McHugh, Jeanne

Alexander Lyman Holley was born in Lakeville, Connecticut, on July 20, 1832, to Alexander Hamilton Holley, who was the governor of Connecticut from 1857 to 1858, and Jane Lyman Holley. Holley earned a Bachelor of Philosophy from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1853. He was the first student to graduate from Brown with a major in engineering. After graduation he worked at the Corliss Steam Engine Company (later Corliss and Nightingale) in Providence. After leaving that position in 1855, Holley worked for several other railroad companies, edited a magazine called Holley's Railroad Advocate, and traveled to Europe to study railroad design.

In 1863 Holley purchased the rights to the Bessemer steel manufacturing process. He designed the first Bessemer Steel Works in Troy, New York, in 1864. Holley went on to design most of the largest steelworks in America during the 19th century. He was considered to be the foremost designer and engineer of steel manufacturing plants of his time. Of the patents Holley held, ten were for improvements in the Bessemer process.

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