Jervis, John B. (John Bloomfield), 1795-1885

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Engineer.

From the description of Papers of John B. Jervis, 1827-1878. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71067890

Civil Engineer.

John Bloomfield Jervis was born in Huntington, New York, on December 14, 1795. He began his career in his father's lumber business at Rome, New York, and in 1817 he became an axeman on the local survey for the Erie Canal. Jervis became one of the most gifted engineers produced by the so-called "Erie Canal School." By 1823, he was the superintendent of a fifty-mile division, and two years later he accompanied his mentor, Benjamin Wright, to the Delaware & Hudson Canal, where he and John B. Mills did most of the actual survey work. Jervis succeeded Wright as chief engineer in 1827, and for the next three years directed the construction of the company's railroad, the first in America to use locomotives.

In May, 1830, Jervis became chief engineer of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, and soon after of the Saratoga & Schenectady Railroad for which he designed the first locomotive to be built with a swivelling four-wheel pilot truck. From 1833 to 1836 he was chief engineer of the Chenango Canal, a branch in the New York State canal system, and in the latter year he was briefly chief engineer for the eastern division of the Erie Canal enlargement project.

In September, 1836, he resigned to become chief engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, which was planned to bring water from the Croton River watershed to New York City. The design of the project included the Croton Dam, the High Bridge across the Harlem River and a storage reservoir in midtown Manhattan. Upon its completion in 1846, he became consulting engineer to the City of Boston on a similar project to bring water from the Cochituate River.

Jervis' subsequent career was devoted exclusively to the construction of trunk line railroads in the Northeast and Midwest: the Hudson River Railroad (1847-1850), the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana (1850-1858) and the Chicago & Rock Island (1851-1854). From 1861 to 1864 he was general superintendent of the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railway, and then its consulting engineer until retiring to Rome in 1866. He was trustee of the Merchant Iron Mill there until his death on January 12, 1885.

From the description of Papers, 1820-1884 [microform]. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 86123462

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Jervis, John B. The Croton Aqueduct, 1870s Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library,
referencedIn Manuscript collection, 1744-[ca. 1950], 1830-[ca. 1950] (bulk) New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Seymour Family. Papers, 1711-1912. American Periodical Series I
referencedIn Adelman, Seymour,. Seymor Adelman collection, 1724-1956. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
referencedIn Papers, 1820-1885. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf Jervis, John B. (John Bloomfield), 1795-1885. Papers of John B. Jervis, 1827-1878. Library of Congress
referencedIn Lankton, Larry D. Manhattan lifeline : engineering the old Croton Aqueduct, 1833-1842, 1979. Cornell University Library
creatorOf Archibald, James. Miscellaneous manuscripts, 1835. University of Pennsylvania Library
referencedIn T. O. Selfridge Papers, 1852-1926, (bulk 1858-1880) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Wurts, John S. (John Sparhawk), 1876-1958,. Wurts family papers, 1699-1964. Hagley Museum & Library
creatorOf Jervis, John B. Papers, 1834. American Periodical Series I
referencedIn Thomas Oliver Selfridge Papers, 1809-1927, (bulk 1809-1870) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Jervis, John B. (John Bloomfield), 1795-1885. The Croton Aqueduct : newspaper clipping, [187-]. University of Chicago Library
creatorOf Jervis, John B. (John Bloomfield), 1795-1885. Papers, 1820-1884 [microform]. Hagley Museum & Library
referencedIn Archbald, James, 1793-1870. James Archbald papers. Albright Memorial Library, Scranton Public Library
creatorOf Lloyd, Humphrey, 1800-1881. Letter. Smithsonian Institution. Libraries
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Adelman, Seymour, person
associatedWith Allen, Horatio, 1802-1889. person
associatedWith Archbald, James, 1793-1870. person
associatedWith Archibald, James. person
associatedWith Astor, John Jacob, 1763-1848. person
associatedWith Avon, Geneseo & Mount Morris Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Bloomfield, John W. person
associatedWith Bolton, John. person
associatedWith Boorman, James, 1783-1866. person
associatedWith Boston and Worcester Railroad Corporation. corporateBody
associatedWith Boston, Rome, and Oswego Railroad. corporateBody
associatedWith Boston, Rome and Oswego Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Bouck, William C., 1786-1859. person
associatedWith Brown Brothers & Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Cambreleng, Churchill Caldom, 1786-1862. person
associatedWith Carbondale Railroad. corporateBody
associatedWith Cass, George Washington, 1810-1888. person
associatedWith Cazenovia and Canastota Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Chanute, Octave, 1832-1910. person
associatedWith Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Clinton, DeWitt, 1769-1828. person
associatedWith Corning, Erastus, 1794-1872. person
associatedWith Crerar Manuscript Collection (University of Chicago. Library) corporateBody
associatedWith Crocker, Charles, 1822-1888. person
associatedWith Delafield, John, 1786-1853. person
associatedWith Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Delaware and Hudson Railway Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Douglass, David Bates, 1790-1849. person
associatedWith Elgar, John, 1784-1858. person
associatedWith Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Flewelling, Samuel. person
associatedWith French, Edmund, d. 1860. person
associatedWith Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Harlem River Bridge and Tunnel. corporateBody
associatedWith Hartford (Conn.). Board of Water Courts. corporateBody
associatedWith Hartford Water Works (Hartford, Conn.) corporateBody
associatedWith Hastie, Peter. person
associatedWith Hone, Philip, 1780-1851. person
associatedWith Hudson Canal Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Hudson River Railroad. corporateBody
associatedWith Hudson River Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Lankton, Larry D. person
associatedWith Latrobe, Benj. H. (Benjamin Henry), 1807-1878. person
associatedWith Law, George, 1806-1881. person
associatedWith Lloyd, Humphrey, 1800-1881. person
associatedWith Lord, Russel F., d. 1867. person
associatedWith Lord, Russell F., d. 1867. person
associatedWith McAlpine, William J. (William Jarvis), 1812-1890. person
associatedWith McQueen, Walter, 1817-1893. person
associatedWith Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad. corporateBody
associatedWith Mills, John B. person
associatedWith Mohawk and Hudson Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Mohawk and Hudson Rail Road Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Neversink Valley Area Museum (Cuddebackville, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith New York and Erie Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Pennsylvania Coal Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Rail Road Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railway Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Renwick, James, 1792-1863. person
associatedWith Renwick, James, 1818-1895. person
associatedWith Roberts, N. S. (Nathan Smith), 1776-1852. person
associatedWith Rome Merchants Iron Mill (Rome, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Root, Porteous R., b. ca. 1800. person
associatedWith Saratoga and Schenectady Rail Road. corporateBody
associatedWith Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Schenectady and Syracuse Railroad. corporateBody
correspondedWith Selfridge, T. O. (Thomas Oliver), 1836-1924. person
associatedWith Seymour Family. family
associatedWith Seymour, Horatio, 1810-1886. person
associatedWith Starin, John H. (John Henry), 1825-1909. person
associatedWith St. Louis, Alton, and Terre Haute Railroad. corporateBody
associatedWith Strickland, William, 1787-1854. person
associatedWith Terre Haute and Alton Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Chicago. Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Utica and Schenectady Railroad Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Utica Water Works Company (N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith White, Canvass, 1790-1834. person
associatedWith Winslow, Lanier & Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Wright, Benjamin, 1770-1842. person
associatedWith Wurts, John, 1792-1861. person
associatedWith Wurts, John S. (John Sparhawk), 1876-1958, person
associatedWith Wurts, Maurice, 1783-1854. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York (State)
Boston (Mass.)
Erie Canal (N.Y.)
Chenango Canal (N.Y.)
Pennsylvania
New York (State)
Indiana
New York (State)--New York
Illinois
Croton Aqueduct (N.Y.)
Croton Aqueduct (N.Y.)
Saint Lawrence Canal
Illinois
Michigan
Chenango Canal (N.Y.)
Delaware and Hudson Canal (N.Y. and Pa.)
Chambly Canal (Québec)
New York (State)
New York (N.Y.)
Pennsylvania
Chenango Canal (N.Y.)
Indiana
Ohio
Subject
Aqueducts
Bridges
Canals
Civil engineering
Civil engineers
Railroads
Stourbridge Lion (Steam locomotive)
Tunnels
Water-supply
Occupation
Engineers
Activity

Person

Birth 1795-12-14

Death 1885-01-12

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