Wilson, William Hasell, 1811-1902

William Hasell Wilson was a civil engineer with, and president of, various Pennsylvania railroads.

William Hasell Wilson was born in Charleston, S.C., on November 5, 1811, the son of Major John Wilson, an eminent civil and military engineer who designed the fortifications of Charleston during the War of 1812. The Wilson family produced four generations of prominent engineers and railroad executives.

In 1827 John Wilson was engaged by the State of Pennsylvania to run surveys for a canal or railroad between Philadelphia and the Susquehanna River. William began his career as a volunteer member of this corps, and during the subsequent construction of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad (1830-34) he rose to the rank of principal assistant engineer. Between 1835 and 1836 he was principal assistant engineer of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad responsible for the section between Brideport and Pottstown.

Thereafter, Wilson was involved in a number of other railroad surveys, but the depression of 1839-43 forced him to turn to farming. When railroad construction resumed in the mid-1840s, Wilson became associated with the Pennsylvania Railroad, directing a new survey to avoid using the Philadelphia & Columbia. When the Pennsylvania Railroad purchased the Philadelphia & Columbia from the state in 1857, Wilson was appointed resident engineer in charge of its rebuilding. From 1862 to 1874 he was chief engineer of the entire Pennsylvania Railroad. He also laid out and developed the village of Bryn Mawr to stimulate suburban travel on the railroad. From 1874 to 1884 he was head of the railroad's real estate department and later held the largely honorary positions of president or director of a number of its subsidiary companies. He died on August 17, 1902.