Joseph Tomlinson III
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| Joseph Tomlinson III | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 22, 1816 Ruskington, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom |
| 💀Died | May 10, 1905 (aged 88) Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.May 10, 1905 (aged 88) |
| Resting place | Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| 🏳️ Nationality | British-American |
| 🎓 Alma mater | The Mechanic's Institute |
| 💼 Occupation | Bridge builder, lighthouse engineer, cabinetmaker |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Ann B. Northrup Sarah Ann Wyles |
| 👶 Children | 7 |
Joseph Tomlinson III (June 22, 1816 – May 10, 1905) was an English-American engineer who built bridges and lighthouses in Canada and the United States. He co-designed a railroad bridge over the Ashtabula River in Ohio, but quit the project when the design proved unsafe and his supervisor refused to choose another design. The bridge failed on December 29, 1876, and caused a train to derail and fall into the river, killing 92 people.
Early life and education[edit]
Tomlinson was born June 22, 1816, in Ruskington, Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom to Joseph T. and Ann (née Shearwood) Tomlinson.[1][2][3][lower-alpha 1] His father was a land owner and farmer,[1][2] and the family was related to Canadian politician Nicholas Sparks.[4] Joseph was one of 14 children.[4][1]
Tomlinson showed a strong interest in mechanical design as a child,[1] but his parents sought to give him a classical education.[4] When he proved disinterested in the classics,[4][2] he was allowed to apprentice to a cabinetmaker.[1] Tomlinson spent seven years as an apprentice,[5] and soon his work surpassed even that of his teachers.[2] During this time, he also enrolled at the Mechanics' Institute in Newark, Nottinghamshire.[6] He studied draughtsmanship and mathematics[4] and was considered an outstanding student.[5]
Career[edit]
Tomlinson emigrated to the United States in 1840. During the ocean voyage, he met a man from New Milford, Connecticut, who persuaded him to settle in that town.[6] Although trained in building construction, Tomlinson found the practice of buidling construction in the United States to be much different than that in the United Kingdom, and he found himself unemployed.[7]
Early bridge work[edit]
Shortly after his arrival in New Milford, Tomlinson observed a bridge being constructed near the town. Concerned that the bridge had not been properly designed, he informed the builder only to have his opinion disregarded.[6] Tomlinson then informed his new friend, Rev. Noah Porter (later President of Yale University), about his misgivings.[2] The bridge partially collapsed under its own weight as Tomlinson had predicted, and he was employed to help repair and strengthen it.[6][2]
Tomlinson turned to the practice of engineering on the advice of Rev. Porter.[7] To learn his new trade, he found work as a rodman with the Housatonic Railroad.[6][lower-alpha 2] He also worked for several bridge construction firms, learning the trade and principles of American bridge design.[6] In his spare time, he drafted and designed bridges for himself, seeking criticism and advice from Housatonic Railroad bridge engineers he worked under.[6][5] In time, the Housatonic asked him to study bridges designed by other engineers and make reports about them.[5] He was eventually employed as a bridge construction worker and supervisor for the Housatonic Railroad, the Harlem Railroad in New York, and the Rutland and Whitehall Railroadin Vermont.[7] Although most railroad bridges at the time were made of wood, Tomlinson foresaw that iron and steel would swiftly supplant wood as the primary construction material.[5] A lifelong self-learner who studied and read widely,[2] he learned the principles of iron and steel construction and engineering.[5]
Canadian work[edit]
From 1854 to 1862 he was employed by the New Brunswick Government constructing bridges. The best known of his New Brunswick bridges is the Reversing Falls Bridge, a suspension bridge that was replaced in 1915 by a arch bridge built by Philip Louis Pratley. The bridge now lies over the falls in the city of St. John, New Brunswick. He spent eight years in the United States, 1862–1867 in Ohio, and 1867–1870 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was then invited back into Canada to become a Lighthouse Engineer in the Marine Department of Canada. He held this post for ten years (1870–1880). The two octagonal lighthouses on Sable Island, erected in 1873, and the tall tower on Greenly Island are examples of his best work. From 1880-1885 Tomlinson was a bridge engineer in the department of railways. He designed wooden truss bridges and trestles for the government section of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1882 he went to England to supervise the manufacture of metal-work for the long cantilever bridge over the Fraser River on the main line of the C.P.R. Later he superintended the erection of this noted structure.
Retirement and legacy[edit]
He retired in 1885 to a farm he owned in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At the end of the United States Civil War, veterans on the Yankee side were each given a quarter section of land for their part in the successful outcome. Most of them did not want to go west and as a consequence many of these quarters were sold for 100 dollars apiece; Tomlinson purchased about eight of these pieces which later made up his farm on the Cedar River near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Members of the family still live there. Tomlinson's principal characteristics as an engineer were extreme thoroughness in detail, neatness of execution, great persistence, and absolute honesty. To these qualities he added a great interest in the mental and physical welfare of his workmen, many of the best of them following him from one job to another. As a bridge engineer, he was far in advance in his age, and worked out his designs from carefully calculated strain sheets, when most bridges were being erected by rule of thumb. Long after he retired his designs were used as models of draughtsmanship for young engineers.
Ashtabula River railroad disaster[edit]
Amasa Stone, president of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, hired Tomlinson to draft and construct a bridge over the Ashtabula River. Stone’s plan was to take the design of the Howe Truss wooden bridge and apply it to an iron bridge. Tomlinson, being knowledgeable in the field of bridge architecture, told Stone that the idea was not safe. However, Stone said that he would not take advice from an employee. Tomlinson quit immediately saying that he could not build a bridge that he knew would not be safe. Stone then handed over the job to A.L. Rogers, who was excellent with wooden bridges, but knew nothing about working with iron. Rogers improperly used the I-beams, and when the bridge was tested it swayed. Rogers was fired, and locomotive mechanic Albert Congdon was hired to fix the bridge. He adjusted the damaged I-beams as best as he could, but both Congdon and Charles Collins, the chief engineer of the railroad, were too afraid to tell Stone that the bridge was unsafe. On December 29, 1876, at about 7:30 pm, the bridge collapsed under a train, injuring 64 passengers, and killing 92, including gospel singer Philip Bliss and his wife. The accident took place about 300 metres from the train station in Ashtabula, Ohio. The event is known as the Ashtabula River railroad disaster, and the Ashtabula Horror. The Ohio state Legislature held a hearing the next day. Tomlinson had been working in Canada at the time, but was called down to testify at the hearing. According to him,"Stone didn't want anyone around him with an opinion different from his own". Days after the hearing, Collins was found dead. It was said that he killed himself, but more recent studies say that it was a murder. In 1883, Stone committed suicide as well.
Death and personal life[edit]
Tomlinson was quite strong, and when younger often engaged in manual labor and construction work. He was an easy-going and kind supervisor, and much admired by his work crews.[9] The Cedar Rapids Gazette called him one of the most preeminent bridge designers of the last half of the 19th century.[5]
From his farming father, Tomlinson learned a love of farming and gardening. Until the end of his life, he remained an avid home gardener, and had a deep fondness for flowers.[5] Influenced by the Chartist movement, Tomlinson became a socialist in adolescence and continued to advocate for socialist political goals throughout his life.[7]
The last years of his life, Tomlinson suffered from declining health, which included cerebrovascular disease. He died of a stroke on May 10, 1905, while gardening at his home.[5] He was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.[4]
Wives and children[edit]
Joseph Tomlinson married Ann R. Northrup of New Milford in 1843. The couple had three daughters: Ida, Ione, and Maria (who died in childhood). The couple moved to Iowa City, Iowa, about 1853, where Ann Tomlinson fell ill and died.[6] He moved to Brooklyn, New York, shortly after his first wife's death. He married Sarah A. Wyles (also an emigrant from Lincolnshire) on September 10, 1853. The couple had five children: Ann, Joseph, Alfred, Fannie (who died at the age of five), and Frances.[6]
Works[edit]
| Name | Location | Date of Completion |
|---|---|---|
| CPR’s original Cisco Bridge | Siska, British Columbia | 1883 |
| Original Reversing Falls Bridge | St. John, New Brunswick | 1853 |
| Two octagonal lighthouses on Sable Island | Sable Island, Nova Scotia | 1873 |
| Greenly Island tall tower | Greenly Island, Quebec | 1870s |
| The Hannibal Bridge | Kansas City, Missouri | 1869 |
| Gereaux Island Lighthouse | Gereaux Island, Ontario | 1880 |
| Wood Islands Lighthouse | Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island | 1870s |
-
CPR Cisco Bridge
-
Wood Islands Lighthouse
References[edit]
- Notes
- ↑ His mother's maiden name is also listed as "Sherwood".[1]
- ↑ A rodman is a surveyor's assistant. The rodman usually holds the level staff, calling out readings and identifying the places where it will be used. He also holds the range pole, assists the levelman in identifying landscape contours, and makes computations for the levelman.[8]
- Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Biographical Record of Linn County, Iowa 1901, p. 170.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Anderson & Waddell 1905, p. 321.
- ↑ Heydon 1980, pp. 174, 180.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Heydon 1980, p. 174.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Cedar Rapids Gazette 1905, p. 3.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 Biographical Record of Linn County, Iowa 1901, p. 173.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Anderson & Waddell 1905, p. 322.
- ↑ Ives & Hilts 1906, pp. 6, 54, 105-108, 115-116.
- ↑ Anderson & Waddell 1905, pp. 321-322.
Bibliography[edit]
- Anderson, William P.; Waddell, J.A.L. (1905). "Memoir of Joseph Tomlinson". Transactions of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers: 321–325. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- Biographical Record of Linn County, Iowa. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1901. Search this book on
- "Engineering Tragedy; The Ashtabula Train Disaster". engineeringtragedy.com. Beacon Productions, LLC. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- Heydon, Naomi Slater (1980). Looking Back: Pioneers of Bytown and March, Nicholas Sparks and Hamnett Kirkes Pinhey, Their Antecedents and Their Descendants. Ottawa, Ontario: Nemo Publications. ISBN 9780969061502. Retrieved January 8, 2020. Search this book on
- Ives, Howard Chapin; Hilts, Harold Ezra (1906). Problems in Surveying, Railroad Surveying, and Geodesy. New York: J. Wiley & Sons. Search this book on
- Middleton, William D. (2001). The Bridge at Québec. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253337610. Search this book on
- "Noted Engineer Ends Life Work". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. May 11, 1905. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- Short, Simine (2011). Locomotive to Aeromotive: Octave Chanute and the Transportation Revolution. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252080142. Search this book on
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