USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 10
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JOHN WILSON.
MAJOR JOHN WILSON, U.S.A., a distin- guished American engineer, prominent during the War of 1812-15 in the work of planning and eon- structing the defenses of Charleston, South Caro- lina, subsequently Major in the Corps of Topo- grapieal Engineers, United States Army, from 1818 until 1822 Civil and Military Engineer of the State of South Carolina, and during the latter years of his life active in the construction of important railroads and eanals in the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, was born near Stirling, Scotland, Marchi 9, 1789, and died February 27, 1833, on board ship in the harbor of Matanzas, Cuba, while on his way baek to his home in Philadelphia, after a brief so- journ in Florida and Cuba in seareli of health. Major Wilson eame by his great natural talents as an engineer through inheritanee; both his grand- father and father being distinguished for their at- tainments in this science. The former, whose name was James Wilson, of Stirling, Seotland, was an engineer and architect of considerable skill and repute. He left three sons : James, who was a planter in the Island of Jamaica, West Indies; Alex- ander, who settled as a merehant at Norfolk, Vir- ginia, where some of his deseendants are yet to be found; and John, who adopted a military eareer. The last named, who was the father of the subjeet of this sketeh, was a Lieutenant in the Seventy-First Foot (Highlanders), British Army. Throughout the Revolutionary War he served as an engineer in the British forces, under Major Monerief of the Royal Engineers. Severely wounded at the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1780, he remained in that city until the close of the war, and married there a daughter of Dr. Robert Wilson, a local physician of prominenee. Ile died at Stirling, Seotland, in 1798, leaving four children, among whom was Jolm, the subject of this sketch. Ilis widow, with her family, returned to Charleston, her native place, in 1807. John Wilson received a care- ful preparatory training at Stirling, and when of
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
suitable age was sent to complete his education at the University of Edinburgh. Here he attracted the attention of his instructors, and, upon leaving for America, brought with him warm testimonials as to his character and ability from Professors Playfair, Leslie and Walker, under whom he had studied. Soon after arriving in Charleston he engaged in professional work as an engineer and surveyor. A map of South Carolina, which he prepared for the State authorities, " is considered to this day stand- ard authority for all but subsequent improvements." In the early part of the War of 1812-15 Mr. Wilson, who had become a naturalized citizen of the United States, volunteered his services to the city of Charleston, as an engineer for the construction of works of defense. His offer was gladly accepted, and he rendered able service to the Board of Com- missioners charged with this special task. The following copy of resolutions passed by the City Council of Charleston, after the close of the war, show the high estimate in which his services were held :
" STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. ) " CITY OF CHARLESTON.S
" WHEREAS, during the late war with Great Britain, a Board of Commissioners was constituted by the City Council to superintend the erection of the works of defense on Charleston Neck, in co- operation with Major-General Pinckney of the United States Army, which Board of Commis- sioners did, with patriotic zeal and assiduity, sacri- fice their personal ease and interests to the public welfare, and, as well in the construction of the line of fortifications as in the subsequent erection of a public arsenal, justified the confidence reposcd in them, and faithfully and meritoriously served their country. And whereas the time has arrived when all the objects of their appointment being accom- plished, the said Board of Commissioners are about to be dissolved, and some expression of public feel- ing is due towards those whose patriotic labors afford at once a permanent barrier of the city, and an honorable memorial to themselves, therefore,
" Resolved, unanimously, by the intendant and wardens of the City Council assembled, that the thanks of the city of Charleston are due and they are hereby presented, to the gentlemen composing the Board of Commissioners of Fortifications.
" Resolved, unanimously, that John Wilson, Es- quire, of this city, who, in the capacity of engineer, volunteered his services in planning and construct- ing the said works of defense, and displayed in that arduous employment much scientific skill and personal disinterestedness, deserves well of the city of Charleston.
"Resolved, that the intendant be requested to en- close and address the above resolutions to the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, and to John Wilson, Esquire, and that certified copies of the same be sent to each member of the Board of Commissioners.
City Seal.
"Given under my hand and the seal of the corporation, this first day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and six- teen, and in the fortieth year of American independence.
"ELIAS HORRY, Intendant. "By the Intendant,
" G. M. BONNETHEAU, " Clerk of the Council."
With the understanding that he would be em- ployed on the coast survey, Mr. Wilson accepted in April, 1816, a commission as Major in the Corps of Topographical Engineers, United States Army, of- fered him by the Secretary of War, without any solicitation on his part. Through some miscon- ception on the part of the authorities he subse- quently received orders from General Jackson (at that time commanding the southern division of the army) to report at headquarters, Nashville, Ten- nesec. "This change of duties not conforming to his expectations, he tendered his resignation in September following." In February, 1818, he was appointed to the office of Civil and Military Engi- neer of the State of South Carolina, which had been created by act of the Legislature in December pre- vious, together with a Board of Public Works. The work of improving the rivers for navigation was specially entrusted to Major Wilson, and while performing this arduous service he contracted fever and ague, which so seriously impaired his health that, in 1822, he was compelled to resign his posi- tion. For several years thereafter he was enabled, through residing during the summer season in a northern climatc, to attend to professional work in South Carolina during the winter months; but in 1826, not being wholly satisfied with this state of affairs, he removed with his family to Philadelphia, where he established himself permanently. In the summer of the following year he was appointed by the State of Pennsylvania to take part in an exten- sive system of surveys which had just been origi- nated, and, having accepted the appointment, was assigned to the duty of examining a route for a canal between the Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers, through the counties of Chester aud Lancas- ter. Ascertaining that natural causes were against the successful completion of this artificial water- way, he made an adverse report and recommended the construction of a railroad. This recommenda- tion was acted upon by the Legislature in March, 1828, and in a law passed in that month, authorizing and directing the Canal Commissioners of the State to locate and contract for the construction of cer- tain canals, provision was also made for locating a railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia, on the
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
eastern bank of the Susquehanna river, via Lancas- ter. In the month of April, following, Major Wil- son began operations in the matter of locating this road, at Columbia. His labors being concluded, the construction of the road began in 1829, and it was finally completed, with double track, in 1834. When this railroad was projected there were but few lines in operation, and these of limited extent, crude in character and methods, and in no way bearing comparison to modern constructions. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, from which afterwards so much was learned, had not yet been opened. Public opinion in Pennsylvania gave bnt a lukewarm support to the project of the Philadel- phia and Columbia road, and, even after work upon it had begun, it was doubtful for some time whether or not it would be completed. The engi- neer's task was beset with difficulties, and as the necessity for the most stringent economy was con- tinually pressed upon him, he was obliged to adopt a less bold location than would now be considered advisable, although what was done was planned judiciously and skillfully and afterwards executed substantially. Both in design and execution the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad was far in ad- vance of any contemporaneous road. In 1830, while the construction of this road flagged for want of State appropriations, Major Wilson engaged in locating the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey. The state of his health, for some years very poor, became now a matter of great concern, and in the winter of 1832 he made a trip to the Soutlı, hoping to improve his condition. This step, although promising favorable results, proved una- vailing, and approaching dissolution became a mere question of time, for hie gradually grew worse instead of better, and, desirous of passing his last days in the bosom of his family, he embarked on the return voyage at Matanzas, Cuba, but died before the vessel left the harbor. The work upon which he was last engaged was so far advanced at the time of his death that it was easily completed in the following year. Major Wilson's attainments as an engineer were of the first order and made his name widely known. Every undertaking in which he engaged was prosecuted with indefatigable in- dustry and with a skill which commanded the highest respect. Success followed his efforts in whatever field they were exercised. His character was marked by those sterling qualities which men of high intelligence and probity almost invariably display, and among his professional associates, as among his relatives and friends, he was loved for his amiable disposition and courteous and affable demeanor.
WILLIAM H. WILSON.
WILLIAM HASELL WILSON, President of the Philadelphia and Erie, the Belvidere Delaware, the Philadelphia and Trenton, and several other railroad companies embraced within the great Pennsylvania system, and prominent for half a century as a con- structing, supervising, and consulting engineer, is a son of the late Major John Wilson (whose biographi- cal sketch is given in the preceding pages) and Eliza Gibbes, his wife, daughter of William Hasell Gibbes of Charleston, South Carolina, and his wife, Elizabeth Allston, who was a half sister of Washing- ton Allston, painter and poet. He was born November 5, 1811, in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, and in his early years attended school there under the Rev. Dr. Dickson. When this eminent instruc- tor was appointed to a Professorship in the Charles- ton College, about the year 1823, he, with other pupils of the Doctor, entered that institution, where he remained until the removal of his father's family to the North, in May, 1825. During the summer of this year he was occupied in study at the academy in Morristown, New Jersey, where his parents had taken up their residence. In the fall of 1825 he re- turned to Charleston, accompanying his father, (whose health allowed him to spend only the winter months in the South,) and re-entered the Charleston College. In the following spring he went back to Morristown, where his parents had again elected to pass the summer season, and resumed his studies at the academy there. In October, 1826, the family took up its abode permanently in Philadelphia, and in the ensuing month, William Hasell, then just en- tering his sixteenth year, took a position as tutor in the High School of the Franklin Institute, which had then recently been re-organized on the Lancastrian or Monitorial system, under the principalship of Mr. Walter R. Johnson. In June, 1827, he joined as a volunteer the engineer corps then organized under his father for canal and railroad surveys through Chester and Lancaster Counties, Pennsyl- vania. Two of his associates on this trip were John Edgar Thomson and Robert Pettit, the former of whom subsequently became Chief Engineer and President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and the latter Pay Director in the United States Navy. The experiences of this survey determined his career, and when released from duty in the autumn he entered upon the study of the higher mathematics and drawing in Philadelphia, with a view to qualifying himself more fully for his duties in the field. In the large engineer corps organized by his father, in the spring of 1828, for the survey and location of the Philadelphia and Columbia Rail-
W Hasell Wilson
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
road, the young aspirant for engineering honors was given a position as rodman. In 1829 he was advanced to the position of assistant engineer, and during that and the following year was in charge of construction on the eastern section of the road, " the State having had twenty miles of roadway at each end of the line placed under contract." In the early stages of the construction of this road there was much objection to the project, and for a long time the money appropriated was barely sufficient to continue operations. With the beginning of 1831 public opinion experienced a change, and, a large appropriation being made by the Legislature, the work was vigorously prosecuted. The grading and bridging of the middle portion of the road, as well as the superstructure on the eastern section, were placed under contract, and the road was then divided into an eastern and a western section. Mr .. Wilson, now promoted to the grade of principal as- sistant engineer, was placed in charge of the work on the eastern division, comprising the forty miles westward from Philadelphia. He continued in this employment until the completion of the road and the disbandment of the engineer corps in October, 1834. During the winter of 1834-5 he made surveys for a proposed line of railroad between Downing- town and Reading, and, in the following spring, was chosen principal assistant engineer, under Messrs. Moncnre and Wirt Robinson, of the final location and construction of the second division of the Phila- delphia and Reading Railroad from near Pottstown to Norristown. In the summer of 1838, this work being virtually completed, he accepted the appointment of chief engineer of the "Gettysburgh Extension" of the State railroad, tendered him by the Board of Canal Commissioners. The depressed condition of bnsi- ness and financial affairs, which prevailed through- out the country in 1839, pnt a temporary check to nearly every enterprise conducted by the State, and, as there was no apparent prospect of immediate pro- fessional employment, Mr. Wilson engaged in farm- ing. He found this pursuit so congenial that he remained in it until the close of 1858, being located for a portion of the time in Haverford township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and subsequently in the vicinity of Downingtown, Chester County, in the same State. In the meantime professional work was not neglected. During the summers of 1852 and 1853 Mr. Wilson made extensive surveys for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and located a line of railroad from Philadelphia, via Phoenixville and the French Creek and Conestoga valleys, to a point on the Harrisburg and Lancaster Railroad about eight miles west of Lancaster. The latter road was operated under lease by the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, and the construction of the new line was contemplated for the purpose of affording the Pennsylvania Company an independent route, in connection with their road west of Harrisburg, free from the many annoyances attendant upon the use of the State railroad as a part of the through line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The subsequent sale of the State improvements, and the acquisition of the main line by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, put a stop to the proposed con- struction. During nearly the whole of 1854 and 1855 Mr. Wilson had charge, as Chief Engineer, of the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad, - then building. Lack of funds caused a suspension of the work at the close of the latter year, by which time the road was completed as far as Media, and the grading and bridging, thence to West Chester, well advanced. In 1856 and during the first half of 1857 Mr. Wilson was engaged in making a number of im- portant surveys, including one for a railroad between Norristown and Allentown; also one for a road be- tween the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, through the southern part of Philadelphia, for the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company. In addition he made several trips to the West, investigating railroad matters (for the same company). On August 1, 1857, the Pennsylvania Company having acquired the main line of State improvements, Mr. Wilson was appointed Resident Engineer of the railroad between Philadelphia and Columbia. In 1858 the limit of his division was extended to Mifflin on the Juniata River, and in 1859 the entire line to Pitts- burgh, including all its branches, was placed in his charge. With such an amount of responsibility resting upon him he found it no longer possible to give any attention to farming, and therefore aban- doned it and removed his residence to Altoona, the headquarters of the operating departments of the road. In 1862 he was promoted to the position of Chief Engineer, and his staff, as then organized, consisted of an "Engincer of Bridges and Build- ings," and three "Resident Engineers," the latter having charge respectively of the Philadelphia Division, from Philadelphia to Harrisburg; the Middle Division, from Harrisburg to Altoona; and the Pittsburgh Division from Altoona to Pittsburgh. The constantly increasing duties of the maintenance of way, together with the large amount of construction work devolving upon the engineer department, had, by the close of the year 1867, accumulated to such an extent as to render a division of labor necessary. A department of construction was accordingly or- ganized to take charge of new work, which went into operation on January 1, 1868, under W. H. Wilson as " Chief Engineer of Construction," with
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
headquarters at Philadelphia. The maintenance of way remained under the general superintendent of transportation as a separate department, and John A. Wilson, who had been for several years Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, was appointed "Chief Engineer of Maintenance of Way." During the sueeeeding six years a very large amount of new work was constructed, to provide inereased facilities for the growing business of the company, embracing passenger, freight, water and coaling stations, additional traeks, new ear-shops, piers and eoal-shutes at Greenwich, on the Delaware River, and the straightening of several miles of road on the Philadelphia Division. During the same period the construction department had charge of a consider- able amount of new work on the Philadelphia & Erie and the Lewisburg Centre County & Spruce Creek Railroads. With the beginning of the year 1874 all engineering operations upon the company's lines eame under the direction of the General Man- ager, the engineering department having been dis- continued towards the close of 1873, upon the gen- eral suspension of all new work following as a consequence the great financial depression of that period, and the maintenance of way department having been previously abolished. In November, 1873, Mr. Wilson was chosen President of the Phila- delphia and Erie Railroad Company, but resigned the position in the month of July following. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in which he still held the position of Consulting Engineer, now en- larged the scope of his duties by placing him at the head of the Real Estate Department, which had just been organized. This department was entrusted with the charge of all the real estate on the lines owned and controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, as far as regarded the completion and ar- rangement of maps and records; the supervision and custody of deeds, leases, ete., etc .; the receipt and payment of rents, and the adjustment and settle- ment of taxes, together with such other matters as pertained to making the department a complete bureau of the real estate of the company. The large amount of detail, involved in arranging and system- atizing the business of the department, required close and constant attention, but, for the first year or two, there was, fortunately, little new work com- ing in; after that time, the gradually improving condition of the country from the depression of 1873 led to extensions and improvements of existing lines and the construction of new roads, requiring the acquisition of real estate, and consequently add- ing materially to the work of the department. Mr. Wilson retired from this position in the spring of 1884, since when he has been President of the Phila-
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delphia and Erie, the Philadelphia and Trenton, the Belvidere Delaware, and several other smaller roads in the Pennsylvania system. His long and extremely varied experience in railroad matters abundantly qualifies him for the duties and responsibilities of these several important trusts, and it is no extrava- gant assertion to say that few men living are better equipped for the task. His opinion on all subjects connected with railroads is most highly valued and is frequently sought by some of the ablest of his contemporaries. He married, on April 26, 1836, Jane Miller of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, who still survives, together with three sons and three daughters, one of whom is the wife of William A. Baldwin, Vice-President and General Manager of the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Company. His three sons, Jolin A., Joseph M. and Henry W., graduated as civil engineers at the Rens- selaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, and, after serving for several years in prominent positions on the Pennsylvania and other railroads, are now associated as the firm of Wilson Brothers & Com- pany, eivil engineers and architects, being the fifth generation in direct sueeession in the same profes- sion.
JOSEPH M. WILSON.
JOSEPH MILLER WILSON, the second son of William Hasell Wilson and Jane Miller, was born at Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 1838, his father being at that time engaged as engineer in charge of the construction work of the Reading Railroad at that point. As a boy he studied in a family school, under private teachers engaged for the purpose by several families joining togetlier, the teachers being young men, graduates of prominent colleges. Ile entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, in Septem- ber, 1854, and graduated from the same in June, 1858, with the degree of Civil Engineer. Even as a boy he developed a decided taste for elemistry, and for several years before entering college he had at home what he ealled his laboratory, where he experimented in that science. For nearly two years after leaving college he studied analytical chemistry under Prof. Frederick. A. Genth, in the city of Philadelphia, intending to devote himself to that profession, but having done some practical en- gineering work on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the summer of 1859, and his education at Troy having already intensified a natural inclina- tion towards an employment involving the arts of construction, his decision was changed, and he
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William B Mann
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
regularly entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad as Assistant Engineer, in March, 1860. In 1863 he was made Resident Engineer of the Mid- dle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, extend- ing from Harrisburg to Altoona. In 1865 he was promoted to the position of Principal Assistant En- gineer over the whole main line of the same road, in special charge of bridges and buildings, his title being subsequently changed to Engineer of Bridges and Buildings. His residence and office were at Altoona. In December, 1867, his office was trans- ferred to Philadelphia, and the jurisdiction of his position was enlarged to cover leased lines of the Railroad Company. As additional lincs were ac- quired by the company the scope of his duties in- creased until it covered all the roads controlled by that corporation, from New York on the east to Pittsburgh and Erie on the west, and from Canan- daigua, New York on the north, to Quantico, Vir- ginia on the south, including the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, the Northern Central Railroad, and the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad. In 1873, in connection with John Mac- Arthur, Jr., architect, he submitted designs for the buildings of the Philadelphia International Centen- nial Exhibition of 1876, and was selected among the first ten in competition. He and Mr. MacAr- thur afterwards gained a prize in the second com- petition. The financial condition of the country at that time and the difficulty of raising funds obliged the Centennial Commission to radically modify its intentions in reference to the type of buildings adopted for the exhibition, and Mr. Wilson, then, in conjunction with Mr. Henry Pettit, made designs and took charge of the erection of the Centennial Main Exhibition Building and Machinery Hall,-these two gentlemen being joint engineers and architects of these buildings and adjuncts. Mr. Wilson was granted special permission by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to engage in this work. In January, 1876, Mr. Wilson became associated with his brother, John A. Wilson, in the firm of Wilson Brothers & Co., civil engineers and architects, which firm is still in existence. He still retained his position in the service of the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company, under special arrangement, for ten years, until January 1, 1886, when he resigned. Mr. Wilson has been engaged as expert engineer on a number of works, including the following : The approaches of Brooklyn Suspension Bridge, New York; the question of Railroad Terminal Facilities in the city of Providence, Rhode Island; the inves- tigation of the new Washington Aqueduct Tunnel, etc., (1888-9); the fall of the Big Otter Creek Bridge, Norfolk & Western Railroad, etc. It would
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