the energies of his mind, his eloquence was
like a mountain torrent, carrying away every opposing
obstacle. In his domestic relations no one could have
been more happy. His devotion to his excellent and
accomplished wife knew no bounds, while his tenderness
to his children was excessive.
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His accomplished daughter writes : As for the dear
task of giving a sketch of my late father's domestic life, I
am utterly unfit for it now. You, who knew him only as
men could know, will yet understand, when I say that
to me he is the embodiment of all that is noble,
gentle, generous and great. You say rightly that, in the
social and domestic sphere, he was as distinguished as in
his professional life. He has left by his pen and his
public works a record that must one day establish his fame
before the world, but it was at home, as a parent, a
husband, and a friend, that his superiority over other men
was most manifest. Our household was truly, as I have
often heard it called, a home of love. You must have
known something of his devotion to my mother-a feeling
the mainspring of his whole life-my mother, whose
cheek he would not have the winds of heaven visit too
roughly.' His tenderness to his children exceeded any-
thing that I have ever known. Indifferent, almost averse,
to society, he lived in his little home circle, his office was
the family sitting-room, he wrote his most labored works
and carried on his most abstruse calculations with his wife
beside him, and his little children climbing on his chair.
In sickness he was their kindest nurse, in every difficulty
their tenderest friend-they played with him, sought his
counsel, displayed for him each little accomplishment, and
obeyed him with a passionate love that had in it little or
nothing of fear.
"I do not think he ever expected to live through the
war. At the very outset he made his will, as we subse-
quently learned, leaving everything he possessed to his
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beloved wife, for the express purpose, as he states, of
making their children dependent upon her for their means
of support. I shall never forget one evening when I
urged upon him the question of the unfortunate termi-
nation of the Union. At first he refused to consider such
a possibility, and when I pressed it upon him he said,
with a look that silenced me : ' At least I shall not live to
see it.'
Colonel Ellet left two sons ; the oldest, Charles Rivers
Ellet, whose youth gave every promise of a brilliant man-
hood, was with his father at the battle of Memphis and won
great credit. Immediately after his father's death he
received the appointment of Colonel of the Ram Fleet,
though barely eighteen years of age, and in that com-
mand achieved feats of gallantry which made his name
and fame celebrated along the Mississippi, having run his
wooden vessels twice past the batteries of Vicksburgh.
His health was undermined by the climate, and he died at
the early age of nineteen. The other son is a promising
boy, still at school.
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SAMUEL FORRER,
SURVEYOR AND CIVIL ENGINEER.
SAMUEL FORRER was born in Dauphin County, Pennsyl-
vania, January seventeenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-
three. His parents, Christian and Elizabeth Forrer, were
also natives of that State. When Samuel was three years
old, his father removed to Virginia and purchased a large
farm in the Shenandoah Valley. On this property there
was a flouring and a saw-mill, to which his father added
wool-carding machinery.
After receiving such an education as boys usually
obtain in ordinary country schools, he was employed on
the farm or in the mills, as necessity or inclination
directed, and being of a mechanical turn of mind, he
acquired considerable skill in mill-wright work and
machine building, which afterwards was very useful to him
in his profession as a civil engineer.
When twenty-one years of age he visited Ohio, but
soon after returned home, where he remained until
eighteen hundred and seventeen, when he removed to
Dayton, Ohio, which has since been his place of residence.
In eighteen hundred and eighteen Mr. Forrer was ap-
pointed Deputy Surveyor of Hamilton County, Ohio, and
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SAMUEL FORRER.
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also Deputy Surveyor under Colonel Richard C. Anderson,
Principal Surveyor of the Virginia Military District of
Ohio. In this capacity he was employed during the
winter of eighteen hundred and eighteen and nineteen,
in surveying through the Wilderness the military lands
north of the Greenville line, which service was attended
with great labor and exposure. Mr. Forrer was not only
one of the pioneer surveyors of Ohio, but has since and
for many years been honorably identified with the engi-
neering connected with the public works of that State.
So early as eighteen hundred and twenty, Mr. Forrer
made his first attempt at civil engineering by examining
the summit between the Sciota and Sandusky rivers, to
ascertain the feasibility of uniting the waters of Lake
Erie and the Ohio river, by means of a navigable canal.
This survey was made at the request and expense of
William Steel, of Cincinnati, who communicated the
result to the General Assembly of Ohio, which resulted in
the appointment of a Board of Commissioners in eighteen
hundred and twenty-two, with authority to employ a
competent and experienced engineer to make a survey
and estimate for a canal to connect Lake Erie with the
Ohio river."
The Hon. James Geddes, of the State of New York,
was employed by the Board, with Isaac Jerome, an
experienced engineer of that State, as Assistant. Mr.
Forrer was advised by Governor Brown-one of the
Board of Commissioners-to join the Engineer Corps in
any situation that might offer. He accordingly accepted
the position of a junior rodman, with a compensation of
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
only nine dollars per month. In a short time the senior
rodman was taken ill, and left the party, when Mr.
Forrer was advanced to his place. Soon thereafter Mr.
Jerome was taken ill with the prevailing fever of the
country and returned home, when Mr. Forrer was pro-
moted to the position of Assistant Engineer, and during
the two following years he was almost constantly engaged
in running experimental lines for the canal.
In July, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, the Ohio
canals were commenced under the charge of the Hon.
David S. Bates as Chief Engineer. Mr. Forrer was
employed as Resident Engineer in charge of the work on
the Miami and Erie Canal. He continued in the service
of the State until eighteen hundred and thirty-one, during
which time he located the whole of the Miami and Erie
Canal and its branches, and a great portion of the Ohio
Canal.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-two Mr. Forrer was
appointed a member of the Board of Canal Commis-
sioners, and continued in that position three years. The
Board was then abolished, and a Board of Public Works
created in its stead by the Legislature of Ohio, of which
he was a member for several years.
Not only was he exceedingly useful in this capacity, but
by his zeal, general intelligence, and force of character, he
contributed largely to the promotion of the canal
system, and was a valuable co-laborer with the men of
that period, who shaped the policy of the State and laid
the foundations of her commercial institutions. With the
present financial strength of Ohio-so great that the
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SAMUEL FORRER.
289
annual tax for State expenses alone amount to nearly
twenty-five millions of dollars, and the total valuation of
taxable property twelve hundred millions-it can scarcely
be conceived that as late as eighteen hundred and twenty-
two the Board of Commissioners deemed it necessary to
inquire, in the gravest manner, of the highest financial
authorities in New York, if in all the money markets of
the world a loan of three millions of dollars, for thirty
years, on the pledged faith of the State, could be nego-
tiated for the purpose of connecting the Lakes with the
Ohio river.
In eighteen hundred and thirty-eight Mr. Forrer was
appointed by the State of Indiana Consulting Engineer,
with Sylvester Welch, then Chief Engineer of the State of
Kentucky, for the consideration of important engineering
questions connected with a general system of internal im-
provements, contemplated by that State. Their report
and recommendations were adopted by the State Legisla-
ture, and the works constructed in accordance therewith.
Mr. Forrer's sound judgment, practical sense, and high
reputation for probity and fairness, induced the reference
to him for decision of many questions of a professional
nature, not only in Ohio, but in adjoining States. His
decision and advice were usually the end of a contro-
versy.
In eighteen hundred and forty-nine Mr. Forrer was for
some time engaged in making the surveys for the location
of the Ohio Central Railroad, from Zanesville to Wheeling,
through a country, although not mountainous, yet SO
broken into hills and valleys, many of them of consider-
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able magnitude, as to require great skill and judgment in
selecting the most favorable route. Mr. Forrer greatly
excelled as a Locating Engineer, a duty more suited to
his tastes and talents than the details of construction.
Those most familiar with his qualifications have expressed
the opinion that, in the peculiar trait which grasps almost
intuitively the topographical formation of a region of
country, its capabilities and possibilities for a canal or
railroad location, Mr. Forrer had no superior.
In the projection of several of the railroads in the west-
ern part of Ohio, centring at Dayton, Mr. Forrer was
engaged in their preliminary surveys and locations, and
rendered important service in shaping and giving direc-
tion to those improvements. He was uniformly esteemed
as a safe and reliable engineer, and as such exercised a
controlling influence in all general movements in regard
to many of the early public works of the West.
Mr. Forrer also located several turnpikes leading out of
Dayton and Cincinnati, and in other parts of Ohio. He
was at one time a contractor on the Wabash Canal, in
Indiana, and also on the Pacific Railroad in Missouri.
He was always noted for his agreeable and attractive
social qualities, and his manly bearing. His manners,
though plain, were characterized by great dignity and
gentleness. His nature is full of kindness and benevo-
lence. Sickness and suffering, so common in the families
of laborers on the public works in the West, during their
construction, never met his observation without an effort
for its relief. He could frequently be seen in the rude
and transient abodes of the laborers, relieving their afflic-
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SAMUEL FORRER.
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tions by his sympathy and bounty. Generosity is a marked
trait in his character, as shown in his large contributions
to charitable objects, and liberal aid to relatives and
friends.
It is generally deemed presumptuous to portray the
character of the living, or anticipate their position with
posterity. There are, however, exceptions to this rule.
Of this number may be ranked the subject of this sketch,
who, at nearly fourscore years, has retired from the active
duties of his profession, to accept the responsible and hon-
orable position of Consulting Engineer to the Board of
Public Works of his adopted State.
The following letter from the Hon. Jesse L. Williams,
of Fort Wayne, Indiana, dated Dayton, Ohio, April
twelfth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, explains itself,
and will be a sufficient apology for its introduction here :
"I was to-day an hour with Mr. Samuel Forrer at his
house. He is in a feeble state. Paralysis has been grad-
ually coming on, which affects somewhat his speech and
strength of body. Yet his intellect is unimpaired. He is
still the Consulting Engineer, and chief dependence, pro-
fessionally, of the Ohio State Board of Public Works,
especially as to everything relating to the Miami and Erie
Canal, for the enlargement of which work he has lately
submitted an estimate. He attends all meetings of the
Board at Columbus. His age is seventy-eight years. I
was gratified in having an opportunity, probably the last
one, of conversing with SO good a man, so near the close
of a useful life."
Several circumstances have prevented the collection of
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many interesting incidents in the history of this very
worthy Engineer, but the compiler of these pages relating
to him has much satisfaction in making this brief record
of a life SO honorably and usefully spent.
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WILLIAM STUART WATSON,
CIVIL ENGINEER.
THE utility of the Civil Engineer in promoting the
advancement of civilization, and the progress of commer-
cial convenience and social comfort, is an accepted reality.
By his aid the canal and railroad have advanced our "Star
of Empire beyond the frontier that bounds our growing
civilization, and shortened, by improved methods of tran-
sit, our old lines of commerce, and opened new ones, and
through his skill devised the elegant comfort enjoyed by
the modern traveller.
Though still below the middle age of life, Mr. Watson
has borne a full share of the duties belonging to his pro-
fession. From the simple duty of rodman he has steadily
risen through the various grades of Assistant, Chief, and
Consulting Engineer.
William Stuart Watson was born in Dumfries, Scotland,
on the fourteenth day of March, eighteen hundred and
twenty-seven, and commenced his education with a view
to his future profession, at Aberdeen. When twelve years
of age he came with his father to this country, and settled
with the family in Miami County, in the State of Ohio.
His father remained in this country but a few years,
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CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
returning with his family, excepting William Stuart, to
take possession of a valuable property which he inherited
on the death of his father in eighteen hundred and forty-
six.
Mr. Watson commenced his professional life at the early
age of sixteen, as rodman on the Ohio canals, one of the
schools which have given us many of our most accom-
plished Civil Engineers.
In eighteen hundred and forty-eight, then an Assistant
Engineer, he returned to Scotland, and remained at his
ancestral home for several months. On his return to this
country he secured employment under that sterling man
and eminent Engineer, Daniel Marsh, on the Genesee
Valley Canal, where he remained until eighteen hundred
and fifty, when he removed to Buffalo, and was engaged
as Assistant Engineer on the Erie Canal enlargement.
The following year he was employed as Assistant by
William Wallace, Chief Engineer of the Buffalo and Lake
Huron Railroad ; and in eighteen hundred and fifty-two,
in the same capacity, under the late Rosewell G. Benedict,
on the Great Western Railway of Canada.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-three, being then but
twenty-six years old, he received the appointment of
Chief Engineer of the Baltimore and Pittsburgh Railroad.
After making the preliminary surveys of a route for this
railroad, he was induced to accompany Theodore D. Judah,
a young Engineer of great promise, since deceased, then
Chief Engineer of the Pacific Railroad, to California, in
the capacity of First Assistant, where he aided in making
the first surveys of the present railroad route to the
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WILLIAM STUART WATSON.
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Pacific. At the close of this survey he received the
appointment of Chief Engineer of the Placer Company
Canal. On the successful completion of this work he
entered the service of the Frenchtown Canal Company in
the same capacity.
From eighteen hundred and fifty-four to eighteen
hundred and sixty-eight, besides occupying the position
of Chief Engineer on the California Northern, Sacramento
Valley, California Central, Yuba, San Francisco and
Central Pacific, San Francisco and Humboldt Bay, and
Stockton and Copperopolis railroads, he had charge, as
Chief or Consulting Engineer, of nearly all the large
mining canals, aggregating several thousand miles in
length, and costing many millions of dollars, in the
northern part of the State.
Successful, as he invariably has been, as a railroad
engineer, his greatest achievements have been in hydraulic
mining works. Many of these exhibit an originality of
design and boldness of execution, such only as the singular
topography of that wonderful State of mountains and
minerals could demand.
The works of the North Fork Hydraulic Company, five
miles in length, were constructed by him in eighteen
hundred and fifty-seven. About ten thousand feet of this
construction is of wrought-iron pipe twenty inches in
diameter, carried through a mountain gap nine hundred
and twelve feet deep, and conveying two million two
hundred and forty thousand cubic feet of water in twenty-
four hours. The Cascade Canal Company's works, another
of his successful engineering enterprises, is twelve miles
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in length, with six miles of flumes. This canal is carried
through one of the most formidable cañons in the State
and portions of the aqueduct, and some of the flumes, are
suspended along the rocky sides of the stream, three
hundred feet above the water.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-eight he carried out
successfully an enterprise for the California Fluming Com-
pany. This project consisted in emptying the bed of
Feather river, a mile in length, one hundred and twenty-
two feet wide at low water, and forty-six feet deep, by
the means of dams and flumes. The main dam was three
hundred and twelve feet long on top, and ninety-seven
feet long on the bed of the stream. It was constructed
of a crib work of timber filled with stone. A flume was
built one mile in length, forty-seven feet wide and ten
feet deep, and contained two million five hundred thousand
feet of lumber, and discharged for a period of ninety-four
days, twenty-nine million seven hundred and seventy-nine
thousand two hundred cubic feet of water per hour. The
portion of the river, the bed of which was to be mined (one
mile in length), was pumped dry by chain pumps worked
by undershot wheels thirty feet in diameter, driven by the
water in the main flume, the current of which moved at
the rate of twelve miles per hour. The time occupied in
removing the water was fourteen and one-half days. The
"working out" of this portion of the bed of the river
required the labor of six hundred men for thirty-one days.
The total cost of this project was three hundred and
sixteen thousand dollars.
Mr. Watson's latest engineering exploit was completed
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WILLIAM STUART WATSON.
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on the last day of December, eighteen hundred and
seventy. This work presents some novel features, and
required an accurate knowledge of the laws that govern
Hydrodynamics, and great skill and caution in its con-
struction.
The object was to furnish water from the Feather river,'
for mining operations at Cherokee, in Butre County, Cali-
fornia. The topography of the country presented some
very formidable obstacles to be overcome.
The Cherokee mines consist of a considerable portion
of a bed of auriferous washed gravel, one hundred feet
deep, underlying trap rock, and is about eighteen miles
in length by six miles in breadth, and lies at an elevation
of about one thousand and seventy-five feet above the
main valley of the Sacramento at Oroville.
These mines have been worked for several years, and
very profitably, with the scanty supply of water that could
be collected during the rainy season. This supply lasting
only about thirty days in the year. The industrious and
hardy proprietors of these claims saw that the only
obstacle that lay between them and large fortunes was a
sufficient supply of water, and with this knowledge, and
faith in proper engineering skill, they applied to Mr.
Watson for his professional aid as early as eighteen hun-
dred and fifty-eight. After a careful survey, he decided
that the project was entirely practicable, and could be
successfully carried out at a cost that would afford a large
return on the estimated outlay. But capitalists viewed
the project, and its means of accomplishment, as too
chimerical, and declined the solicited aid. The confident
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miners, disappointed but not disheartened, kept steadily
at work, confident that time would bring about a full
realization of their plans and hopes. In eighteen hundred
and sixty-nine these mines were capitalized at six hundred
thousand dollars. Work was commenced in May, eighteen
hundred and seventy, and brought to a perfectly successful
conclusion on the last day of the year. The extraordinary
wealth of these auriferous beds, as well as many others in
that State, may be better comprehended when we are
assured by Mr. Watson that the entire outlay on this
work will be repaid, from the profits of the mines, by the
first of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-one.
These mines are situated on a table of land on the east
side of, and one thousand and seventy-three feet above,
the main valley of the Sacramento. This elevation is
separated on the north from a spur of the Sierra Nevadas
by a cañon nearly one thousand feet deep, in the bottom
of which flows the West Branch, a tributary of the Feather
river. Coming from the north, the Feather river passes
on the east side, and sweeps around the south end of the
mountain, at the bottom of a deep gulf. This spur of
mountain thus stands over a thousand feet above the val-
ley and streams in the vicinity.
The plan devised by Mr. Watson was to take water
from the Feather river at an elevation, in the Sierra
Nevadas, sufficiently high to secure a flow to the mines ;
about fourteen miles up the west side of the Feather river
he constructed a dam and reservoir of a capacity of seven
hundred and eighty-eight million four hundred thousand
cubic feet. In order to convey the water to the mines,
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WILLIAM STUART WATSON.
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the West Branch was to be crossed. From the reservoir
to the tank on the north side of the West Branch he con-
veyed the water in an open canal of a cross section of
fifteen feet, and with a grade of twelve feet per mile.
From the tank mentioned above, the water is conveyed in
iron pipes down the declivity nine hundred and seventeen
feet, and across the stream on a bridge constructed for the
purpose, and up to the grade line of the canal, and the
tank or reservoir on the opposite side. This iron tube is
twelve thousand three hundred and forty-five feet in
length, and thirty inches in diameter. From this lower
reservoir it is conveyed by smaller pipes to the various
parts of the mine.
The main tube is constructed of wrought iron, of
varying thickness, and in lengths of twenty-three feet, the
joints being riveted on the ground with hot rivets. This
tube is laid in a trench cut entirely through solid rock, five
feet deep, and carefully covered with earth.
The course of the tube forms an inverted siphon ; the
pipe, previous to being laid, is steeped in a bath composed
of equal parts of asphaltum and coal-tar, kept at boiling
heat until the surface and seams are thoroughly coated.
This process was adopted in the preparation of the
pipes for the water supply of San Francisco, and after
ten years' use they are found to be as perfect as when
laid down.
A calculation shows the pressure at the bottom section
of the pipe to be very great, amounting to three hundred
and ninety-seven pounds per square inch, and the capacity
of delivery, when under full head. is forty cubic feet per
second.
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The thickness of iron at nine hundred feet depth, is
three-eighths of an inch ; at eight hundred and forty-five
feet, five-sixteenths at six hundred, one-quarter ; at four
hundred and twenty-five, three-sixteenths ; at three hun- :
dred and fifty feet, number ten wire gauge ; at three
hundred feet number eleven ; at two hundred and
seventy-five feet, number twelve ; and at one hundred
and fifty and upwards, number fourteen.
To provide for the escape of air and over-pressure that
might enter the tube, a "stand-pipe" is erected fifty feet
from the inlet there are also, for the same purpose,
valves, seven in number, placed at various points along
the tops of the pipes ; and three "blow off" pipes, one
at each depression of the tube.
Though no new principle in hydraulics has been
employed in this work, yet the magnitude of the
undertaking has no precedent in civil engineering, and
establishes the feasibility of extensive water supply,
economically, and in a manner heretofore considered
impracticable.
Mr. Watson is still in middle life, and, with his profes-
sional attainments and past experience, has every prospect
of accomplishing works of still greater magnitude and
usefulness. It is difficult to form a proper estimate of
the influence of the accomplished works of modern
engineering, or the progress of future undertakings. It is
of the latent kind, and exercises its power in a silent way,
but with a progressive tendency.
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JOHN A. ROEBLING,
CIVIL ENGINEER
THE name of John A. Roebling will always take high
rank among the Engineers of America. He was one of
many of our foreign-born citizens who have, by their
genius and learning, adorned and reflected honor on the
country of their adoption. He was a man of whom the
engineering profession may justly be proud. His name,
with eminent fitness, may take a conspicuous place with
the most honorable and zealous in the work of internal
improvement and human progress.
The life of Roebling was one of study and labor-a
life too soon terminated. He died just after entering
upon the development of one of the grandest conceptions
of his professional career. But were men's lives measured
by what they accomplish, by the good they have done, he
lived more than most men who see a greater number of
years.
John A. Roebling was born on the twelfth of June,
eighteen hundred and six, in the city of Mulhausen,
Prussia. After the usual academical course he was sent to
the Royal Polytechnic School in Berlin to complete his
education as a Civil Engineer. His scholastic career was
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marked by an unusually brilliant progress in the study of
his profession, and at its close he received the highest
honors of his class. This institution being under the
patronage of the Government, the State claimed his
services for three years, and he was sent to superintend
the public works then in progress in Westphalia.
After honorably fulfilling his duty to his royal patron
he turned his face toward the New World, and settled, in
eighteen hundred and thirty-one, on a tract of land near
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, at that time almost the frontier
region of the West. For several years he devoted himself
to the improvement of a tract of new land, and the
building up of a town. The life of a farmer afforded him
so little opportunity for the practice of the art to which
he had given so much study, soon became tiresome, and
he sought an opportunity for the exercise of his skill in a
sphere of action that would better satisfy his professional
ambition.
The time thus spent, however, was not wholly lost to
his profession. He occupied his leisure in reviewing his
former studies, critically investigating the most abstruse
principles of mechanics and engineering, and familiarizing
himself with the language and public works of his adopted
country.
About this time extensive canal and slack-water improve-
ments were in progress. He sought and obtained his first
situation as Assistant Engineer on the slack-water naviga-
tion of the Beaver river, a tributary of the Ohio. On the
close of this engagement he was employed in the same
capacity on the Sandy and Beaver Canal, a work intended
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to connect the waters of Lake Erie with the Ohio river.
From the want of means, and the opposing influence of
the rising era of railroads, this work was never completed.
Afterwards he was employed on the upper portion of the
Alleghany river, in the construction of a feeder for the
Pennsylvania Canal. On the completion of this work, he
entered the employment of the State of Penusylvania, and
was engaged for three years in the survey of three routes
for a railroad across the Alleghany mountains, from Har-
risburgh to Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Central Rail-
road Company afterwards constructed the main line of its
railroad on the route located by Mr. Roebling.
A short respite from public employment was devoted to
the establishment of the manufacture of wire rope, for
which purpose he devised new and improved machinery.
This was the first attempt in its manufacture in this coun-
try, and proved, and has continued to be, a complete suc-
cess, although much opposition was at first made to its
use.
In this manufacture he gained the necessary experience
of the nature and qualities of wire, and the practical appli-
cation and handling of this material, which gave him the
confidence to introduce wire ropes into the construction of
the first suspension aqueduct in the United States.
In eighteen hundred and forty-four the wooden aque-
duct of the Pennsylvania Canal across the Alleghany river,
had become so unsafe as to render its removal and the
erection of a new structure on the old piers necessary.
The time for this change of structure was limited to nine
months, including the winter season of eighteen hundred
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and forty-four and five. The work was let by contract to
the lowest bidder, and was carried to a successful com-
pletion by Mr. Roebling within the time specified, and
opened to commerce in May, eighteen hundred and forty-
five.
This aqueduct comprised seven spans of one hundred
and sixty-two feet each, consisting of a wooden trunk to
hold the water, and supported by a continuous wire cable
on each side, of seven inches in diameter.
A rigorous winter and rapid river current added greatly
to the difficulties to be overcome. The novelty of the
method of construction, the unavoidable imperfections of
untried machinery, employed for the first time in making
a large cable on the spot it was to occupy permanently,
were no light obstacles to be surmounted. One satisfac-
tory phase, however, in the history of the work, and,
indeed, of a subsequent one also, was the practical refuta-
tion its success afforded to the numerous attacks of the
engineering profession of that day, which derided, in no
measured terms, the project of a suspension aqueduct; its
downfall, as soon as the water should be let into it, was
predicted by many who were considered eminent in the
profession.
Following the building of this aqueduct came the erec-
tion of the Monongahela Suspension Bridge, at Pittsburgh,
on the piers of the old wooden bridge destroyed by the
great fire of eighteen hundred and forty-four, and connects
that city with the borough of Sligo, and consists of eight
spans of one hundred and eighty-eight feet each, sup-
ported by two four and one-half inch cables, which in this
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instance were constructed on the bank of the river, separ-
ately for each span, and afterwards hoisted in place from
flat boats. In this bridge the pendulum principle was
applied, to counterbalance adjoining spans under the action
of unequal loads.
In eighteen hundred and forty-eight, Mr. Roebling
undertook the construction of four suspension aqueducts
on the line of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, con-
necting the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania with
the tide water of the Hudson river at Rondout. They
were all completed within two years, and were of the
following dimensions : Lackawaxen aqueduct, two spans
of one hundred and fifteen feet each, and two seven-inch
cables ; Delaware aqueduct, four spans of one hundred
and thirty-four feet each, two eight-inch cables ; High
Falls aqueduct, one span of one hundred and forty-five
feet, and two eight and one-half inch cables ; Neversink,
one span of one hundred and seventy feet, and two nine
and one-half inch cables. These are all essentially perma-
nent works, as the wood-work of the trunks only require
occasional renewal. During this period Mr. Roebling
removed from Western Pennsylvania, and established his
works for the manufacture of wire rope, and residence at
Trenton, New Jersey.
Suspension bridges was a favorite branch of engineering
with him, and was the theme of his graduating thesis.
The construction of bridges on the suspension or catenary
plan was nothing new, as suspended chain bridges had
been in use for many years, both in this country and in
Europe. But chains were found not to give equal stiffness
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and stability to the structure for a passing load or the
force of high winds. A brief description here of a chain
bridge built many years ago by John Templeman, as
Engineer, across the Merrimac river, three miles below
Newburyport, Massachusetts, may be found interesting.
The span was two hundred and forty-four feet, and width
thirty feet, with two roadways of fifteen feet each. The
abutments were of masonry, forty-seven feet long and
thirty-seven feet high, upon which supporting towers were
erected. Ten chains, three at each outer edge of the
bridge and four in the centre, were made to bear, with
perfect safety, five hundred tons.
The Potomac Bridge, near Washington, had spans of
one hundred and thirty feet, the Cumberland Bridge in
Maryland the same ; the Brandywine Bridge was built with
one hundred and forty-five feet span ; the chain bridge
across the Lehigh, near Northampton, Pennsylvania, was
four hundred and seventy-five feet long, in four spans.
Others of less importance were erected in. different parts
of the country.
The first wire bridge, an American invention, was
erected over the Schuylkill river. It had a span of four
hundred and eight feet.
In eighteen hundred and forty-six his attention was
invited by the author, to the erection of a railroad suspen-
sion bridge across the Niagara river below the Falls, who
desired the opinion of Mr. Roebling as to the practica-
bility of the project. Under date of January seventh,
eighteen hundred and forty-seven, Mr. Roebling replied :
"I have bestowed some time upon this subject since
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the receipt of your letter, and have matured plans and
working details. Although the question of applying the
principle of suspension to railroad bridges has been dis-
posed of in the negative by Mr. Robert Stephenson, when
discussing the plan of the Britannia Bridge over the Menai,
on the Chester and Holyhead Railway, I am bold enough
to say that this celebrated Engineer has not at all suc-
ceeded in the solution of this problem. That a suspen-
sion bridge can be built to answer for a railroad, is proven
by the Monongahela Bridge, which is only intended for
common travel, but with some additional expense could
be made stiff enough (it is strong enough) for railroad
trains at a moderate rate of speed. Castings of ten tons
weight, suspended to two pairs of large timber wheels,
have lately been hauled over this bridge; the six-horse
coal trains which pass over it hourly weigh seven tons.
"It cannot be questioned that wire cables, when well
made, offer the safest and most economical means for the
support of heavy weights. Any span within fifteen hun-
dred feet, with the usual deflection, can be made perfectly
safe for the support of railroad trains as well as common
travel.
"The greater the weight to be supported, the stronger
the cables must be, and as this is a matter of unerring
calculation, there need be no difficulty on the score of
strength. The only question which presents itself is : can
a suspension bridge be made stiff enough, as not to yield
and bend under the weight of a railroad train when un-
equally distributed over it; and can the great vibrations
which result from the rapid motion of such trains and
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which prove SO destructive to common bridges, be avoided
and counteracted ?
"I answer this question in the affirmative, and main-
tain that wire cable bridges, properly constructed, will be ;
found hereafter the most durable and cheapest railroad
bridges for spans over one hundred feet.
"There is not one good suspension bridge in Great
Britain, nor will they ever succeed as long as they remain
attached to their chains and present mode of super-
structure.
"The larger the span, the stiffer it can be made, on
account of its great weight, which is necessary to insure
stability. To obtain the greatest degree of stiffness, all the
timber applied, should, as much as possible, be disposed
in the direction of the floors ; truss frames, when made,
are useful, but need not be applied to a great extent. To
counteract the pliability of a cable, stays must be applied,
by which a number of points, which must necessarily cor-
respond with the knots of vibration, are rendered station-
ary, and so that the stays and cables act in concert in
supporting the bridge.
*
The locality of the Niagara Bridge offers the very best
opportunity for the application of a system of stays, which
will insure all the stiffness requisite for the passage of
railroad trains at a rapid rate. The plan I have devised
for the structure will, I have no doubt, convince you at
the first inspection that the rigidity of the structure will
be ample. The strength of the cables I have based upon
the following calculations :
"Total weight of locomotive and train, two hundred
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and forty-five tons, the vertical impact of which, when
moving. at a speed of about twenty miles per hour, will
not be less than four hundred tons; to this we have to
add the weight of the structure itself, amounting to over
six hundred tons, and the weight of a number of teams
which may happen to be on the bridge at the same time
a train is passing; also for a foot of snow which may
happen to fall during a single night. By adding these
items of weight, and allowing no less than five times the
strength of wire which would barely support the tension
resulting from these pressures, for the strength of the cables
and stays, we will be found altogether on the safe side ;
and by securing the cables against all chances of rusting,
and preserving all the timber parts of the structure, we
will be able to put up a bridge which will last for ages,
and offer at all times a safe passage for railroad trains as
well as common travel."
Mr. Roebling manifested his confidence in the success of
the enterprise by an offer to construct the bridge on the
foregoing principles, with two tracks for common travel,
two footwalks, and one railroad track, within fifteen
months, for the sum of one hundred and eighty thousand
dollars, subscribe twenty thousand dollars to the capital
stock, and give security for the complete success of the
work in all its parts.
For this, the first bridge erected over the Niagara,
Colonel Ellet was the successful competitor. When it was
afterwards determined to replace this structure by a
railway bridge, Mr. Roebling's plans were accepted, and
he was appointed Chief Engineer of the work. He
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always declined to furnish plans for an important structure
of this kind that could not be erected under his personal
supervision, neither would he undertake work upon plans
made by others. He was not an imitator ; all his great
constructions were essentially different, and planned to
meet the special features of the location, and when he had
once decided upon his plan, he was sanguine of its success,
and his whole energies were directed to its accomplish-
ment.
His own eye must examine every portion of the struc-
ture as it was put together, and nothing beyond the
manual labor was intrusted to others.
In eighteen hundred and fifty-one, he commenced oper-
ation on the Niagara River Bridge, and for four years the
work continued without interruption, even during the
coldest of Canadian winters. In eighteen hundred and
fifty-four the lower floor was opened to roadway travel,
and in March, eighteen hundred and fifty-five the first
locomotive and train of railway cars crossed a wire sus-
pension bridge, and to this day no interruption in its
use has occurred.
It is perhaps unnecessary here to enter upon a full
description of the details of the structure; it may be
sufficient to give its main features that its magni-
tude may be understood. Length of span, eight hundred
and twenty-five feet, height of railway track above the
water, two hundred and fifty feet. The cables are four in
number, each containing three thousand five hundred and
sixty-nine number nine wires. It has two floors or plat-
forms. The lower one designed for roadway use, and
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the upper one for a railway track. The floors are sup-
ported by struts and diagonal tension rods from the cables,
so that the structure forms a continuous hollow girder
stiff enough to sustain the movement of a railroad train.
Heretofore it had been the practice to lay each wire
singly, one by one, until the number required for the
cable was placed, and to hold them together by bands or
coils of wire, placed at short distances apart. Mr.
Roebling invented and used for this bridge, a machine for
winding the cables, with small wire from end to end, in
a manner that protects them from the action of the
atmosphere and binds them, in a degree, into a solid mass.
Simultaneous with the progress of the Niagara Bridge,
another railway suspension bridge was commenced by Mr.
Roebling over the Kentucky river on the projected line of
the Lexington and Southern Kentucky Railroad. The
gorge to be crossed here was both wider and deeper than
that at Niagara, requiring a span of twelve hundred and
twenty-four feet. The anchorages were laid and the stone
towers erected, and most of the cable wire and other
material for the superstructure delivered at the site, when,
the Company becoming financially embarrassed, the work
was suspended and has not since been resumed. In this
bridge no carriage way was designed, and the plan of the
structure was essentially different from that of the Niagara
Bridge.
In the fall of eighteen hundred and fifty-six he laid the
anchorages and foundations for the towers of the Cincin-
nati and Covington Suspension Bridge. Mr. Roebling
devised a plan for this bridge in eighteen hundred and
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forty-six, quite a different one, however, from the one he
has since built. His first plan contemplated a tower in
the centre of the river, and two spans of seven hundred
and ninety feet each. The progress of this bridge was
interrupted for the want of sufficient means, and the
outbreak of the rebellion, until eighteen hundred and
sixty-three, when the work was recommenced, and the
bridge completed in eighteen hundred and sixty-seven.
At the lowest stage of water the Ohio river, between
Cincinnati and Covington, has a width of about one thou-
sand feet. By the charter of the Company the position of
the towers was fixed at low-water mark, so that the middle
span should present an opening of not less than one thou-
sand feet in the clear. In the spring of the year eighteen
hundred and thirty-two the river rose sixty-two feet above
low water. At this stage, the width of waterway is over
two thousand feet. With the exception of the towers, the
whole waterway between the two cities is left unob-
structed, a width of sixteen hundred and nineteen feet.
The two small spans left open between the abutments
and towers are each two hundred and eighty-one feet, from
face, to centre of towers. In an engineering point of view,
this division of spans is not the most economical. The
cheapest arrangement would have been one centre span
of eight hundred feet, and two half spans of four hundred
feet each. But that plan had been forestalled by pre-
vious legislation. One of the early charters decreed one
single span of fourteen hundred feet in the clear. But
this very great and expensive span was afterwards allowed
Report of Covington and Cincinnati Bridge, J. A. Roebling, 1867.
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to be reduced to one thousand feet, and with this amend-
ment the foundations were commenced in eighteen hun-
dred and fifty-six.
"Owing to the persistent opposition of property-owners,
steamboat and ferry interests, the clear elevation of the
floor above low-water mark, in the centre of the river
span, had been fixed at one hundred and twenty-two feet.
By a later enactment, this height was reduced to one hun-
dred feet. As the bridge stands now, its elevation is one
hundred and three feet in the clear above low-water mark,
at a medium temperature of sixty degrees, rising one foot
by extreme cold, and sinking one foot below this mark in
extreme heat. The greatest ascent is only five feet in one
hundred, at the Cincinnati approach, and this diminishes
as the suspended floor is reached.
The floor of the bridge is formed of a strong wrought-
iron frame, overlaid with several thicknesses of plank, and
suspended to the two-wire cables by means of suspenders
attached every five feet, arranged between roadway and
footpaths ; the latter seven feet wide; and are protected
by iron railings towards the river. The roadway is twenty
feet wide, forming two tracks of four lines of iron trams,
on which the wheels run, each tram being fourteen inches
wide, to accommodate all kinds of gauges. The whole
width of the floor between the outside railings is thirty-
six feet. No stays or other obstructions are put up below
the floor, such as may be seen under the Niagara Bridge.
No such means to prevent the floor from rising was used
in this work; its security and stability are provided for
by other appliances. The rock underneath the Niagara
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Bridge afforded a very cheap mode of anchoring ; it would
have been a great oversight on my part not to avail my-
self of under-floor stays in such a favorable locality. But
in the Ohio river no such appendages were admissible.
"The general plan which I have always pursued in my
works insures, by the heavy contraction of the cables in
the centre of the span, great lateral stability at this point.
The larger and heavier the span, the greater will be its com-
parative stability at the centre. Vertical stability in the
centre is also insured in large spans by the weight of the
structure. But not so between the centre and the towers.
In consequence of the equilibrating tendency of the two
opposite halves, vertical oscillations occur easier, and the
great length of suspenders, acting like pendulums, pro-
motes lateral displacements. These tendencies have to be
met, and are thoroughly overcome in the Ohio bridge by
an effective system of stays. The very careless manner
in which stays have been attempted heretofore is a viola-
tion of the principle involved. Their arrangement in this
bridge not only insures their own freedom from oscillation,
but renders them fully effective by the uninterrupted pre-
servation of their lines.
" Aside from simply stiffening the floor, the stays are
rendering another and very important service ; they effec-
tually insure equilibrium between the main and half
spans. Without stays the balance between adjoining
spans would sometimes be greatly disturbed by unequal
loads. The large crowds of many thousands of people
which frequently cover the floor from one end to the
other, are occasionally very unevenly distributed, but
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they have never produced the slightest injurious effect
upon the statical condition of this work.
"Great doubts are yet entertained by many engineers,
particularly in Europe, in regard to the fitness and safety
of suspension bridges for railway purposes. By an addi-
tional expenditure of fifty thousand dollars, and a railroad
track laid down in the centre of the floor, the Ohio bridge
could have been made serviceable for the passage of loco-
motives and trains at the highest speed. Let any person
who doubts this, observe the very slight tremor which is
produced on this bridge by a long line of heavily loaded
teams, frequently ten in a row, and he will readily under-
stand that but a small addition of rigidity is wanted in
order to pass railroad trains."
SUSPENSION BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER OHIO AT CINCINNATL
The principal dimensions of this bridge are : Main
span, from centre to centre of towers, one thousand and
fifty-seven feet. Side spans, from abutment to centre of
tower, two hundred and eighty-one feet. Total length
between abutments, one thousand six hundred and nine-
teen feet. Elevation of floor above low water at tower,
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ninety-one feet. Elevation of floor above low water at
centre, one hundred and three feet. Length of Cincinnati
approach from Front street to abutment, three hundred
and forty-one feet. Length of Covington approach from
Second street to abutment, two hundred and ninety-two
feet. Total length, including approaches, two thousand
two hundred and fifty-two feet. Number of cables, two,
each twelve and one-third inches in diameter. Number
nine wires, in each cable, five thousand two hundred.
Ultimate strength of one cable, four thousand two
hundred and twelve tons. Weight of main span between
towers, one thousand five hundred tons. Number of stays
in main span, seventy-six-strength of each, ninety tons.
Weight of main span between towers, as far as supported
by cables, one thousand three hundred tons. Deflection of
cables in main span, eighty-nine feet. Permanent tension
to strength, one-eighth. Ordinary working tension to
strength, one-seventh. Maximum tension to strength,
one-sixth. Section of each anchor chain in square inches,
one hundred and ninety. Area of each foundation in
square feet, eight thousand two hundred and fifty. Cubic
contents of masonry of each tower, four hundred thousand
feet.
During the delay of the Cincinnati Bridge, arrange-
ments were made to proceed with the erection of still
another suspension bridge at Pittsburgh, to take the place
of the old wooden Alleghany Bridge, built in eighteen
hundred and eighteen, and then no longer safe. The
removal of the old structure and construction of the
new permanent work, including the building of the three
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new piers and two anchorages, required three years from
eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, to eighteen hundred and
sixty inclusive. The total length of this bridge is one
thousand and thirty feet, divided into two spans of three
hundred and forty-four feet each, and two side spans of
one hundred and seventy-one feet each. The floor has a
width of forty feet, including two sidewalks, ten feet wide.
The frame work of the superstructure is composed essen-
tially of iron girders, with a flooring of wood. Ornamen-
tal open towers of cast-iron support the cables, which are
four in number, two of seven inches in diameter, attached
to the floor between the sidewalks and carriage-way, and
two of four inches in diameter, attached to the ends of the
floor beams ; in addition to the cables, there is an effec-
tive system of stays.
Mr. Roebling's last great work was the design and plan
of the East River Bridge, connecting the cities of New
York and Brooklyn, which, when completed, will be one
of the grandest of engineering triumphs. Though he
lived only to see the work begun, and its prospects of
completion assured, his plans, as was his habit, were so
carefully and perfectly matured, that his death caused no
suspension or delay in the work.*
The following is taken from his report to the President
and Directors, made in eighteen hundred and sixty-seven :
" The central span will cross the river from pier line to
pier line, without impeding the navigation, in one single
span of one thousand six hundred feet from centre to
The bridge is now being constructed under the charge of his son, Col. W.A.
Roebling, who possesses much of his father's ability.
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centre of tower. From each tower towards the land side,
half spans will be supported by the land cables, nine hun-
dred and forty feet long each, measuring from the centre of
tower to the face of anchor wall. From the anchor wall
on the New York side, a distance remains of one thou-
sand three hundred and thirty-seven feet to Chatham
street. The distance from the anchor wall to the Brook-
lyn terminus measures eight hundred and thirty-seven
feet.
"The greater length of the bridge, therefore, forms a
suspension bridge proper. For a better understanding
of the subject, those portions between the anchor walls
and the termini I shall call approaches. These approaches
will be supported by iron girders and trusses, and these
will rest at short intervals upon small piers of masonry or
iron columns, located within those blocks of buildings
which will be crossed and occupied. These pillars will
form parts of wall, needed for the division of the occupied
grounds into stores, dwellings, or offices. In every case
the bridge floor will be constructed perfectly fire and water
proof, so as to serve as a roof to the blocks of houses and
stores underneath. The streets will be crossed by iron
girders at such elevations as to leave them unobstructed.
This can be accomplished even in the crossing of North
William street in New York, SO that on this side no neces-
sity will arise for the vacation of any one street. In the
crossing of Franklin Square both girders and trusses will
be employed. The general arrangement of this part of
the structure will become clearer by an inspection of the
accompanying plans."
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"From the anchorage towards the river the bridge floor
is suspended to the cables, and, therefore, needs no sup-
port. The elevation will be SO high that the roofs of the
buildings underneath will be cleared. This elevation, at
the anchorage, will be eighty-five feet eight inches above
high tide, ascending towards the river at the rate of three
feet five inches in each hundred feet. The iron framing,
which forms the bridge floor, is eighty feet wide. This
width is divided in five spaces, marked by six lines of iron
trusses. The two outside spaces are fifteen feet wide in the
clear between the chords, and fifteen feet five inches be-
tween the posts, and form roadways for all kinds of com-
mon travel. Iron tramways are laid down eighteen
inches wide for the wheels to run on, the same arrange-
ment as on the Cincinnati Bridge, leaving a width of four
feet eight and one-half inches in the clear for the horses
to walk on. The remaining six feet serve as a sidewalk
for pedestrians. The next two spaces are thirteen feet
wide each, and are to be provided with steel rails for
the running of two passenger trains of cars, back and
forward alternately. These trains will be attached to
endless wire rope, which is to be propelled by a sta-
tionary engine, located on the Brooklyn side, underneath
the floor.
"The cables of the East River Bridge will have a
deflection of one hundred and twenty-eight feet, which
is two twenty-fifths of the span, and the tension which
is produced thereby will be about one and two-thirds
of the weight of the wire. The weight of superstruc-
ture of the central span, as far as supported by the
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cables and stays, and including the weight of four steel
cables, is equal to three thousand four hundred and
eighty-three tons. The maximum transitory weight
which can at any one time come on the bridge, by crowds
of people on the road and footways, and the railway trains
fully loaded, will be one thousand two hundred and
seventy tons, making an aggregate of four thousand seven
hundred and fifty-three tons.
"To guard against vertical and horizontal oscillations,
and to insure that degree of stiffness in the flooring, which
is absolutely necessary to meet the effects of violent gales
in such an exposed situation, I have provided six lines of
iron trusses, which run the whole length of the suspended
floor, from anchor wall to anchor wall. The iron floor
beams, which are spaced in pairs, seven feet and one-half
apart, intersect longitudinal trusses at right angles, and
are riveted to the middle cords and to the upright posts.
The height of each truss is twelve feet, the floor being laid
above the centre, so that the upper part of the truss fraines
answers for protection, as well as division, in place of rail-
ings.
"Those parts of the longitudinal trusses which extend
below the floor beams, afford an excellent means for
lateral trussing and bracing, as will be readily understood
by an inspection of the drawings. A most effective
framing is thus obtained, which will be found to possess
ample stiffness even in the greatest emergency.
"The superstructure will be firmly anchored upon the
masonry of the towers and of the anchor walls. Ample
provision will also be made for horizontal bracing under-
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JOHN A. ROEBLING.
321
heath the floor. The great massiveness of the towers and
of the anchor walls will furnish a sure anchorage for hori-
zontal bracing.
" A most powerful element of resistance to storms will
be found in the great weight and inertia of the cables, and
of the whole superstructure. This will be still more
increased by the lateral inclination of the cables. Two of
these will be suspended outside, and they will incline
towards each other. The other two will be supported by
the central shafts of the towers, and in their descent will
spread apart. The weight of the superstructure, without
cables, will be two thousand six hundred and seventy-five
tons.
"The great features of the work will be the two towers.
The base of each tower, at the water line, measured in the
direction of the river, is one hundred and thirty-four feet
long, and its extreme width will be fifty-six feet. Below
the upper cornice, at the top of the tower, these dimen-
sions are reduced to one hundred and twenty feet by forty
feet. This reduction is not effected by a gradual drawing
in or sloping, but by sloped offsets at intervals, which leave
the intermediate portions of the' masonry plumb face.
The elevation of the floor is one hundred and eighteen feet
above high water; the height of the roofing above the
floor is one hundred and fifty feet, making a total height
of two hundred and sixty-eight feet from high water to
top or roof, not including the balustrade and ornamental
blocks. This large body does not form one solid mass,
but is built hollow. Starting with the masonry three feet
below low water, the cubical quantity in the two towers
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322
CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
will be sixty-two thousand eight hundred and twenty-four
cubic yards, of twenty-seven cubic feet each.
"The proposed bridge over the East River will cost
from six to seven millions of dollars."
The New York and Brooklyn Suspension Bridge, in course of construction.
That Mr. Roebling had a full appreciation of the mag-
nitude and importance of the undertaking may be inferred
from the closing sentence of his report:
The contemplated work, when constructed in accord-
ance with my designs, will not only be the greatest bridge
in existence, but it will be the great engineering work of
this Continent and of the age. Its most conspicuous
features-the great towers-will serve as landmarks to
the adjoining cities, and they will be entitled to be ranked
as national monuments. As a great work of art, and as a
successful specimen of advanced bridge engineering, this
structure will forever testify to the energy, enterprise, and
wealth of that community which shall secure its erec-
tion."
Mr. Roebling's reasoning was always clear, simple, and
explicit, and sustained by philosophical and scientific
facts. He took nothing for granted. His arguments
were drawn from his store of scientific knowledge, with a
mathematical accuracy and fitness that carried with them
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JOHN A. ROEBLING.
323
a conviction of truth. He was impatient at captious oppo-
sition to his projects, but always courted a discussion of
his plans by those who brought sound theoretical or
practical opposition to his views. In a report made by
him for a suspension bridge at Cincinnati, as early as
eighteen hundred and forty-six, and to which there was
much opposition from those interested in river navigation,
he says in effect, I have no fears of those who honestly
believe the bridge to be injurious to the navigation; the
opposition of cavillers I most dread.
Several years ago Mr. Roebling proposed and published
a theory of the crank motion, which he supported by
argument and illustration.* The proposition attracted
the attention of Engineers, and various replies and eluci-
dations were given by different writers. In vol. v., page
36 of the Journal, Edwin F. Johnson, the eminent Civil
Engineer, over the nome de plume of "Fulton," offered a
solution of the question, in which he demonstrated the
error of the proposition. Mr. Roebling, in the most frank
and manly manner, replied that the solution of the ques-
tion of the crank offered by "Fulton" had led him "to
consider the subject more attentively than he had done,"
expressing himself "greatly indebted to the calm and
methodical reasoning of 'Fulton' for the conclusions to
which he had at last arrived." Although these gentle-
men never met each other, a friendly correspondence was
maintained between them for many years, each enjoying
a high opinion of the other's skill and professional knowl-
edge.
Railroad Journal and Mechanics' Magasine, vol. iv., 2d series, p. 161.
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324
CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
His conclusions were always practical, and adapted to
the circumstances of a given case. In the report on the
Cincinnati Bridge, before referred to, in meeting the ques-
tion of the height of the chimneys of the river steamboats,
he says : 'For a series of years the boats have increased
the height of their chimneys it is inferred from this that
no one could tell where they would stop. If it was estab-
lished that the growth of chimneys was in a direct propor-
tion to the power and capacity of a boat, then the previous
observation would be entitled to serious attention. But,
fortunately, the very reverse will be found to be the fact
in the future; paradoxical as this may be, it is neverthe-
less true, and will be assented to by those who have made
themselves acquainted with the principles of the steam
engine and steam generators.
"The ostensible object of high chimneys on board of
steamers is to create more draft. Now, it is fully estab-
lished and generally known that economy in fuel is in-
versely as the rapidity of combustion. And, on the other
hand, the escape of lost heat and unconsumed fuel up the
chimneys is in direct proportion to the draft. These
points are better understood on our Eastern waters, and in
ocean navigation, where economy of fuel is a greater
desideratum than here in the West. The question of an
increased speed is there not solved by simply raising the
chimneys, and increasing the draft, but by other means, a
little more creditable to science. In future, the power
and value of a boat will be estimated, not by the height of
their chimneys, as is now the case, but by their lowness.
Low chimneys on a powerful boat will be the best proof
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JOHN A. ROEBLING.
325
of a superior arrangement for the generation of steam.
But as there are a number of boats still running which
carry high chimneys, and as this fashion is likely to con-
tinue for some time yet, we shall be obliged to adopt, in
the construction of the proposed work, an elevation un-
necessarily high."
One of his strongest moral traits was his power of will,
not a will that was stubborn, but a certain spirit, tenacity
of purpose, and confident reliance upon self, that was free
of conceit; an instinctive faith in the resources of his art
that no force of circumstance could divert him from carry-
ing into effect a project once matured in his mind. His
skill as an Engineer was not surpassed by his exact
probity. He held it to be the duty of an Engineer, when
charged with the designs of public works, to report pre-
vious to their execution fairly, accurately, and candidly,"
and that "honesty of design and execution, next to
knowledge and experience, most surely guarantees profes-
sional reputation." Before entering upon any important
work, he always demonstrated to the most minute detail
its practicability to his own mind at least, by scientific
experiment and critical test; and when his own judg-
ment was assured, no opposition, sarcasm, or pretended
experience, could divert him from consummating his
designs, and in his own way.
His brain was fertile in expedients to meet and over-
come any incidental impediment that might arise in the
course of construction of any work.
In his charities he was exceedingly liberal, and what he
bestowed was given without ostentation. A plea for aid
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326
CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS.
from the poor and humble, although his time was precious,
always received attention, and a share of his bounty.
His social and domestic relations were most agreeable.
In conversation he was earnest, instructive, and exceed-
ingly entertaining. His sympathies for the working man
were large, and he lost no opportunity to promote har-
mony and good feeling between the employer and the
employed.
Besides his reports upon the various works upon which
he was engaged, he left but one publication, entitled,
"Long and Short Span Bridges," * a very valuable work,
profusely illustrated by elaborate drawings.
"He needs no eulogy other than the simple record of
his life, and no monument can be reared that is not entirely
insignificant in comparison with his works."
He died on the twenty-second day of July, eighteen
hundred and sixty-nine, from the effects, indirectly, of an
injury which he had received three weeks previously at
Brooklyn, when his foot was crushed while directing the
commencement of the work on the East River Bridge.
His funeral was largely attended by public and private
citizens at Trenton, New Jersey, where his remains lie
buried.
New York : D. Van Nostrand, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine.
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APPENDIX A.
Extract from a description of the Union Canal, written in 1830, by W.
MILNOR ROBERTS, Resident Engineer.
THE Union Canal begins two miles below Reading, and extends
to Middletown, nine miles below Harrisburgh, connecting the
Schuylkill with the Susquehanna river. Its length is seventy-nine
miles, exclusive of a navigable feeder on the Swatara. The summit
level passes through a tunnel eighteen feet wide, fourteen feet high,
and seven hundred and thirty-nine feet long. There are two reser-
voirs for this summit, containing twelve million cubic feet of water;
one of them covering eight, and the other twenty-seven acres. There
are two steam engines of one hundred horse power each, and three
water-wheels for supplying the summit with water, capable of raising
to advantage 1,250,000 gallons every twenty-four hours.
There are three dams for supplying the main canal with water-
one across the Schuylkill river, and two across the Swatara. The
great dam, located in a narrow gorge, through which the Swatara
passes, and near the northern declivity of the Blue Mountain, is a
stupendous structure, and holds in check an immense artificial lake
covering about eight hundred acres. The crib work measures two
hundred feet across the stream and forty feet in perpendicular height,
composed of timbers of 10 by 12 inches. Those at the base are of
white oak, the remainder of white pine, laid at right angles, forming
squares six to eight feet from centre to centre, firmly treenailed,
filled with stone, and the whole strongly fitted against the mountain
on the west end. On the east end is an abutment of stone, laid in
hydraulic cement, forty-eight feet high, eight feet above the top of
the dam. The dam has a base in the direction of the stream of one
hundred and ten feet. The embankment of earth and stone reaches
to the east side of the gap, a distance of two hundred and thirty feet;
327
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328
APPENDIX.
it is two hundred and sixty feet wide on the base, and sixty feet in
width at the outer surface, and fifty feet in height, being ten feet
above the dam. There are twelve sluice gates about six feet
above the bottom of the dam, each having an opening of two feet
square. They are of cast-iron, raised or lowered by means of screws.
The sluice gates and machinery are surrounded by a strong frame
work, connected with the western shore by a light bridge.
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APPENDIX B.
FIRST EIGHT-WHEEL LOCOMOTIVE.*
An eight-wheel steam engine, designed by Horatio Allen in
eighteen hundred and thirty, was built in eighteen hundred and
thirty-two, and put in use on the South Carolina Railroad. Two
of these engines were built, each having two four-wheel swivelling
trucks. The inner pairs of wheels were larger in diameter, and were
driving wheels, with crank axles, connected with the steam-chest,
midway between them.
The body was a steam boiler, with furnace in the middle, and a
smoke-pipe at each end, and, from its construction, its use was
limited to the purpose of a traction engine, and not adapted to move
a train of cars. These eight-wheel engines were used on the South
Carolina Railroad, and answered the purpose for which they were
built. This plan, however, of traction engines did not go into general
use ; nevertheless, it was the first application of the swivelling truck
to the railroad engines, relying upon the guiding control of the flanges
on the wheels, in connection with the propulsive power in the same
engine.
The English plan of engine was found not suited to the sharp
curves sometimes necessary on American railroads. An English-
built engine was for many years used on the Camden and Amboy
Railroad, by adding a pair of small pilot wheels, connected to an
incline frame, in front ; but this plan very soon gave way to the
modern eight-wheel locomotive, substantially as invented by Horatio
Allen, having four driving-wheels in the rear, on two parallel axles
attached to a rigid frame, and a four-wheel swivelling truck in front,
Compiled for this volume, from records and proofs in the cases of Winans us.
Orsamus, Eaton et al. ; Mathews vs. The Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Rail-
road Company ; and the patents of Campbell, Eastwick, and Harrison, by Hon.
Wm. Wheeler Hubbel, of Philadelphia.
329
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330
APPENDIX.
adapted to run equally well on both curved and straight lines of
road, and at the highest speed.
The first engine with a single pair of driving-wheels in the rear,
on an axle attached to the main frame, with side cylinders, and a
four-wheel swivelling truck in front, operating with a free motion,
guided, restrained, and controlled only by the flanges on the wheels
acting against the rails, and not affected by either cylinder connec-
tions or draft couplings, was built by John B. Jervis, of New York,
Civil Engineer, in eighteen hundred and thirty-two. This engine
had the propulsive power and adhesion entirely independent of the
guiding action of the truck, which enabled it to run with ease on a
curved or straight track, and was used on the Mohawk and Hudson
Railroad ; it had six wheels, and was named the "Experiment"
Many engines on this plan were afterwards built, and did good ser-
vice ; but they were necessarily light, as the whole propulsive effect
resulted from the adhesion of a single pair of wheels, and any addi-
tion to the weight of the engine, or increase of speed of the train,
was attended with rapid destruction of the rails.
In order to distribute the weight more completely, Henry R.
Campbell patented, in eighteen hundred and thirty-six the duplica-
tion of the driving wheels, and built an experimental engine, which
was tried on the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Rail-
road, but was not purchased by that Company. It was afterwards
sent to the Long Island Railroad. Though this locomotive was a
step in the way of improvement, it was not a success; there being no
means employed to equally distribute the weight between the driving
wheels, or to prevent excessive battering of the undulating rails, as
the weight of the engine was increased.
For the purpose of equalizing the weight and action of the four
driving wheels, an engine named the "Hercules," was in the summer
of eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, designed by A. M. Eastwick
and Joseph Harrison, Jr., and put in use on the Beaver Meadow
Railroad in Pennsylvania. Mr. Eastwick obtained a patent for his
improvement. It consisted of a separate frame at the rear, under
the main frame, with the two sets of driving wheels attached to this
under frame, which was rigid and vibrated vertically. This accom-
modated itself to undulations, alike on both rails, but not to those
in one rail only, which are the most numerous.
Joseph Harrison, Jr., in eighteen hundred and thirty-eight,
improved upon Mr. Eastwick's patent by making the pairs of driv-
ing wheels on each side of the engine to independently equalize the
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APPENDIX.
331
weight and shocks, so as to conform to undulations as they occurred
on either side of the road.
This engine did not demonstrate much superiority over the East-
wick engine until the equal distribution of the weight and concus-
sion, arising from undulations of the track upon all the wheels, was
so accomplished, that at no time should the entire weight or shock
of either side be thrown upon any one wheel or pair of wheels.
This was effected by Mr. Harrison by applying parallel driving wheel
axles directly to pedestals in the main frame, with the addition of a
compensating lever between the axle bearings on each side of the
engine.
With the equalizing principle of Harrison in the arrangement of
the driving wheels came an increased weight of engine, and conse-
quently increased power of traction, with diminished wear upon the
rails.
Garrett Eastwick & Co. built the first engine, constructed on this
system, for the Beaver Meadow Railroad, immediately after building
the "Hercules." They constructed engines upon this plan for
several other railroads ; and their success became established, and
general.
The invention of this arrangement of the driving wheels was
accompanied by other incidental inventions and improvements by
these ingenious mechanics, and the engines constructed by them
accomplished high speed, relieved the destructive wear upon the
roadway, and admitted a large increase in the weight, and con-
sequently improvement in tractive power in the engine.
One of these engines, in use on the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad in eighteen hundred and forty-one, particularly attracted
the attention of the Russian engineers, Colonel Molnikoff and
Colonel Krafts, who were commissioned by the Emperor Nicholas
to examine and report upon the various railroads and railroad
machinery then in operation in Europe and America.
The result of their examinations was favorable to the American
railroad system, and the eight-wheel engine was deemed the best for
use in their own country. They consequently made a contract with
Eastwick & Harrison by which their works in Philadelphia were
discontinued, and they, with Thomas Winans, of Baltimore, removed
to, and built up the same system in, Russia. In the mean time
engines upon their plans were extensively manufactured and used on
the rapidly increasing railroads of this country, in England, and on
the Continent
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GENERAL INDEX.
PAGE
Alleghany and Ohio Rivers, Islands Surveyed by Ellicott
24
Aqueduct at Little Falls, Erie Canal
62
Aqueduct across Mohawk, Erie Canal
63
Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad
180
Albany Rural Cemetery
217
Albany Water Works
217
Anderson, Col. Richard C., Civil Engineer
287
Aqueduct, Wire Suspension, across Alleghany River
303
Aqueducts, "
"
on Delaware and Hudson Canal
304
Allen, Horatio, C. E., Inventor of Eight-Wheel Locomotive
329
Boundary between United States and Spanish Possessions, Survey of
28
Broadhead, Charles C., Engineer Erie Canal
56
Baldwin, Loammi, C. E
83-128
Bernard, General, Opinion of Canvass White
89
Bates, David Stanhope, Biography of
91
"
"
"
Birthplace and Progenitors of.
91
"
"
"
Education
92
"
"
"
Removal to Constantia, Oneida Lake
93
"
"
"
Sons of
94
"
"
"
Employed by Benj. Wright, on Erie Canal
94
"
"
"
Constructs Rochester Aqueduct
95
"
"
"
Plans System of Canals of Ohio
99
Bates, David, Civil Engineer
107
"
"
Stanhope, Retirement from Professional Life
107
Bryant, Gridley, Biography of.
119
"
"
Birthplace and Early Life
119
Bunker Hill Monument
121
Bryant, Gridley, Death of.
130
Blickensderfer, J., Jr., Consulting Engineer
162
Beaver Canal Company, Ohio
203
Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad
208
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Report on, 1828
225
Barney, Lieut. Joshua, U. S. A
225
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Chartered 1827
228
"
"
"
Surveys Extended to Wheeling
248
"
"
"
Summits and Grades.
248
338
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334
GENERAL INDEX
PAGE
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Controversy Regarding Location of Western
Division.
277
"
"
"
Long Tunnels.
249
Basket Ride over Niagara River
273
Benedict, Roswell G., Civil Engineer
294
Beaver River, Slack Water and Canal, Ohio.
302
Clock, Musical, made by Ellicott.
18
Cumberland Road
19
"Conveyer" for grain
20
Clinton, Governor De Witt
24, 37, 41
Cost of Erie Canal ; Engineer's Estimate, 1817
57
Contract, first made for work on Erie Canal
57
Colden, Hon. Cadwallader D., Memoir of Erie Canal
64
Canadian Ship Canals
71
Cruger, Alfred, Civil Engineer
72
Cuba, Island of, Railway, 1835
71
Orank Motion, Theory of, Roebling
323
Canals, Impetus given to Construction of
87
Clay, Henry, Opinion of Canvass White.
90
Clinton, Governor, Visits Ohio Canals
101
Chenango Canal, Survey and Location of
106
Combined Locks at Lockport, Erie Canal
112
"
"
"
"
View of
114
Chenango Canal, Summit Water Supply
115
Cumberland and Pittsburgh Canal Survey, by Roberts
116
Cars, Eight Wheel, of Gridley Bryant's
124
Columns, Boston Court House, Weight of
125
Clay, Henry, First Railroad Ride
138
Cha-pine, Miami Chief, Anecdote of
145
Credit Mobilier, Union Pacific Railroad
162
Carthagena and Magdalena Canal, South America
175
Childe, Capt. John, Biography of
177
"
"
Birthplace and Parentage
177
.6
"
Educational Advantages
178
"
"
Military Service
178
"
"
Anecdote of
180
"
"
Chief Engineer, Mobile and Ohio Railroad
182
Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad
197
Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad.
197
Conneaut Lake and Lake Erie Canal, Penn
204
Croton Dam, Location of
211
Cook, Lieut. William, U.S. Army
225
Carrollton Viaduct, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
226
Carroll, Charles, of Carrolton
230
Cooper, Peter, Constructs First American Locomotive
231
"
"
Locomotive, Description of
232
"
"
"
Illustration of.
233
Cascade Canal, California
295
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GENERAL INDEX.
335
PAGE
California Fluming Company
296
Cherokee Mines, California
297
Campbell, Henry R., Mechanical Engineer
330
De Witt, Simon, Surveyor-General of New York
24, 39
District of Columbia, Survey of
27
Dr. Rush
29, 33
Dr. Priestly
29
Dimensions of Erie Canal Determined, 1817
56
Delaware and Raritan Canal, Difficulties of Construction,
89
Derrick, Portable, Invented by Gridley Bryant
120
Dumping Car, Rotary, Invented by Harbach
197
Douglass, David Bates, Biography of
199
"
"
"
Birthplace and Parentage
199
"
"
"
Appointed Cadet at West Point
200
"
"
"
Military Service
200
"
"
"
Chief Engineer, Morris Canal
204
"
"
"
Professor Natural Philosophy, N. Y. University
208
"
"
"
Surveys for Water Supply, New York City
208
"
"
"
Chief Engineer, Croton Water Works
211
"
"
"
Elected President Kenyon College, Ohio
215
"
"
"
Professor Mathematics, Hobart College
217
"
"
"
Death and Memorial
219
Douglass, Rev. Charles Edward
219
"
Andrew Ellicott
219
"
Rev. Malcolm
219
"
Henry
219
Dillahunty, Lieut. John L. U. S. Army
225
Eight Wheel Car Controversy
127
Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad
187
Ellet, Col. Charles, Jr., Biography of
257
"
"
Birthplace and Education
258
"
"
Joins Engineer Corps.
258
"
"
Proposes Wire Suspension Bridge, 1832
260
"
"
Chief Engineer James River and Kanawha Canal
261
"
"
Essays on Laws of Trade
263
"
"
Proposes Wire Bridge at St. Louis.
264
"
"
Why Railroads are not successful
265
"
"
Chosen President Schuylkill Navigation Company
269
"
"
Letter on Niagara Railroad Suspension Bridge
270
"
"
Appointed Chief Engineer, Hempfield Railroad
277
"
"
"
"
"
Central Virginia Railroad
278
"
"
Commission in the Army
281
"
"
Domestic habits
284
"
"
Death of
283
Erie and Ohio Canal, first Survey of
287
Eastwich, A. M., Mechanical Engineer
330
Ellicott, Andrew, Biography of
16
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336
GENERAL INDEX.
PAGE
Ellicott, Andrew, Senior
16
Ellicott, Mrs., Lines by
17
Ellicott, Joseph
18
Evans, Mrs. Catharine
18
Ellicott's Mills
19
Ellicott, Jonathan
19
Elevator in Mills
20
Evans, Oliver, Millwright and Miller's Guide
20
Ellicott, Thomas
20
Ellicott, John, Experiments in Steamboats
20
Ewing, John
21
Ellicott, Andrew, appointed Major in the Revolution
22
Ellicott, Benjamin
25
Ellicott, Joseph
25
Ellicott, Andrew, just claims neglected by Federal Government
30
"
"
Only Astronomer in the United States, 1801
31
"
"
Letter to Monsieur De Lambre
33
"
"
Journal published 1803
33
"
"
Letter to Jefferson, accepting appointment of Surveyor-
General
34
"
"
Appointed Professor of Mathematics at West Point
34
Erie Canal, influence and power of
37
"
First Appropriation for Surveys
39
"
First Report of Commissioners.
41
Engineers of Erie Canal, Difficulty in obtaining
54
Erie Canal, system adopted for construction of
57
"
Middle Section completed
58
"
Ceremony of letting in Water on Long Level
58
"
Report of Commissioners, 1818
57
"
"
"
"
"
1820
59
"
Tolls first levied
59
"
Rock cutting through mountain ridge
61
Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad
107
Erie Canal, Surveys for enlargement of, 1835
117
Foundry at Elkridge Landing
19
Fitch, John, first Steamboat, 1786
21
Franklin, Dr. Benjamin
23, 33
Forman, Hon. Joshua, secures first legislation on Erie Canal
39
Farmington Canal, Conn.
70, 87
Feeder Dam, constructed by Canvass White near Fort Plain
82
Franklin and Warren Railroad, Ohio
176
Fairmount Wire Bridge
268
Forrer, Samuel, Biography of
286
"
"
Birthplace and Boyhood
286
"
"
Joins Engineer Corps of Judge Geddes
287
"
"
Locates Line of Miami and Erie Canal
288
"
"
Appointed Consulting Engineer, State of Indiana
289
"
"
Locates Line of Ohio Central Railroad
289
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GENERAL INDEX.
337
PAGE
Forrer, Samuel, Generosity of
291
Georgia, Northern Boundary Line, by Ellicott
34
Geddes, James, Biography of
36
"
"
Early Connection with Erie Canal
38
"
"
Appointed to Explore the Route
40
"
"
Inexperience of.
42
"
"
Makes Remarkable Test Level
42
"
"
Makes Final Location of Champlain Canal
43
"
"
Surveys Route for Canal from Ohio River to Lake Erie
43
"
"
"
"
from Sabago Pond to Tide-Water,
Maine
44
"
"
Locates Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 1807
44
"
"
Place of Birth and Education
45
Gregory, D. S., Letter to Benj. H. Wright
68
Guilford, Samuel, C. E., Letter from
81
Genesee Valley Canal, Surveys of, by Judge Bates
106
Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad
167
Greenwood Cemetery
213
Gwynne, Lieut. Walter, U. S. Army
225
"Hopper Boy" in Mills.
20
Hawley, Jesse, Essays on Erie Canal, 1807-8
39
Hydrostatic Locks, Erie Canal
64
Hosack, Dr. David, Letter to Judge Wright
80
Hopkins, John, Civil Engineer
88
Henry, John R.,
"
"
105
Hutchinson, Holmes, Civil Engineer
117
Hubbell, Hon. Wheeler
125
Harlem Railroad, Gen. Swift, Chief Engineer of
138
Harbach, Frederick, Biography of
195
"
"
Birthplace and Parentage.
195
"
"
Chief Engineer Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad
196
"
"
"
"
Hartford and Springfield Railroad
196
"
"
"
"
Mich. Southern and Northern Indiana
Railroad
197
Hale, Rev. Dr., Tribute to Memory of Major Douglass.
220
Hazard, Lieut. Richard E., U. S. A
225
Harrison, William, Civil Engineer
225
Havre-de-Grace Railroad Bridge
253
Hydraulic Works at Cherokee Mines, California
298
Harrison, Joseph, Jr., Mechanical Engineer
330
Internal Improvements in Pennsylvania, 1780.
31
Improvement Company, Pennsylvania
32
Irondequoit Embankment, Erie Canal
61, 95
Indiana, Canals projected in, 1835
145
Internal Improvement Society, Pennsylvania, 1825
174
Inclined Planes, Morris Canal
206
Digitized by
Google
:
338
GENERAL INDEX.
PAGE
Johnson, Dr., of Virginia
21
Johnson, Edwin F., Civil Engineer.
323
Jerome; Isaac, Civil Engineer.
287
Judah, Theodore J., Civil Engineer
294
Jervis, John B., Civil Engineer
330
Kneass, Samuel H, Biography of
173
"
"
Parentage
173
"
"
Chief Engineer Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad. 174
"
"
"
"
Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad
174
"
"
"
"
"
and Wilmington Railroad
174
Knight, Jonathan, Biography of
222
"
"
Birthplace and Parentage
222
"
"
Education, how acquired
223
"
"
Valuable Reports of
239
"
"
Illness and Death
241
Kingwood Tunnel, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
249
Keefer, Samuel, Civil Engineer
270
Livingston Indian Lease Company
27
Longitude from Washington, Ellicott's Letter to President Jefferson on
30
Little Falls, Aqueduct, Erie Canal
62
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Improvement
88
Lake Erie and Ohio River Canal
98
"
"
"
Extract from Third Annual Report
98
Louisville and Portland Canal
105
Lapham, J. A., Civil Engineer
105
Lockport Locks, Erie Canal
112
Land Grant by Congress, in aid of Wabash and Erie Canal
148
Laramie Cañon, Description of
152
Lafayette, Triumphal Arch, Philadelphia
173
Lexington and Frankfort Railroad, Ky
174
Long, Col. Stephen H
225
Latrobe, John H. B., Extracts from Lecture by
228
Latrobe, Benjamin H, Biography of
243
"
"
Parentage
243
"
"
Educated to the Law
243
"
"
Chief Engineer Baltimore and Port Deposit Railroad
245
"
"
Report on Location of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
246
"
"
Appointed Chief Engineer Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road
247
"
"
President Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad
253
"
"
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
253
"
"
Report on Hoosac Tunnel
253
"
"
"
East River Bridge
254
Locomotive, First Eight-Wheel
329
"
Early History of
330
Monocacy Bridge, constructed by Ellicott
19
Morris, Robert, purchase from Phelps & Gorham
27
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GENERAL INDEX.
339
PAGE
Morris, Gouverneur, first suggests the Erie Canal, 1803
39, 41
Mohawk River, Survey of, by Benj. Wright, 1803
53
Memorial, from City of New York, on Erie Canal
54
Mountain Ridge, Locks, Wright's instructions in regard to
95
"
"
Cut
112
Muscle Shoals, Tennessee River, Survey for Ship Canal
116
Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain, Canal Survey
116
Miami and Erie Canal, Feeders
144
McRea, Col. William, Biography of
170
"
"
"
Birth and Parentage
170
"
"
"
Military Service
171
"
"
"
Resigns from U. S. Army.
171
Mobile and Ohio Railroad, Land Grant
183
Montreal Docks, Captain Childe, Engineer of
188
Mahlin, J., Civil Engineer
203
Morris, Elwood, Civil Engineer
269
Mississippi Valley, Physical Geography of, by Ellet
277
Memphis, Naval Battle of
281
Marsh, Daniel, Civil Engineer
294
Monongahela Suspension Bridge, Roebling's
304
New York State, Western Boundary of, fixed by Ellicott
25
Niagara Falls, First Survey of, by Ellicott
26
Niagara River Hydraulic Company
107
"
Falls, Ship Canal, Survey of, by Roberts
114
New York, Great Fire of 1835, arrested by Gen. Swift
134
New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain Railroad
137
Northern New York Railroad
175
Northwestern Railroad, Pa.
176
Nashville and Cincinnati Railroad
186
New Orleans and Ohio Railroad
187
New York. University Buildings
220
National Road, Surveys of
224
New York and Erie Railroad, Surveys of
260
Niagara Suspension Bridge, proposed, 1845
270
"
"
"
Opinion of Engineers on
270
North Fork, Hydraulic Company, Cal
295
Observatory, Astronomical, none in the United States, 1802
33
Ohio Canals, commencement of Work on
100
Olmstead, Professor, Letter on Maj. Douglass
216
Oliver Viaduct, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
227
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, plan for Improvement of, Ellet
278
Plaster of Paris, introduced by Ellicott
19
Porter, Andrew
23
Pennsylvania, Northern Boundary, by Andrew Ellicott
24
Phelps and Gorham, purchase Mass. claim to Western New York
25
Presque Isle, Triangle, Boundary of
26
Digitized by
Google
340
GENERAL INDEX.
PAGE
Porter, Augustus
28
Philosophical Society, Philadelphia
29
President Hale, Tribute to Memory of Andrew Ellicott
35
Perkins, Col. T. H
122
Pile Heads, under water, Saw for
197
Philadelphia, Germantown, and Morristown Railroad
208
Parr's Ridge, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
246
Quincy Railroad, Mass
122
Quebec Cemetery
217
Rolling Mill and Blast Furnace, First, at Baltimore
20
Rittenhouse, David
21, 23, 33
Road from Reading, Penn., to Presque Isle, Survey of
28
Richardson, John, Breaking Ground for Erie Canal, 1817
57
Roberts, W. Milnor, Letter from
83
"
"
Anecdote of
84
Rotterdam Iron Works, Oneida Lake
93
Rochester Aqueduct, Wright's Instructions in regard to
96
"
"
View and Description of
97
"
"
Enlargement of
117
Rochester and Carthage Railroad, Surveys by Judge Bates
106
Roberts, Nathan S., Biography of
109
"
"
Birthplace and Early Life
110
"
"
Joins Engineer Corps of Benjamin Wright
111
Rock Fish Gap, Railroad over
278
Roebling, John A., Biography of
301
"
"
Birthplace and Education
301
"
"
Immigration to United States
302
"
"
Attempts Farming
302
"
"
Returns to his Profession
302
"
"
Locates Line of Pennsylvania Railroad
303
"
"
Commences Manufacture of Wire Rope
303
"
"
Letter on Niagara Suspension Bridge, 1847
306
"
"
Niagara Railway Suspension, Built by Roebling
309
"
"
Report on Cincinnati Bridge
312
"
"
"
East River Bridge
317
"
"
Moral Traits of
325
Russian Railway Commission to the United States
331
Stencil Plates, introduced by Ellicott
20
Saxton, Frederick
25
Surveyor-General of the United States, tendered to and accepted by Ellicott
29
Seward, William H., remarks on first Surveys of Erie Canal
40
Salt Spring Reservation, incident in Survey of
42
Schuylkill Navigation Company
86
Stockton, Com. Robert F
89
Digitized by Google
GENERAL INDEX.
341
PAGE
Scriba, George, Oneida Lands
93
Swift, Gen. Joseph G., Biography of
132
"
"
"
"
Ancestors of
132
"
"
"
"
Academic Education
133
"
"
"
"
Cadet, U. S. Army
133
"
"
"
"
Promotions
133
"
"
"
"
Services of, in War of 1812
134
"
"
"
"
Diary kept by
139
"
"
"
"
Sons of
140
"
"
"
"
Death of
140
Swift, McRea, Civil Engineer
139
Seymour, Col. Silas, Consulting Engineer
150
Swift, Capt. William H
179
St. Lawrence River, improvement at Lake St. Peter
187
Stebbins, Herman, Civil Engineer
196
Steam on American Railroads, first applied
231
Ship Canal, Surveys for, at Richmond, Va
261
Schuylkill Navigation, Enlargement of
269
Snyder, Antes, Civil Engineer
269
Smith, James F., Civil Engineer
269
Suspension Bridge at Wheeling, destroyed
275
"
"
Across Connecticut River, proposed by Ellet
276
"
"
at Cincinnati, proposed by Ellet.
276
"
"
Across Potomac River, proposed by Ellet
279
Steam Battering Ram, proposed by Ellet
279
Serrell, General Edward W., Civil Engineer
270
Suspension Bridges, First in United States
306
Suspension Bridge, Cincinnati and Covington, Roebling
311
"
"
Pittsburgh, Roebling's
316
"
"
East River, New York, Roebling's
317
"
"
East River
322
Turnpike, Baltimore and Fredericksburgh
19
Thomas, David, Engineer Erie Canal
60
Turn-table, Railroad Switch and Turnout, by Gridley Bryant
121
Troy and Albany Railroad
181
Tennessee and Alabama Railroad
186
Trimble, Lieut. Isaac, U. S. A.
225
Thomas, Philip E., President, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
225
Thomas Viaduct, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
227
Templeman, John, Bridge Architect
307
Union Canal, Penn, Lock Controversy
83
Union Pacific Railroad, Explorations for
152
Union Canal, Penn, Description of
327
Virginia and Pennsylvania Boundary Line, Survey of
23
Variable Cut-off, Invented by Capt. Childe
189
Digitized by Google
342
GENERAL INDEX.
PAGE
Washington City, First Survey of
27
Wilkins, John, Jr
28
Weston, Wm., an English Engineer
51
Wright, Benjamin, Biography of
48
Western Inland Lock Navigation, Improvements, 1792.
51
Wood Creek Improvements, Incidents in Survey of
51
Watson, Elkanah
59
White, Canvass, Biography of
74
"
..
Birthplace and Parentage.
74
"
"
Early Inventive Talent
75
"
"
Voyage to Europe
76
"
"
Lientenant in War of 1812
77
"
"
Enters Engineering Service under Benjamin Wright
77
"
"
Visits England
78
"
"
Discovers Hydraulic Cement
78
"
"
Report on Water Supply for New York
86
Windsor Lock, Connecticut River
87
White, Josiah, Superintendent Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
88
Warford, A. B., Civil Engineer
88
White, Hon. Hugh, Letter from
90
White, Canvass, Personal Appearance
90
Winans', Ross, Eight Wheel Car
128
Winans us. New York and Erie Railroad
127
Williams, Jesse L, Biography of
141
"
"
Birthplace and Parentage
141
"
"
Early Education
141
"
"
Chooses his Profession
142
"
"
Commences Engineering under Samuel Forrer
143
"
"
Chief Engineer of Wabash and Erie Canal
145
"
"
Appointed State Engineer of Indiana
146
"
"
Chief Engineer Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago
Railroad
149
"
"
Appointed Government Director Union Pacific Rail-
road
150
"
"
Letter to Secretary of Interior
151
"
"
Report and Letters on Route of Union Pacific Rail-
road
152
Warren, Major-General
162
Williams, Jesse L, reports Estimate of Cost of Union Pacific Railroad.
162
"
"
Letter to Oliver Ames
165
"
"
Receiver Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad.
167
Wisconisco Canal, Penn
175
Whistler, Major George W
179
Winans' Friction Wheel
229
Wheeling Suspension Bridge, Built by Ellet.
275
Watson, William Stuart, Biography of
293
"
"
"
Birthplace and Parentage.
293
"
"
"
Appointed Chief Engineer Baltimore and Pittsburgh
Railroad
294
Digitized by Google
GENERAL INDEX.
343
PAGE
Watson, William Stuart, Appointed Chief Engineer Placer Company Canal,
Cal
295
"
"
"
in Charge of various Railroads in California
295
Winans, Thomas, Mechanical Engineer
331
York and Wrightsville Railroad
179
Young, William C., Civil Engineer
260
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LIVES AND WORKS
OF
Civil and Military Engineers
OF
AMERICA.
BY
General CHARLES B. STUART, C.E.
1 VOLUME, 8vo, 344 PP., EMBELLISHED WITH 10 FINELY EXECUTED POR-
TRAITS ON STEEL OF EMINENT ENGINEERS, AND ILLUSTRATED BY
MANY ENGRAVINGS OF SOME OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT AND ORIGINAL WORKS
CONSTRUCTED IN AMERICA.
Cloth
$5.00.
Morocco Gilt
6.00.
Letter from General GEO. B. McCLELLAN.
"My DEAR GENERAL :
"I am very glad to learn that you propose carrying into effect
your intention of recording the services of the Engineers of our
country. I am sure that the results will prove to be a work of great
interest and value, and shall be very much pleased to possess it.
You have my earnest wish for complete success."
Letter from Major-General Q. A. GILLMORE.
"GENERAL :
'There can be but one opinion among the intelligent men of our
own country with regard to the value of, and the prevailing desire
for, such a work; and I sincerely hope, for the honor and credit of
our profession, that you will receive such degree of encouragement
and material aid as will enable you to carry forward the enterprise
to a successful termination."
D. VAN NOSTRAND, Publisher,
23 Murray Street and 27 Warren Street.
Copies sent free by mail on receipt of price.
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NAVAL DRY DOCKS
OF THE
United States.
By General C. B. STUART.
Illustrated with Twenty-four Fine Engravings on Steel.
Fourth Edition, 4to, Cloth
$6.00.
'This work is divided into two parts. The first describes the
Granite Dry Dock; the second, the Floating Dry Docks. To give
any of the details, or even the results, of these great public works,
is foreign to our present purpose; and we will only add the hope,
that the success of this fine publication may be such as to induce
our distinguished author to undertake the treatment of other de-
partments of our public works in the same elaborate and thorough
manner."-Silliman's Journal.
"The plan is one which must command the interest of every
friend of internal improvements, of every American patriot, of every
lover of scientific progress. We rejoice that the work has fallen
into such competent hands as those of the present author. He has
shown himself in this volume an effective writer, as well as an ac-
complished engineer. His descriptions are remarkable for their
clearness. He uses no superfluous words. His style is business-
like, economical, and well proportioned. Few makers of books have
done SO much themselves worthy of an enduring record; and still
fewer have written a narrative, in which their own deeds figure
largely, with so much modesty and good taste. We hope this ex-
pensive work will not fail to receive the appreciation which it ought
to command It is an honor to the country, and should be sus-
tained by every true American."-New York Tribune.
D. VAN NOSTBAND, Publisher,
23 Murray Street and 27 Warren Street.
Copies sent free by mail on receipt of price.
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THE
Naval and Mail Steamers
OF THE
UNITED STATES.
BY
CHARLES B. STUART,
Engineer-in-Chief of the United States Navy.
ILLUSTRATED WITH 36 FINE ENGRAVINGS.
I Vol. 4to, Cloth
$12.00.
"THE NAVAL AND MAIL STEAMERS OF THE UNITED STATES,' by Chas.
B. Stuart, a gentleman whose experience and position as Engineer-
in-Chief of the U.S. Navy, entitles any work on such a subject, em-
anating from his pen, to the greatest consideration and respect.
The work is a fine quarto volume, profusely and elegantly illus-
trated; and, as accomplished judges universally admit, one of the
most thoroughly scientific books ever published in this country. It
is a book that should be found in the hands of every American En-
gineer, and indeed of every man who loves the progressive glory of
his country."-Boston Post.
"A GREAT NATIONAL Work.-We have felt a glow of pride in turn-
ing over the leaves of this magnificent work. Before the press of
Europe and America is half done sounding the praises of the 'Naval
Dry Docks of the United States,' the indefatigable author surprises
us with a second number of his great series of national works, enti-
tled the 'Naval and Mail Steamers of the United States.' He has
laid our country and the scientific world under new and everlasting
obligations for the important information contained in this splendid
volume."-New York Mirror.
D. VAN NOSTRAND, Publisher,
23 Murray Street and 27 Warren Street.
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MILITARY Books.
M
ILITARY AND POLITICAL LIFE OF THE EMPEROR
NAPOLEON. By BARON JOMINI, General-in-Chief and Aid-de-
Camp to the Emperor of Russia. Translated from the French, with
notes, by H. W. HALLECK, LL D., Major-General U. S. Army. 4
vols., royal 8vo. With an Atlas of 60 Maps and Plans. Cloth,
$25; Half-Calf or Morocco, $35; Half-Russia, $37.50.
The Atlas attached to this version of JOMINI'S Napoleon adds very materially to its value. It
contains sixty Maps, illustrative of Napoleon's extraordinary military career, beginning with the
immortal Italian campaigns of 1796, and closing with the decisive Campaign of Flanders, in 1815.
the last map showing the battle of Wavre. These maps take the reader to Italy, Egypt, Pales-
tine, Germany, Moravia, Russia, Spain, Portugal, and Flanders; and their number and variety,
and the vast and various theatres of action which they indicate, testify to the immense extent
of Napoleon's operations, and to the gigantic character of his power. They are admirably pre-
pared, being as remarkable for the beauty of their execution as for their strict fidelity as illus-
trations of some of the greatest deeds in the annals of human warfare. They are worthy of the
work to which they belong, which has been most excellently presented typographically, and de-
serving of the place which it has taken in Mr. Van Nostrand's noble and extensive library of
military publications."-Boston Daily Evening Traveller.
on It is needless to say anything in praise of JOMINI as a writer on the science of war.
44 General HALLECK has laid the professional soldier and the student of military history under
equal obligations by the service he has done to the cause of military literature in the preparation
of this work for the press. His rare qualifications for the task thus undertaken will be ac-
knowledged by all.
6 The notes with which the text is illustrated by General HALLECK are not among the least of
the merits of the publication, which, in this respect, has a value not possessed by the original
work."-National Intelligencer.
as The narrative is so brief and clear, and the etyle so simple and perspicuous, that it will be
found as interesting to unprofessional readers as it is valuable to military officers and students."
-New York Times.
" This is the only English translation of this important strategical life of the great Napoleom.
THE POLITICAL AND MILITARY HISTORY OF THE
WATERLOO. Translated from the French
of General BARON DE JOMINI. By Col. S. V. BENÉT, U. S. Ord
nance. I vol., 12mo, cloth. Third edition. $1.25.
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Military Books.
3
T
REATISE ON GRAND MILITARY OPERATIONS. Illustrated
by a Critical and Military History of the Wars of Frederick the
Great. With a summary of the most important principles of the Art
of War. By BARON DE JOMINI. Illustrated by Maps and Plans.
Translated from the French by Col. S. B. HOLABIRD, A. D. C., U.S.
Army. In 2 vols., 8vo, and Atlas. Cloth, $15; Half-Calf or Half-
Morocco, $21 ; Half-Russia, $22.50
It is universally agreed that no art or science is more difficult than that of war yet by an
unaccountable contradiction of the human mind, those who embrace this profession take little
or no pains to study it. They seem to think that the knowledge of a few insignificant and use-
less trifles constitute a great officer. This art, like all others, is founded on certain and Axed
principles, which are by their nature invariable; the application of them only can be varied."
In this work these principles will be found very fully developed and illustrated by immediate
application to the most interesting campaigns of a great master. The theoretical and mechani-
cal part of war may be acquired by any one who has the application to study, powers of reflec-
tion, and a sound, clear common sense.
Frederick the Great has the credit of having done much for tactics. He introduced the close
column by division and deployments therefrom. He brought his army to a higher degree of
skill than any other in manceuvring before the enemy to menace his wings or threaten his flanks.
Comprising Technical
Keeping Troops; Ac-
tual service, including makeshifts and improved materiel, and Law,
Government, Regulation, and Administration relating to Land
Forces. By Colonel H. L. Scorr, Inspector-General U.S. A. I
vol., large 8vo, fully illustrated. Half-Morocco, $6 ; Half-Russia,
$8 ; Full-Morocco, $10.
It is a complete Encyclopeedia of Military Science, and fully explains everything discovered
in the art of war up to the present time. '-Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.
It should be made a text-book for the study of every volunteer."-Harper's Magazine.
CAVALRY: ITS HISTORY, MANAGEMENT, AND USES
By J. ROEMER, LL.D., late an Officer of Cavalry in
the Service of the Netherlands. Elegantly illustrated, with one hun-
dred and twenty-seven fine wood-engravings. In one large octavo
volume, beautifully printed on tinted paper. Cloth, $6; Half-calf,
$7.50.
SUMMARY OF CONTENTS.-Cavalry in European Armies ; Proportion of
Cavalry to Infantry; What kind of Cavalry desirable; Cavalry indis-
pensable in War; Strategy and Tactics; Organization of an Army
Route Marches; Rifled Fire-Arms; The Charge; The Attack ; Cav-
alry versus Cavalry ; Cavalry versus Infantry; Cavalry versus Artillery
Field Service Different Objects of Cavalry; Historical Sketches of
Cavalry among the early Greeks, the Romans, the Middle Ages Dif-
ferent kinds of Modern Cavalry; Soldiers and Officers; Various sys-
tems of Training of Cavalry Horses ; Remounting; Shoeing; Veter-
inary Surgeons, Saddlery, etc., etc.
WHAT GENERAL M'CLELLAN SAYS OF IT.
"I an exceedingly pleased with it, and regard it as a very valuable addition to our military
literature. It will certainly be regarded as a standard work, and I know of none 80 valuable to
our cavalry officers. Its usefulness, however, is not confined to officers of cavalry alone, but 1
contains a great deal of general information valuable to the officers of the other arms of service
especially those of the Staff."
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4
D. Van Nostrand's Publications.
N
OLAN'S SYSTEM FOR TRAINING CAVALRY HORSES
By KENNER GARRARD, Captain Fifth Cavalry, Bvt. Brig.-Gen.
U. S. A. I vol., 12mo, cloth. 24 lithographed plates. $2.
C
OOKE'S CAVALRY TACTICS ; or, Regulations for the Instruc-
tion, Formations, and Movements of the Cavalry of the Army and
Volunteers of the United States. 100 illustrations, 12mo. Cloth, $1.
PATTENS CAVALRY DRILL PATTENS CAVALRY DRILL PATTENS CAVALRY DRILL Containing Instructions on Foot
of Instruction School of the
Squadron, and Sabre Exercise. 93 Engravings. 12mo, paper.
50 cents.
E
LEMENTS OF MILITARY ART AND HISTORY. By EDWARD
DE LA BARRE DUPARCQ, Chef de Bataillon of Engineers in the Army
of France, and Professor of the Military Art in the Imperial School
of St. Cyr. Translated by Brigadier-General GEO. W. CULLUM, U.
S. A., Chief of the Staff of Major-General H. W. HALLECK, General-
in-Chief U. S. Army. I vol., 8vo, cloth. $5.
" I read the original a few years since, and considered it the very best work I and seen upon
the subject. General Cullum's ability and familiarity with the technicas " guage of French mil-
Itary writers, are a sufficient guarantee of the correctness of his translation
"H. W. HALLECK, Major-Veneral U. S. A."
I have read the book with great interest, and trust that it will have a large circulation. L:
cannot fail to do good by spreading that very knowledge, the want of which among our new, in
*xperienced, and untaught soldiers, has cost us so many lives, and so much toil and treasure.
"M. C. MEIGS, Quartermaster-General U. S. A."
THE CIVIL AND MILITARY ENGINEERS OF AMERICA.
By Gen'l CHARLES B. STUART, Author of Naval Dry Docks of the
United States," &c., &c. Embellished with several finely executed
portraits on steel of eminent engineers, and illustrated by engravings
of some of the most important and original works constructed in
America. 8vo. Cloth. In press.
W
EST POINT SCRAP BOOK. Being a Collection of Legends,
Stories, Songs, &c. By Lieut. O. E. WOOD, U.S. A. Profusely
illustrated. Beautifully printed on tinted paper. 8vo. Cloth. In
press.
THE PRINCIPLES OF STRATEGY AND GRAND TACTICS.
the French of General G. H. DUFOUR. By
WILLIAM P. CRAIGHILL, Captain of Engineers U. S. Army, and
Assistant Professor of Engineering, U. S. Military Academy, West
Point. From the last French edition. Illustrated. In I vol.,
12mo, cloth. $3.
" General Dufour is a distinguished civil and military engineer and a practical soldier, and is
Europe one of the recognized authorities on military matters. He holds the office of Chief el
the General Staff of the Army of Switzerland."-Eening Post.
"This work upon the principles of strategy, the application of which we have sorely stood in
need of in all our campaigns, comes from an acknowledged authority. It was General Dufout
who successfully arrayed the Federal Army of Switzerland against secession, and 'subdued'
the rebellious Cantoms."-Boston Journal.
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Military Books.
5
A
RMY OFFICERS' POCKET COMPANION. Principally de-
signed for Staff Officers in the Field. Partly translated from the
French of M. DE ROUVRE, Lieutenant-Colonel of the French Staff
Corps, with Additions from standard American, French, and English
authorities. By WM. P. CRAIGHILL, First-Lieutenant U. S. Corps
of Engineers, Assistant Professor of Engineering at the U. S. Mili-
tary Academy, West Point. I vol., 18mo, full roan. $2.
6 I have carefully examined Captain Craighill's Pocket Companion. I find it one of the very
best works of the kind I have ever seen. Any army or volunteer officer who will make himself
acquainted with the contents of this little book will seldom be ignorant of his duties in camp or
field.
"H. W. HALLECK, Major-General U. S. A."
I have carefully examined the 'Manual for Staff Officers in the Field.' It is a most invalue-
ble work, admirable in arrangement, perspicuously written, abounding in most useful matters,
and such a book as should be the constant pocket-companion of every army officer, Regular and
Volunteer.
"G. W. CULLUM, Brigadier-General U. S. A.,
"Chief of General Halleck's Staff, Chief Engineer Department Mississippi."
M
AXIMS AND INSTRUCTIONS ON THE ART OF WAR.
A Practical Military Guide for the use of Soldiers of all Arms
and of all Countries. Translated from the French by Captain LENDY,
Director of the Practical Military College, late of the French Staff,
etc., etc. I vol., 18mo, cloth. 75 cents.
H
ISTORY OF WEST POINT, and its Military Importance during
the American Revolution; and the Origin and Progress of the
United States Military Academy. By Captain EDWARD C. BOYNTON,
A. M., Adjutant of the Military Academy. With numerous Maps
and Engravings. I vol., octavo. Blue cloth, $6.00; half mor.,
$7.50; full mor., $10.
Aside from its value as an historical record, the volume under notice is an entertaining
guide-book to the Military Academy and its surroundings. We have full details of Cadet life
from the day of entrance to that of graduation, together with descriptions of the buildings,
grounds, and monuments. To the multitude of those who have enjoyed at West Point the com-
bined attractions, this book will give, in its descriptive and illustrated portion, especial pleas-
ure."-New York Boening Post.
The second part of the book gives the history of the Military Academy from its foundation
in 1802, a description of the academic buildings, and the appearance to-day of this always bean-
tiful spot, with the manner of appointment of the cadets, course of study, pay, time of service,
and much other information yearly becoming of greater value, for West Point has not yet
reached its palmiest days."-Daily Advertiser.
WEST POINT LIFE. A poem read before the Dialectic Society
the United States Military Academy. Illustrated with
twenty-two full-page Pen and Ink Sketches. By a CADET. To
which is added, the song, "Benny Havens, Oh 1" Oblong 8vo.,
cloth, bevelled boards, $2.50.
G
UIDE TO WEST POINT AND THE U. S. MILITARY ACAD-
EMY. With Maps and Engravings. 18mo., cloth, $1.
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D. Van Nostrand's Publications.
B
ENTON'S ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY. A Course of In-
struction in Ordnance and Gunnery ; compiled for the use of
the Cadets of the United States Military Academy, by Col. J. G.
BENTON, Major Ordnance Department, late Instructor of Ordnance
and Gunnery, Military Academy, West Point. Third Edition, re-
vised and enlarged. I vol., 8vo, cloth, cuts, $5.
04 A GREAT MILITARY WORK-We have before us a bound volume of nearly six hundred
pages, which is a complete and exhaustive 'Course of Instruction in Ordnance and Gunnery,'
as its. title states, and goes into every department of the science, including gunpowder, pro-
jectiles, cannon, carriages, machines, and implements, small-arms, pyrotechny, science of gun-
nery, loading, pointing, and discharging firearms, different kinds of fires, effects of projectiles
and employment of artillery. These severally form chapter heads, and give thorough informa-
tion on the subjects on which they treat. The most valuable and interesting information
on all the above topics, including the history, manufacture, and use of small-arms, is here con-
centrated in compact and convenient form, making a work of rare merit and standard excel-
lence. The work is abundantly and clearly illustrated."-Boston Traveller.
E
LECTRO-BALLISTIC MACHINES, AND THE SCHULTZ CHRONO-
SCOPE. By Lt.-Col. S. V. BENÉT. I vol., 4to, illustrated, cloth,
$3.
A
TREATISE ON ORDNANCE AND ARMOR. Embracing De-
scriptions, Discussions, and Professional Opinions concerning the
Material, Fabrication, Requirements, Capabilities, and Endurance
of European and American Guns for Naval, Sea-Coast, and Iron-
Clad Warfare, and their Rifling, Projectiles, and Breech-Loading;
also, Results of Experiments against Armor, from Official Records.
With an Appendix, referring to Gun-Cotton, Hooped Guns, etc.,
etc. By ALEXANDER L. HOLLEY, B. P. With 493 Illustrations.
I vol. 8vo, 948 pages. Half roan, $10. Half Russia, $12.
The special feature of this comprehensive volume is its ample record of facts relating to the
subjects of which it treats, that have not before been distinctly presented to the attention of the
public. It contains a more complete account than, as far as we are aware, can be found else-
where, of the construction and effects of modern standard ordnance, including the improve-
ments of Armstrong, Whitworth, Blakeley, Parrott, Brooks, Rodman, and Dahlgren; the wrought-
Iron and steel guns; and the latest system of rifling projectiles and breech-loading.
T
HE ARTILLERIST'S MANUAL. Compiled from various
Sources, and adapted to the Service of the United States. Pro-
fusely illustrated with woodcuts and engravings on stone. Second
edition, revised and corrected, with valuable additions. By Gen.
JOHN GIBBON, U. S. Army. I vol., 8vo, half roan, $6.
This book is now considered the standard authority for that particular branch
of the Service in the United States Army. The War Department, at Wash-
ington, has exhibited its thorough appreciation of the merits of this volume, the
want of which has been hitherto much felt in the service, by subscribing for
700 copies.
It is with great pleasure that we welcome the appearance of a new work on this subject,
entitled The Artillerist's Manual,' by Capt. Jehn Gibbon, a highly scientific and meritorious
officer of artillery in our regular service. The work, an octavo volume of 500 pages, in large,
clear type, appears to be well adapted to supply just what has been heretofore needed to fill the
gap between the simple manual and the more abstruse demonstrations of the science of gunnery.
The whole work is profusely illustrated with woodcuts and engravings on stone, tending to give
a more complete and exact idea of the various matters described in the text. The book may
well be considered as a valuable and important addition to the military science of the country."-
New York Herald.
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Military Books.
-T
H AND-BOOK OF ARTILLERY. For the Service of the United
States Army and Militia. Ninth edition, revised and greatly en-
larged. By Col. JOSEPH ROBERTS, U. S. A. I vol., 18mo, cloth,
$1.25.
The following is an extract from a report made by the committee appointed
at a meeting of the staff of the Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Va., to whom
the commanding officer of the School had referred this work:
... In the opinion of your Committee, the arrangement of the subjects and the selection
of the several questions and answers have been judicious. The work is one which may be
advantageously used for reference by the officers, and is admirably adapted to the instruction
of non-commissioned officers and privates of artillery.
Your Committee do, therefore, recommend that it be substituted as a text-book."
(Signed,)
L VOGDES, Capt. 1st Artillery.
(Signed,)
E. O. C. ORD, Capt. 3d Artillery.
(Signed,)
J. A. HASKIN, But. Maj. and Capt. 1st Artillery.
NSTRUCTIONS FOR FIELD ARTILLERY. Prepared by a
Board of Artillery Officers. To which is added the Evolutions
of Batteries," translated from the French, by Brig.-Gen. R. ANDER-
SON, U. S. A. I vol., 12mo, 122 plates. Cloth, $3.
" WAR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 1, 1863.
-
64 This system of Instruction for Field Artillery, prepared under direction of the War Depart-
ment, having been approved by the President, is adopted for the instruction of troops when
acting as field artillery.
" Accordingly, instruction in the same will be given after the method pointed out therein;
and all additions to or departures from the exercise and manceuvres laid down in the system, are
positively forbidden.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
"Secretary of War."
PATTEN'S ARTILLERY DRILL I vol., I2mo, paper, 50 cents.
H
EAVY ARTILLERY TACTICS.-1863. Instruction for Heavy
Artillery ; prepared by a Board of Officers, for the use of the
Army of the United States. With service of a gun mounted on an
iron carriage. In I vol., I2mo, with numerous illustrations. Cloth,
$2.50.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
"WASHINGTON, D. C., Oct. 20, 1862.
-
This system of Heavy Artillery Tactics, prepared under direction of the War Department,
having been approved by the President, is adopted for the instruction of troops when acting as
heavy artillery.
64 EDWIN M. STANTON,
"Secretary of War."
E
VOLUTIONS OF FIELD BATTERIES OF ARTILLERY.
Translated from the French, and arranged for the Army and Mi-
litia of the United States. By Gen. ROBERT ANDERSON, U.S. A.
Published by order of the War Department. I vol., cloth, 3ª
plates. $1.
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D. Van Nostrand's Publications.
G
ILLMORE'S FORT SUMTER. Official Report of Operations
against the Defences of Charleston Harbor, 1863. Comprising
the descent upon Morris Island, the demolition of Fort Sumter, and
the siege and reduction of Forts Wagner and Gregg. By Maj.-Gen.
Q. A. GILLMORE, U. S. Volunteers, and Major U.S. Corps of Engi-
neers. With 76 lithographic plates, views, maps, etc. J vol., 8vo.
Cloth, $10; Half-Russia, $12.
66 General Gillmore has enjoyed and improved some very unusual opportunities for adding to
the literature of military science, and for making a permanent record of his OWL professional
achievements. It has fallen to his lot to conduct some of the most striking operations of the
war, and to make trial of interesting experiments in engineering and artillery which were both
calculated to throw light upon some of the great points of current discussion in military art, and
also to fix the attention of spectators in no ordinary degree.
" His report of the siege of Fort Pulaski thus almost took the form of a popular scientific
treatise and we now have his report of his operations against Forts Wagner and Sumter, given
to the public in a volume which promises to be even more attractive at bottom, both to the
scientific and the general reader, than its predecessor.
The volume is illustrated by seventy-six plates and views, which are admirably executed,
and by a few excellent maps; and indeed the whole style of publication is such as to reflect
the highest credit upon the publishers."-Boston Daily Advertiser.
S
UPPLEMENTARY REPORT to the Engineer and Artillery Opera.
tions against the Defences of Charleston Harbor in 1863. By
Major-General Q. A. GILLMORE, U. S. Volunteers, and Major U. S.
Corps of Engineers. With Seven Lithographed Maps and Views.
I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $5.
S
IEGE AND REDUCTION OF FORT PULASKI, GEORGIA.
Papers on Practical Engineering. No. 8. Official Report to the
U. S. Engineer Department of the Siege and Reduction of Fort Pu-
laski, Ga., February, March, and April, 1862. By Brig.-Gen. Q.
A. GILLMORE, U. S. A. Illustrated by maps and views. I vol.,
8vo, cloth. $2.50.
P
RACTICAL TREATISE ON LIMES, HYDRAULIC CE-
MENTS, AND MORTARS. Papers on Practical Engineering,
U.S. Engineer Department, No. 9, containing Reports of numerous
experiments conducted in New York City, during the years 1858 to
1861 inclusive. By Major-General Q. A. GILLMORE, U. S. Volun-
teers, and Major U.S. Corps of Engineers. With numerous illus-
trations. One volume, octavo. Cloth. $4.
S
YSTEMS OF MILITARY BRIDGES, in Use by the United States
Army; those adopted by the Great European Powers ; and such
as are employed in British India. With Directions for the Preserva-
tion, Destruction, and Re-establishment of Bridges. By Maj.-Gen.
GEORGE W. CULLUM, Lieut.-Col. Corps of Engineers, United States
Army. I vol. octavo. With numerous illustrations. Cloth. $3.50.
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Military Books.
9
M
ILITARY BRIDGES: For the Passage of Infantry, Artillery,
and Baggage-Trains ; with suggestions of many new expedients
and constructions for crossing streams and chasms; designed to
utilize the resources ordinarily at command and reduce the amount
and cost of army transportation. Including also designs for Trestle
and Truss-Bridges for Military Railroads, adapted especially to the
wants of the Service of the United States. By HERMAN HAUPT,
Brig.-Gen. in charge of the construction and operation of the U.S.
Military Railways, Author of 'General Theory of Bridge Construc-
tion, &c." Illustrated by sixty-nine lithographic engravings. Oc-
tavo, cloth. $6.50.
This elaborate and carefully prepared, though thoroughly practical and simple work, is
peculiarly adapted to the military service of the United States. Mr. Haupt has added very much
to the ordinary facilities for crossing streams and chasms, by the instructions afforded in this
"-Boston Courier.
B
ENET'S MILITARY LAW. A Treatise on Military Law and the
Practice of Courts-Martial. By Col. S. V. BENÉT, Ordnance De-
partment, U. S. A., late Assistant Professor of Ethics, Law, &c.,
Military Academy, West Point. I vol., 8vo, sixth edition, revised
and enlarged. Law sheep. $4.50.
" Captain Benet presents the army with a complete compilation of the precedents and decisions
of rare value which have accumulated since the creation of the office of Judge-Advocate,
thoroughly digested and judiciously arranged, with an index of the most minute accuracy.
Military Law and Courts-Martial are treated from the composition of the latter to the Finding
and Sentence, with the Revision and Execution of the same, all set forth in a clear, exhanstive
style that is a cardinal excellence in every work of legal reference. That portion of the work
devoted to Evidence is especially good. In fact, the whole performance entitles the author to
the thanks of the entire army, not a leading officer of which should fail to supply himself at once
with so serviceable a guide to the intricacies of legal military government."-N. Y. Times.
JUDGE-ADVOCATE GENERAL'S OFFICE,
October 13, 1862.
So far as I have been enabled to examine this volume, it seems to me carefully and
accurately prepared, and I am satisfied that you have rendered an acceptable service to the army
and the country by its publication at this moment. In consequence of the gigantic proportions
so suddenly assumed by the military operations of the Government, there have been necessarily
called into the field, from civil life, a vast number of officers, unacquainted, from their previous
studies and pursuits, both with the principles of military law and with the course of judicial
proceedings under it. To all such, this treatise will prove an easily accessible storehouse of
knowledge, which it is equally the duty of the soldier in command to acquire, as it is to draw
his sword against the common enemy. The military spirit of our people now being *horonghly
aroused, added to a growing conviction that in future we may have to depend quite as much upon
the bayonet as upon the ballot-box for the preservation of our institutions, cannot fail to secure
to this work an extended and earnest appreciation. In bringing the results of legislation and
of decisions upon the questions down to so recent a period, the author has added greatly to the
interest and usefulness of the volume. Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
J. HOLT.
H
ALLECK'S INTERNATIONAL LAW; or, Rules Regulating the
Intercourse of States in Peace and War. By Maj.-Gen. H. W.
HALLECK, Commanding the Army. I vol., 8vo. Law sheep
$6.
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D. Van Nostrand's Publications.
R
EPORT OF THE ENGINEER AND ARTILLERY OPERA.
TIONS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, from its Or.
ganization to the Close of the Peninsular Campaign. By Maj.-Gen.
J. G. BARNARD, and other Engineer Officers, and Maj.-Gen. W. F.
BARRY, Chief of Artillery. Illustrated by numerous Maps, Plans,
&c. Octavo. Cloth. $4.
"The title of this work sufficiently indicates its importance and value as a contribution to the
history of the great rebellion. Gen. Barnard's report is a narrative of the engineer operations
of the Army of the Potomac from the time of its organization to the date it was withdrawn
from the James River. Thus a record is given of an important part in the great work which
the nation found before it when it was first confronted with the necessity of war, and perhaps
on no other point in the annals of the rebellion will future generations look with a deeper or
more admiring interest."-Buffalo Courier.
T
HE "C. S. A.," AND THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. (A
Letter to an English friend), by Major J. G. BARNARD, Colonel
of Engineers, U. S. A., Major-General and Chief Engineer, Army
of the Potomac. With five maps. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $2.
THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN AND ITS ANTECEDENTS,
as developed by the Report of Major-General GEO. B. McCLELLAN,
and other published Documents. By J. G. BARNARD, Colonel of
Engineers and Brevet Major-General Volunteers, and Chief En-
gineer in the Army of the Potomac from its organization to the close
of the Peninsular Campaign. I vol., 12mo. Paper. 30 cents.
N
OTES ON SEA-COAST DEFENCE: Consisting of Sea-Coast
Fortification; the Fifteen-Inch Gun; and Casemate Embrasure.
By Major-General J. G. BARNARD, Col. of Corps of Engineers,
U.S. A. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. Plates. $2.
M
ANUAL FOR ENGINEER TROOPS: Consisting of-Part I.
Ponton Drill; II. Practical Operations of a Siege; III. School
of the Sap; IV. Military Mining; V. Construction of Batteries.
By General J. C. DUANE, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army. I vol.,
12mo. Half morocco. With plates. $2.50.
"I have carefully examined Capt. J. C. Duane's 'Manual for Engineer Troops,' and do not
hesitate to pronounce it the very best work on the subject of which it treats.
"H. W. HALLECK, Major-General U. S. A."
"A work of this kind has been much needed in our military literature. For the Army's
sake, I hope the book will have a wide circulation among its officers.
G. B. McCLELLAN, Major-General U. S. A."
A
TREATISE ON MILITARY SURVEYING. Theoretical and
Practical, including a description of Surveying Instruments. By
G. H. MENDELL, Major of Engineers. I vol., I2mo. With nu-
merous illustrations. Cloth. $2.
"The author is a Captain of Engineers, and has for his chief authorities Salneuve, Lalobre,
and Simms. He has presented the subject in a simple form, and has liberally illustrated it with
diagrams, that it may be readily comprehended by every one who is liable to be called Uson to
furnish a military sketch of a portion of country."-N. Y. Frening Post.
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Military Books
11
A
BBOT (H. L.) Siege Artillery in the Campaign against Richmond,
with Notes on the 15-inch Gun, including an Algebraic Analysis
of the Trajectory of a Shot in its ricochet upon smooth Water. II-
lustrated with detailed drawings of the U. S. and Confederate rifled
projectiles. By HENRY L. ABBoT, Major of Engineers, and Brevet
Major-General U.S. Volunteers, commanding Siege Artillery, Armies
before Richmond. Paper No. 14, Professional Papers, Corps of
Engineers. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $3.50.
A
UTHORIZED U. S. INFANTRY TACTICS. For the Instruc-
tion, Exercise, and Manœuvres of the Soldier, a Company, Line
of Skirmishers, Battalion, Brigade, or Corps d'Armée. By Brig.-
Gen. SILAS CASEY, U. S. A. 3 vols., 24mo. Vol. I.-School of
the Soldier ; School of the Company; Instruction for Skirmishers.
Vol. II.-School of the Battalion. Vol. III. Evolutions of a Bri-
gade; Evolutions of a Corps d'Armée. Cloth, lithographed plates.
$2.50.
M
ORRIS'S INFANTRY TACTICS. Comprising the School of
the Soldier, School of the Company, Instruction for Skirmishers,
School of the Battalion, Evolutions of the Brigade, and Directions
for Manœuvring the Division and the Corps d'Armée. By Brig.-
Gen. WILLIAM H. MORRIS, U. S. Vols., and late U. S. Second In-
fantry. 2 vols., 24mo. Cloth. $2.
U.
S. TACTICS FOR COLORED TROOPS. U. S. Infantry Tac-
tics, for the Instruction, Exercise, and Manœuvres of the Soldier,
a Company, Line of Skirmishers, and Battalion, for the use of the
COLORED TROOPS of the United States Infantry. Prepared under the
direction of the War Department. I vol., 24mo. Plates. Cloth.
$1.50.
"WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, March 9, 1868.
"This system of United States Infantry Tactics, prepared under the direction of the War
Department, for the use of the colored troops of the United States Infantry, having been
approved by the President, is adopted for the instruction of such troops.
*EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War."
F
IELD TACTICS FOR INFANTRY. Comprising the Battalion
movements, and Brigade evolutions, useful in the Field, on the
March, and in the presence of the Enemy. The tabular form is
used to distinguish the commands of the General, and the com-
mands of the Colonel. By Brig.-Gen. WM. H. MORRIS, U. S. Vols.,
late Second U. S. Infantry. 18mo. Illustrated. 75 cents.
L
IGHT INFANTRY COMPANY AND SKIRMISH DRILL.
The Company Drill of the Infantry of the Line, together with the
Skirmish Drill of the Company and Battalion, after the method of
General LE LOUTEREL. Bayonet Fencing; with a Supplement on
the Handling and Service of Light Infantry. By J. MONROE, Col.
22d Regiment, N. G., N. Y. S. M., formerly Captain U. S. Infantry.
I vol., 32mo. 75 cents.
S
CHOOL OF THE GUIDES. Designed for the use of the Militia
of the United States. Flexible cloth. 60 cents.
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D. Van Nostrand's Publications.
T
HREE YEARS IN THE SIXTH CORPS. A concise narrative
of events in the Army of the Potomac from 1861 to the Close of
the Rebellion, April, 1865. By GEO. T. STEVENS, Surgeon of the
77th Regt. New York Volunteers. Illustrated with 17 engravings
and 6 steel portraits. New and revised edition. 8vo. Cloth. $3.
This story of 'Three Years in the Sixth Corps' is a valuable contribution to the history of the great
struggle, and we are glad to see that its success necessitates this second edition. The work is graphically
written, and brings vividly before the mind of the reader the varied scenes which came before the
writer's eye. Not only will it be found interesting to the members of the old Sixth, but to every Ameri-
can reader. Fine portraits on steel of six of the leading Generals connected with the corps, and ,
number of wood-cuts, accompany this edition."-Mail.
Containing a Collec-
of the Laws, Regulations, Rules, and Prac-
tices governing the Quartermaster's Department of the United States
Army, and in force March 4, 1865. By Captain ROELIFF BRINKER-
HOFF, Assistant Quartermaster U.S. Volunteers, and Post Quarter-
master at Washington. I vol., 12mo. Cloth. $2.50.
M
ANUAL FOR QUARTERMASTERS AND COMMISSARIES.
Containing Instructions in the Preparation of Vouchers, Ab-
stracts, Returns, &c., embracing all the recent changes in the Army
Regulations, together with instructions respecting Taxation of Sal-
aries, &c. By Captain R. F. HUNTER, late of the U. S. Army.
12mo. Cloth. $1.25. Flexible morocco. $1.50.
THE WARY IN THE UNITED STATES. A Report to the Swiss
Department. Preceded by a Discourse to the Federal
Military Society assembled at Berne, Aug. 18, 1862. By FERDINAND
LECOMTE, Lieut.-Col. Swiss Confederation. Author of Relation
Historique et Critique de la Campagne d'Italie en 1859," L'Italie
en 1860," and Le Général Jomini, sa Vie, et ses Ecrits," &c., &c.
Translated from the French. by a Staff Officer. I vol., 12mo.
Cloth. $1.
T
ODLEBEN'S (GENERAL) HISTORY OF THE DEFENCE
OF SEBASTOPOL. By WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL, LL.D., of
the London Times. I vol., 12mo. Cloth. $2.
G
UNNERY IN 1858. A Treatise on Rifles, Cannon, and Sporting
Arms. By WM. GREENER, R.C.E. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $4. Full
calf. $6.00.
M
ANUAL OF SIGNALS, for the use of Signal Officers in the
Field, and for Military and Naval Students, Military Schools,
&c. A new edition, enlarged and illustrated. By Brig.-Gen. ALBERT
Y. MYER, Chief Signal Officer of the Army, Colonel of the Signal
Corps during the War of the Rebellion. A new edition, enlarged,
and illustrated with 42 Plates. 12mo. Roan. $5.
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D. Van Nostrand's Publications.
R
EBELLION RECORD. A Diary of American Events. 1860-
1864. Edited by FRANK MOORE. Complete in I2 Volumes.
Illustrated with 158 finely engraved steel portraits of distinguished
Generals and Prominent Men, together with numerous Maps and
Plans. The work can now be supplied complete in I2 volumes at
the following prices, viz. : Green cloth, $60.00 library sheep,
$72.00; half calf, antique, $78.00 half morocco, $78.00; half
Russia, $84.00.
This work is a compendium of information, made up of special correspondence, official re-
ports, and gleanings from the newspapers of both sections of the United States and of Europe
Of these latter, over five hundred are used in its preparation.
The REBELLION RECORD has now become 80 firmly established as the standard authority of
the war that individuals in all departments of the Army, Navy, and Government are constantly
referring to it, for narratives of important events, and official reports unpublished elsewhere.
In addition to this, most of the speeches, narratives, &c., elsewhere published, have been ro-
vised by their authors, specially for the RECORD.
The editor has aimed at completeness, accuracy, and impartiality. Completeness has been
secured by the fullest possible sources of information. Accuracy has been attained by deferring
publication of all matter long enough after events for the accounts of them to be sifted. Im-
partiality has been a special object. Every authority from the Southern side has been sought
for without regard to labor or expense, and all statements and documents have been inserted as
originally found, without editorial comment of any kind.
The REBELLION RECORD is already the main source of history of the war. Most of the histo
ries of the war yet published have been, in a great measure, compiled from the REBELLION
RECORD. This is proved by the fact that documents cited in those works are quoted in the phra
aeology of the copies revised by their authors specially for the Record, and published nowhere else
This work is of special value to statesmen, inasmuch as the course and policy of all prominent
men are fully traced in it.
It is indispensable to lawyers. A large and increasing amount of litigation is arising on sub
Jects connected with the war, and the REBELLION RECORD is the only complete repository of
evidence and authority. All important Laws and leading Decisions arising out of the war are
reported in it; and it has already been received as authentic evidence in trial for Piracy and
Treason in the United States Courts of Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and San Francisco.
The Philadelphia Press, of October 26, 1861, thus speaks of it:
" During the trial, which terminated yesterday, for piracy, of one of the crew of the Jeff
Davis, a great deal of evidence was offered by the counsel for defence taken from FRANK
MOORE'S REBELLION RECORD, and received by Judges Grier and Cadwallader, who presided.
This is a remarkable compliment to the work in question; but not higher than it merits, from
the fulness and fairness of its various information respecting the rebellion. It is the first time
in legal and literary history that a book not yet completed has been so stamped with authen-
ticity as to be admitted as evidence in a court of law, and on a trial for a capital offence."
" We presume that there can be no question that there never was so complete a body of mã-
moires pour servir published as this, and at least that it is destined to be the resort of all those
who wish to study, from a political, social, or military point of view, the events of the years
1860-65. That no libraries fit to be called such, whether public or private, can dispense with it
is certain. The portraits of prominent officers and politicians which have generally accompa-
nied each monthly part, have been of a high order of excellence, and add materially to the value
and attractiveness of the RECORD."-The Nation.
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FRANCISIS Hydraulic Experiments. Lowell Hydraulic Ex-
a Selection from Experiments on Hydraulic
Motors, on the Flow of Water over Weirs, and in Open Canals of
Uniform Rectangular Section, made at Lowell, Mass. By J. B.
FRANCIS, Civil Engineer. Second edition, revised and enlarged, in-
cluding many New Experiments on Gauging Water in Open Canals,
and on the Flow through Submerged Orifices and Diverging Tubes.
With 23 copperplates, beautifully engraved, and about 100 new
pages of text. I vol., 4to. Cloth. $15.
Most of the practical rules given in the books on hydraulics have been determined from ex
periments made in other countries, with insufficient apparatus, and on such a minute scale, that
in applying them to the large operations arising in practice in this country, the engineer cannot
but doubt their reliable applicability. The parties controlling the great water-power furnished
by the Merrimack River at Lowell, Massachusetts, felt this so keenly, that they have deemed it
necessary, at great expense, to determine anew some of the most important rules for ganging
the flow of large streams of water, and for this purpose have caused to be made, with great care.
several series of experiments on a large scale, a selection from which are minutely detailed in
this volume.
The work is divided into two parts-PART I., on hydraulic motors, includes ninety-two exper.
ments on an improved Fourneyron Turbine Water-Wheel, of about two hundred horse-power.
with rules and tables for the construction of similar motors :-Thirteen experiments on a model
of a centre-vent water-wheel of the most simple design, and thirty-nine experiments on a centre
vent water-wheel of about two hundred and thirty horse-power.
PART II. includes seventy-four experiments made for the purpose of determining the form of
the formula for computing the flow of water over weirs; nine experiments on the effect of back-
water on the flow over weirs; eighty-eight experiments made for the purpose of determining
the formula for computing the flow over weirs of regular or standard forms, with several tables
of comparisons of the new formula with the results obtained by former experimenters five ex-
periments on the flow over a dam in which the crest was of the same form as that built by the
Essex Company across the Merrimack River at Lawrence, Massachusetts; twenty-one experi-
ments on the effect of observing the depths of water on a weir at different distances from the
weir; an extensive series of experiments made for the purpose of determining rules for gaug-
ing streams of water in open canals, with triles for facilitating the same; and one hundred and
one experiments on the discharge of water through submerged orifices and diverging tubes, the
whole being fully illustrated by twenty-three double plates engraved on copper.
In 1855 the proprietors of the Locks and Canals on Merrimack River, at whose expense most
of the experiments were made, being willing that the public should share the benefits of the
scientific operations promoted by them, consented to the publication of the first edition of this
work, which contained a selection of the most important hydraulic experiments made at Lowell
up to that time. In this second edition the principal hydraulic experiments made there, subse-
quent to 1855, have been added, including the important series above mentioned, for determin-
ing rules for the gauging the flow of water in open canals. and the interesting series on the flow
through a submerged Venturi's tube, in which a larger flow was obtained than any we find re-
corded.
FRANCIS (J. B.) On the Strength of Cast-Iron Pillars, with Tables
use of Engineers, Architects, and Builders. By JAMES B.
FRANCIS, Civil Engineer. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $2.
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H OLLEY'S RAILWAY PRACTICE. American and Earopean
Railway Practice, in the Economical Generation of Steam, in-
cluding the materials and construction of Coal-burning Boilers,
Combustion, the Variable Blast, Vaporization, Circulation, Super-
heating, Supplying and Heating Feed-water, &c., and the adaptation
of Wood and Coke-burning Engines to Coal-burning; and in Per-
manent Way, including Road-bed, Sleepers, Rails, Joint Fastenings,
Street Railways, &c., &c. By ALEXANDER L. HOLLEY, B. P. With
77 lithographed plates. I vol., folio. Cloth. $12.
"This is an elaborate treatise by one of our ablest civil engineers, on the construction and use
of locomotives, with a few chapters on the building of Railroads.
All these subjects
are treated by the author, who is a first-class railroad engineer, in both an intelligent and intelli-
gible manner. The facts and ideas are well arranged, and presented in a clear and simple style,
accompanied by beautiful engravings, and we presume the work will be regarded as indispens-
able by all who are interested in a knowledge of the construction of railroads and rolling stock,
or the working of locomotives."-Scientifc American.
H ENRICI (OLAUS). Skeleton Structures, especially in their Appli-
cation to the Building of Steel and Iron Bridges. By OLAUS
HENRICI. With folding plates and diagrams. I vol., 8vo. Cloth.
$3.
W
HILDEN (J. K.) On the Strength of Materials used in En
gineering Construction. By J. K. WHILDEN. I vol., 12mo.
Cloth. $2.
We find in this work tables of the tensile strength of timber, metals, stones, wire, rope,
hempen cable, strength of thin cylinders of cast-iron; modulus of elasticity, strength of thick
cylinders, as cannon, &c., effects of reheating, &c., resistance of timber, metals, and stone to
crushing; experiments on brick-work; strength of pillars; collapse of tube; experiments on
punching and shearing; the transverse strength of materials; beams of uniform strength; table
of coefficients of timber, stone, and iron; relative strength of weight in cast-iron, transverse
strength of alloys; experiments on wrought and cast-iron beams: lattice girders, trussed cast-
iron girders; deflection of beams; torsional strength and torsional elasticity."-American An
tisan.
CAMPIN (F:) Practical On the Construction of Iron Roofs. A Theoretical
Treatise. By FRANCIS CAMPIN. With wood-cuts and
plates of Roofs lately executed. Large 8vo. Cloth. $3.
B
ROOKLYN WATER-WORKS AND SEWERS. Containing a
Descriptive Account of the Construction of the Works, and also
Reports on the Brooklyn, Hartford, Belleville, and Cambridge
Pumping Engines. Prepared and printed by order of s.e Board of
Water Commissioners. With illustrations. I vol., folio. Cloth.
$15.
R
OEBLING (J. A.) Long and Short Span Railway Bridges. By
JOHN A. ROEBLING, C. E. Illustrated with large copperplate en-
gravings of plans and views. Imperial folio, cloth. $25.
C
LARKE (T. C.) Description of the Iron Railwar Bridge across
the Mississippi River at Quincy, Illinois. By THOMAS CURTIS
CLARKE, Chief Engineer. Illustrated with numerous lithographed
plans. I vol., 4to. Cloth. $7.50.
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W
ILLIAMSON (R. S.) On the Use of the Barometer on Surveys
and Reconnaissances. Part I. Meteorology in its Connection
with Hypsometry. Part II. Barometric Hypsometry. By R. S.
WILLIAMSON, Bvt. Lieut.-Col. U. S. A., Major Corps of Engineers.
With Illustrative Tables and Engravings. Paper No. 15, Professional
Papers, Corps of Engineers. I vol., 4to. Cloth. $15.
"SAN FRANCISCO, CAL, Feb. 27, 1867.
Gen. A. A. HUMPHREYS, Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army:
" GENERAL-I have the honor to submit to you, in the following pages, the results of my in
vestigations in meteorology and hypsometry, made with the view of ascertaining how far the
barometer can be used as a reliable instrument for determining altitudes on extended lines of
survey and reconnaissances. These investigations have occupied the leisure permitted me from
my professional duties during the last ten years, and I hope the results will be deemed of suffi-
event value to have a place assigned them among the printed professional papers of the United
States Corps of Engineers.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. S. WILLIAMSON,
"Bvt. Lt.-Col. U. 8. A., Major Corps of U. 8. Engineers."
T
UNNER (P.) A Treatise on Roll-Turning for the Manufacture of
Iron. By PETER TUNNER. Translated and adapted. By JOHN B.
PEARSE, of the Pennsylvania Steel Works. With numerous engrav-
ings and wood-cuts. I vol., 8vo., with I vol. folio of plates. Cloth. $10
S
HAFFNER (T. P.) Telegraph Manual. A Complete History and
Description of the Semaphoric, Electric, and Magnetic Telegraphs
of Europe, Asia, and Africa, with 625 illustrations. By TAL. P.
SHAFFNER, of Kentucky. New edition. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. 850 pp.
$6. 50.
M
INIFIE (WM.) Mechanical Drawing. A Text-Book of Geomet-
rical Drawing for the use of Mechanics and Schools, in which
the Definitions and Rules of Geometry are familiarly explained; the
Practical Problems are arranged, from the most simple to the more
complex, and in their description technicalities are avoided as much
as possible. With illustrations for Drawing Plans, Sections, and
Elevations of Buildings and Machinery; an Introduction to Isomet-
rical Drawing, and an Essay on Linear Perspective and Shadows.
Illustrated with over 200 diagrams engraved on steel. By WM
MINIFIE, Arclitect. Seventh edition. With an Appendix on the
Theory and Application of Colors. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $4.
6. It is the best work on Drawing that we have ever seen, and is especially a text-book of Geo-
metrical Drawing for the use of Mechanics and Schools. No young Mechanic, such as a Ma-
chinist, Engineer, Cabinet-Maker, Millwright, or Carpenter should be without it."-Scientifie
American.
" One of the most comprehensive works of the kind ever published, and cannot but possess
great value to builders. The style is at once elegant and substantial. "-Pennsyivania Inquirer.
" Whatever is said is rendered perfectly intelligible by remarkably well-executed diagrams on'
steel, leaving nothing for mere vague supposition; and the addition of an introduction to iso-
metrical drawing, linear perspective, and the projection of shadows, winding up with a useful
Index to technical terms."-Gasgow Mechanics' Journal.
The British verment has authorized the use of this book in their schools of art at
Somerset House, London, and throughout the kingdom.
M
INIFIE (WM.) Geometrical Drawing. Abridged from the octavo
edition, for the use of Schools. Illustrated with 48 steel plates.
Fifth edition, 1 vol., I2mo. Half roan. $1.50.
It is well adapted as a text-book of drawing tc be used in our High Schools and Academies
where this useful branch of the fine arts has beer bitherto too much neglected. "--Roston Jownas
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D. Van Nostrand's Publications.
ANALYTIC MECHANICS. Physical
by BENJAMIN PEIRCE, Perkins Professor
of Astronomy and Mathematics in Harvard University, and Con-
sulting Astronomer of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Al-
manac. Developed in four systems of Analytic Mechanics, Celestial
Mechanics, Potential Physics, and Analytic Morphology. I vol.,
4to. Cloth. $10.
G
ILLMORE. Practical Treatise on Limes, Hydraulic Cements, and
Mortars. Papers on Practical Engineering, U.S. Engineer De-
partment, No. 9, containing Reports of numerous experiments con-
ducted in New York City, during the years 1858 to 1861, inclusive.
By Q. A. GILLMORE, Brig.-General U.S. Volunteers, and Major U.
S. Corps of Engineers. With numerous illustrations. One volume,
octavo. Cloth. $4.
R
OGERS (H. D.) Geology of Pennsylvania. A complete Scien-
tific Treatise on the Coal Formations. By HENRY D. ROGERS,
Geologist. 3 vols., 4to., plates and maps. Boards. $30.00.
B
URGH (N. P.) Modern Marine Engineering, applied to Paddle
and Screw Propulsion. Consisting of 36 colored plates, 259
Practical Woodcut Illustrations, and 403 pages of Descriptive Matter,
the whole being an exposition of the present practice of the follow-
ing firms Messrs. J. Penn & Sons; Messrs. Maudslay, Sons, &
Field; Messrs. James Watt & Co. ; Messrs. J. & G. Rennie; Messrs.
R. Napier & Sons; Messrs. J. & W. Dudgeon Messrs. Ravenhill
& Hodgson; Messrs. Humphreys & Tenant; Mr. J. T. Spencer,
and Messrs. Forrester & Co. By N. P. BURGH, Engineer. In one
thick vol., 4to. Cloth. $25.00. Half morocco. $30.00.
K
ING. Lessons and Practical Notes on Steam, the Steam-Engine,
Propellers, &c., &c., for Young Marine Engineers, Students,
and others. By the late W. R. KING, U. S. N. Revised by Chief-
Engineer J. W. KING, U.S. Navy. Twelfth edition, enlarged. 8vo.
Cloth. $2.
WARD. Steam for the Million. A Popular Treatise on Steam and
Application to the Useful Arts, especially to Navigation. By
J. H. WARD, Commander U. S. Navy. New and revised edition.
I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $1.
ALKER. Screw Propulsion. Notes on Screw Propulsion, its
Rise and History. By Capt. W. H. WALKER, U.S. Navy. I
vol., 8vo. Cloth. 75 cents.
and the Improved Mano-
Utility and Application.
By PAUL STILLMAN. New edition. I vol., 12mo. Flexible cloth.
$1.
ISHERWOOD. Engineering Precedents for Steam Machinery. Ar-
most practical and useful manner for Engineers. By
B. F. ISHERWOOD, Civil Engineer U. S. Navy. With illustrations
Two volumes in one. 8vo. Cloth. $2.50.
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POOK'S METHOD OF COMPARING THE LINES AND
VESSELS PROPELLED BY SAIL OR
STEAM, including a Chapter on Laying off on the Mould-Loft
Floor. By SAMUEL M. Pook, Naval Constructor. I vol., 8vo.
With illustrations. Cloth. $5.
S
WEET (S. H.) Special Report on Coal; showing its Distribution,
Classification and Cost delivered over different routes to various
points in the State of New York, and the principal cities on the
Atlantic Coast. By S. H. SWEET. With maps. I vol., 8vo. Cloth.
$3.
A
LEXANDER (J. H.) Universal Dictionary of Weights and Meas-
ures, Ancient and Modern, reduced to the standards of the United
States of America. By J. H. ALEXANDER. New edition. I vol.,
8vo. Cloth. $3.50.
" As a standard work of reference this book should be in every library; it is one which we
have long wanted, and it will save us much trouble and research."-Scientific American.
C
RAIG (B. F.) Weights and Measures. An Account of the Deci-
mal System, with Tables of Conversion for Commercial and Scien-
tific Uses. By B. F. CRAIG, M. D. I vol., square 32mo. Limp
cloth. 50 cents.
The most Incid, accurate, and useful of all the hand-books on this subject that we have yet
seen. It gives forty-seven tables of comparison between the English and French denominations
of length, area, capacity, weight, and the centigrade and Fahrenheit thermometers, with clear
instructions how to use them; and to this practical portion, which helps to make the transition
DB easy as possible, is prefixed a scientific explanation of the errors in the metric system, and
Low they may be corrected in the laboratory."-Nation.
B
AUERMAN. Treatise on the Metallurgy of Iron, containing
outlines of the History of Iron manufacture, methods of Assay,
and analysis of Iron Ores, processes of manufacture of Iron and
Steel, etc., etc. By H. BAUERMAN. First American edition. Re-
vised and enlarged, with an appendix on the Martin Process for
making Steel, from the report of Abram S. Hewitt. Illustrated
with numerous wood engravings. 12mo. Cloth. $2.50.
This is an important addition to the stock of technical works published in this country. It
embodies the latest facts, discoveries, and processes connected with the manufacture of irom
and steel, and should be in the hands of every person interested in the subject, as well as in all
technical and scientific "-Scientific American.
H
ARRISON. Mechanic's Tool Book, with practical rules and sug-
gestions, for the use of Machinists, Iron Workers, and others.
By W. B. HARRISON, associate editor of the American Artisan."
Illustrated with 44 engravings. 12mo. Cloth. $2.50.
This work is specially adapted to meet the wants of Machinists and workers in iron gener-
ally. It is made up of the work-day experience of an intelligent and ingenious mechanic, whe
had the faculty of adapting tools to various purposes. The practicability of his plans and sug-
gestions are made apparent even to the unpractised eye by a series of well-executed wood em.
gravings."-Philadeiphia Inquirer.
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D. Van Nostrand's Publications.
PLYMPTON. The Blow-Pipe : A System of Instruction in its prace
being a graduated course of Analysis for the use of
students, and all those engaged in the Examination of Metallic
Combinations. Second edition, with an appendix and a copious
index. By GEORGE W. PLYMPTON, of the Polytechnic Institute,
Brooklyn. 12mo. Cloth. $2.
" This manual probably has no superior in the English language as a text-book for beginners,
or as a guide to the student working without a teacher. To the latter many illustrations of the
utensils and apparatus required in using the blow-pipe, as well as the fully illustrated descrip-
tion of the blow-pipe flame, will be especially serviceable."-New York Teacher.
N
UGENT. Treatise on Optics : or, Light and Sight, theoretically
and practically treated ; with the application to Fine Art and In-
dustrial Pursuits. By E. NUGENT. With one hundred and three
illustrations. 12mo. Cloth. $2.
This book is of a practical rather than a theoretical kind, and is designed to afford accurate
and complete information to all interested in applications of the science."-Round Table.
S
ILVERSMITH (Julius). A Practical Hand-Book for Miners, Met-
allurgists, and Assayers, comprising the most recent improvements
in the disintegration, amalgamation, smelting, and parting of the
Precious Ores, with a Comprehensive Digest of the Mining Laws.
Greatly augmented, revised, and corrected. By JULIUS SILVERSMITH.
Fourth edition. Profusely illustrated. I vol., 12mo. Cloth. $3.
L
ARRABEE'S CIPHER AND SECRET LETTER AND TELE-
GRAPHIC CODE. By C. S. LARRABEE. 18mo. Cloth. $1.
B
RÜNNOW. Spherical Astronomy. By F. BRUNNOW, Ph. Dr.
Translated by the Author from the Second German edition. I
vol., 8vo. Cloth. $6.50.
C
HAUVENET (Prof. Wm.) New method of Correcting Lunar Dis-
tances, and Improved Method of Finding the Error and Rate of a
Chronometer, by equal altitudes. By WM. CHAUVENET, LL.D. I
vol., 8vo. Cloth. $2.
Practice of the Electric Telegraph. A Handbook for
and Operators. By FRANK L. POPE. Fourth edition.
Revised and enlarged, and fully illustrated. 8vo. Cloth. $2.
G
AS WORKS OF LONDON. By ZERAH COLBURN. 12mo. Boards.
60 cents.
H
EWSON. Principles and Practice of Embanking Lands from
River Floods, as applied to the Levees of the Mississippi. By
WILLIAM HEWSON, Civil Engineer. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $2.
This is a valuable treatise on the principles and practice of embanking lands from river
Roods, as applied to Levees of the Mississippi, by a highly intelligent and experienced engineer.
The author says it is a first attempt to reduce to order and to rule the design, execution, and
measurement of the Levees of the Mississippi. It is a most usetul and needer. contribution to
dentific literatnre."-Philadelphia Meening Journal.
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W
EISBACH'S MECHANICS. New and revised edition. A Manual
of the Mechanics of Engineering, and of the Construction of Ma-
chines. By JULIUS WEISBACH, PH. D. Translated from the fourth
augmented and improved German edition, by ECKLEY B. Coxe, A. M.,
Mining Engineer. Vol. I.-Theoretical Mechanics. I vol. 8vo,
1,100 pages, and 902 wood-cut illustrations, printed from electrotype
copies of those of the best German edition. $10.
ABSTRACT OF CONTENTS-Introduction to the Calculus-The Gen-
eral Principles of Mechanics-Phoronomics, or the Purely Mathe-
matical Theory of Motion-Mechanics, or the General Physical
Theory of Motion-Statics of Rigid Bodies-The Application of
Statics to Elasticity and Strength-Dynamics of Rigid Bodies-Statics
of Fluids-Dynamics of Fluids-The Theory of Oscillation, etc.
"The present edition is an entirely new work, greatly extended and very much improved. It forms a
text-book which must find its way into the hands, not only of every student, but of every engineer who
desires to refresh his memory or acquire clear ideas on doubtful pointa"-The Technologist.
H
UNT (R. M.) Designs for the Gateways of the Southern Entrances
to the Central Park. By RICHARD M. HUNT. With a descrip-
tion of the designs. I vol., 4to. Illustrated. Cloth. $5.
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ILVER DISTRICTS OF NEVADA. 8vo., with map. Paper.
35 cents.
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cCORMICK (R. C.) Arizona : Its Resources and Prospects.
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SIMM'S LEVELLING. A Treatise on the Principles and Practice of
Levelling, showing its application to purposes of Railway Engineer-
ing and the Construction of Roads, &c. By FREDERICK W. SIMMS,
C.E. From the fifth London edition, revised and corrected, with
the addition of Mr. Law's Practical Examples for Setting Out Rail-
way Curves. Illustrated with three lithographic plates and numerous
wood-cuts. 8vo. Cloth. $2.50.
PALMER.N. Antarctic Mariners' Song. By JAMES CROXALL PALMER,
Illustrated. Cloth, gilt, bevelled boards. $3.
66 The poem is founded upon and narrates the episodes of the exploring expedition of a small
sailing vessel, the 'Flying Fish,' in company with the 'Peacock,' in the South Seas, in 1888-
68. The 'Flying Fish' was too small to be safe or comfortable in that Antarctic region, al-
though we find in the poem but little of complaint or murmuring at the hardships the sailors
were compelled to endure."-Athenrum.
F
RENCH'S ETHICS. Practical Ethics By Rev. J. W. FRENCH,
D. D., Professor of Ethics, U.S. Military Academy. Prepared for
the Use of Students in the Military Academy. I vol. 8vo. Cloth.
$4.50.
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A
UCHINCLOSS. Application of the Slide Valve and Link Motion
to Stationary, Portable, Locomotive, and Marine Engines, with new
and simple methods for proportioning the parts. By WILLIAM S.
AUCHINCLOSS, Civil and Mechanical Engineer. Designed as a hand-
book for Mechanical Engineers, Master Mechanics, Draughtsmen, and
Students of Steam Engineering. All dimensions of the valve are
found with the greatest ease by means of a PRINTED SCALE, and propor-
tions of the link determined without the assistance of a model. Illus-
trated by 37 woodcuts and 21 lithographic plates, together with a cop-
perplate engraving of the Travel Scale. I vol. 8vo. Cloth. $3. a
H
UMBER'S STRAINS IN GIRDERS. A Handy Book for the
Calculation of Strains in Girders and Similar Structures, and their
Strength, consisting of Formulae and Corresponding Diagrams, with
numerous details for practical application. By WILLIAM HUMBER.
I vol. 18mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth. $2.50.
G
LYNN ON THE POWER OF WATER, as applied to drive Flour
Mills, and to give motion to Turbines and other Hydrostatic En-
gines. By JOSEPH GLYNN, F. R. S. Third edition, revised and en-
larged, with numerous illustrations. 12mo. Cloth. $1.25.
THE KANSAS CITY BRIDGE, with an Account of the Regimen
the Missouri River, and a description of the Methods used for
Founding in that River. By O. CHANUTE, Chief Engineer, and
GEORGE MORISON, Assistant Engineer. Illustrated with five litho-
graphic views and 12 plates of plans. 4to. Cloth. $6.
T REATISE ON ORE DEPOSITS. By BERNHARD VON COTTA,
Professor of Geology in the Royal School of Mines, Freidberg,
Saxony. Translated from the second German edition, by FREDERICE
PRIME, Jr., Mining Engineer, and revised by the author, with numer-
ous illustrations. I vol. 8vo. Cloth, $4.
A
TREATISE ON THE RICHARDS STEAM-ENGINE INDICA-
TOR, with directions for its use. By CHARLES T. PORTER.
Revised, with notes and large additions as developed by American
Practice, with an Appendix containing useful formulæ and rules for
Engineers. By F. W. BACON, M. E., member of the American
Society of Civil Engineers. 12mo. Illustrated. Cloth. $1
A
COMPENDIOUS MANUAL OF QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL
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of Chemistry in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 12mo.
Illustrated. Clo. $1.50.
I
INVESTIGATIONS OF FORMULAS, for the Strength of the Iron
Parts of Steam Machinery. By J. D. VAN BUREN, Jr., C. E. I
vol. 8vo. Illustrated. Cloth. $2.
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THE MECHANICS AND STUDENTS GUIDE in the Designing
of General Machine Gearing, as Eccentrics,
Screws, Toothed Wheels, etc., and the Drawing of Rectilineal and
Curved Surfaces; with Practical Rules and Details. Edited by
FRANCIS HERBERT JOYNSON. Illustrated with 18 folded plates. 8vo.
Cloth. $2.00.
"The aim of this work is to be a guide to mechanics in the designing and construction
of general machine-gearing. This design it well fulfils, being plainly aLà sensibly written, and
profusely illustrated."-Sunday Times.
F
REE-HAND DRAWING a Guide to Ornamental, Figure, and
Landscape Drawing. By an Art Student. 18mo. Cloth.
75 cents.
THE EARTH'S FOUTH CRUST: a Handy Outline of Geology. By DAVID
edition. 18mo. Cloth. 75 cents.
Such a work as this was much wanted-a work giving in clear and intelligible outline the
leading facts of the science, without amplification or irksome details. It ir admirable in
arrangement, and clear and easy, and, at the same time, forcible in style. It will lead, we hope,
to the introduction of Geology into many schools that have neither time nor room for the study
of large treatises."-The Museum.
H
ISTORY AND PROGRESS OF THE ELECTRIC TELE-
GRAPH, with Descriptions of some of the Apparatus. By
ROBERT SABINE, C. E. Second edition, with additions. 12mo.
Cloth. $1.75.
I
RON TRUSS BRIDGES FOR RAILROADS. The Method of
Calculating Strains in Trusses, with a careful comparison of the
most prominent Trusses, in reference to economy in combination, etc.,
etc. By Brevet Colonel WILLIAM E. MERRILL, U. S. A., Major
Corps of Engineers. With illustrations. 4to. Cloth. $5.00.
U
SEFUL INFORMATION FOR RAILWAY MEN. Compiled
by W. G. HAMILTON, Engineer. Second edition, revised and
enlarged. 570 pages. Pocket form. Morocco, gilt. $2.00.
R
EPORT ON MACHINERY AND PROCESSES OF THE IN-
DUSTRIAL ARTS AND APPARATUS, OF THE EXACT
SCIENCES. By F. A. P. BARNARD, LL D.-Paris Universal Ex-
position, 1867. I vol., 8vo. Cloth. $5.00.
T
HE METALS USED IN CONSTRUCTION: Iron, Steel, Bessemer
Metal, etc., etc. By FRANCIS HERBERT JOYNSON. Illustrated.
I 2mo. Cloth. 75 cents.
In the interests of practical science, we are bound to notice this work and to those who
wish further information, we should say, buy it; and the outlay, we honestly believe, will be
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