Sayre, Robert H. (Robert Heysham), 1824-1907

Civil engineer and railroad executive.

Robert Heysham Sayre was born in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, on October 13, 1824, and died in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on January 5, 1907. His father, William H. Sayre, brought the family to Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania in 1829, where he became weighmaster for the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. Like many company officials, he secured for his son an apprenticeship in the company's engineer corps, starting in 1840 when Robert joined an LC&N team in the enlargement of the adjoining Morris Canal. From 1842 to 1852, he worked primarily on the expansion of the LC&N's network of coal railroads between Mauch Chunk and the Panther Creek Valley, as well as their tributary coal mines.

In 1852, he was employed by Asa Packer as chief engineer of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and directed its construction between Mauch Chunk and Easton over the next three years. Subsequently, as general superintendent and vice president he was the company's chief operating officer until 1898, expanding the system to New York City on the east, Lake Ontario on the north and Buffalo on the west, while pioneering in the introduction of iron bridges, steel rails and other technical improvements. In 1882, having earned the enmity of Packer's less talented heirs, he was selected by W. H. Vanderbilt and F. B. Gowen to be president and chief engineer of the South Pennsylvania Railroad, a bold attempt to parallel the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad that ended in a truce in 1885.

Sayre was also a major figure in the early history of the Bethlehem Iron Company, the precursor of Bethlehem Steel, becoming general superintendent in 1885 and vice president in 1891. He played a major part in securing the services of John Fritz as ironmaster and in steering the firm into the production of armaments. He participated in many other projects with long-time associates from the Lehigh Region, particularly in developing the coal and iron industries of the post-bellum South. Among these enterprises were the Sayre Mining & Manufacturing Company and the Thomases' Pioneer Mining & Manufacturing Company, both in Alabama, and the Leisenring's Virginia Coal & Iron Company. In the 1860s, Sayre assisted Asa Packer in the founding of Lehigh University and later served as president of its board of trustees, while continuing active in civic and religious affairs in the Bethlehem area.