General Adna Anderson
Encyclopedia
General Adna Anderson was Engineer-in-Chief of the Northern Pacific Railroad from 1880 to 1888. He was born in Ridgeway, New York
, July 25, 1827, and died May 15, 1889, in Philadelphia.
. From October 1847 to November 1848, he was assistant engineer of the Connecticut River Railroad
; from November 1848 to September 1848 assistant engineer on the Mobile and Ohio
; from that date to March 1850 assistant engineer on the Ashuelot Railroad in New Hampshire
. Afterward he was successively resident engineer of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana; locating engineer
of the Mobile and Ohio; chief engineer on the Tennessee and Alabama; chief engineer and superintendent of the Edgefield and Kentucky; and for a short time chief engineer of the Henderson and Nashville. When the Edgefield and Kentucky failed, General Anderson was appointed receiver.
When the American Civil War
broke out General Anderson offered his services to the United States
government, and was made assistant engineer and chief of the Construction Corps of the Army of the Potomac
in Virginia. In the following year he was made general superintendent of Government Railroads of the Military Division of the Mississippi
. From November 1864 to July 1866 he was chief superintendent and engineer of all the military railroads.
From February to May 1867, he was chief engineer of the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge; afterwards general superintendent of the Kansas Pacific Railway
; then vice-president and general manager of the Toledo, Wabash and Western. General Anderson was made president of the LaFayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad
in 1873; he was appointed receiver of the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes
in May 1875; in February 1880 he was made chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
From the observations made on this long journey from Bismarck, North Dakota
to Portland, Oregon
, General Anderson became satisfied that the general route laid down by the late William Milnor Roberts
(a former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers
), as the line of the Northern Pacific, was in the main correct, at least so far as the line between the Missouri River
and Columbia River
was concerned, and on this line, substantially, he went on and completed the road, witnessing the driving of the last spike September 8, 1883.
The main line having been completed from St. Paul
to Wallula
where junction was formed with the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company’s line, thus making a through line to Portland, the company turned its attention to its Cascade Division, intended to connect its line at some point near the mouth of the Snake River
, with Tacoma
on Puget Sound
. Surveys for this division had been in progress much of the time since March, 1880, and much had been done even previous to that date, at intervals, in the way of reconnaissance and preliminary work. The company desired to build on the best attainable line, but to find this line, with conditions then existing, was a work of great difficulty, requiring time, labor and expense. General Anderson took great interest in all this work, but did not express any final judgment until the autumn of 1883, after all the information was available, when he reported that the line ought to be built through Stampede Pass
, believing it to be the route that could be operated at least expense and that it would best protect the company from the encroachments of rival enterprises, which judgment has been fully confirmed by the events of the past two years.
In October, 1886, General Anderson was elected second vice-president of the Northern Pacific, which position, together with that of chief engineer of this road, he held up to January, 1888.
Lieutenant John C. Fremont, Jr., a son of General John C. Fremont
; the oldest son, Philip Van Wyck Anderson, was a civil engineer on the Northern Pacific Railroad.
In May 1889 General Anderson opened an office in New York
, at 155 Broadway, where he was engaged in organizing the Gordon Fire Alarm Company and the Steel Car Company. About a year before his death he contracted what is known as mountain fever while on one of his western trips, from which he never entirely recovered.
General Anderson was a quiet and somewhat taciturn man, of absolute integrity and clear headed, impartial judgment. He was a steadfast, kindly friend through evil or good report. His works were managed with honorable motives and without scandal. He served his country during the long War of the Rebellion with honor and fidelity. While he must have had many opportunities to become wealthy in legitimate ways, the fact that he died poor shows that no consideration of self-interest was allowed to influence him a hair’s breadth in his professional duties or in his loyalty to the enterprise he served.
Suicide of Gen. Anderson—Shooting himself in a Philadelphia Hotel—He was a prominent New-York railroad man—No motive known for his deed—By telegraph to the Tribune.
Philadelphia, May 15—General A. Anderson, of New-York City, late last night committed suicide in the Lafayette Hotel, by lodging a bullet in his brain. At about midnight Harry Johnson, a colored bellboy, rushed downstairs to the office and informed the watchman that one of the guests had shot himself. The watchman ran to the fourth floor and burst in the door of a toilet-room, seated in which, with his arms hanging limp by his sides and his head back, was the dead body of a well-dressed and fine-looking man apparently about sixty years old. Beside the body lay a revolver. In the faint light Watchman Price saw a gaping bullet hole in the man’s temple, from which a stream of blood dripped down his cheek and stained his shirt-front. A doctor was summoned, but was too late to be of service. The body was removed to an undertaker’s.
General Anderson arrived at the hotel last Sunday evening and registered as “A. Anderson, New York City.” He took his meals regularly at the hotel, and little was seen of him outside of the dining-room. It was said that on Monday he was seen acting strangely, but no liquors of any kind appear on the books as having been ordered by him in the hotel. The only effects which he had were a black spring overcoat and a small valise containing underwear. Several letters were in his pocket, and a bunch of keys bore the address “A. Anderson, Everett House, Union Square, New York City.” A pass of the Northern Pacific Railroad was inscribed: “For the personal use of General A. Anderson.”
Mr. Maltby, proprietor of the Lafayette Hotel, telegraphed to the Everett House the news of the sad occurrence, and asked for information regarding General Anderson’s family. The reply, which arrived this morning, stated that word had been sent to the General’s widow at her home in Sing Sing, N.Y., and that she or some other member of the family would come on to Philadelphia. The first intimation that the police had regarding the suicide was given them at the Fifth District Station by newspaper men to-day.
A son of General Anderson told the Coroner that he believed his farther to have been insane at the time of the shooting, and could not assign any other cause for the rash act. About a year ago, while engaged in mining, the General contracted what was known as “mountain fever.” This troubled him for some time, and finally developed into brain trouble. On a page of a memorandum book left by General Anderson was written: “I feel a great buzzing in my ears, and a very peculiar feeling in my head. Can this be brain fever?”
Arrangements have been made to ship the body to Washington, whence it will be removed to Georgetown, where the burial will take place. General Anderson leaves a large family.
Mr. Anderson as born at Ridgeway, N.Y., on July 25, 1827. When a young man, his taste for civil engineering made him a chainman in laying out the line of the New York and New Haven Railroad
. He left this to become assistant engineer on the Connecticut River Road, afterward serving as resident engineer, chief engineer, superintendent and receiver upon various Southern roads, among them the Mobile and Ohio, the Tennessee
and Alabama
, the Central Southern, and the Edgefield and Kentucky
.
During the last three years of the war General Anderson’s professional skill was placed at the service of the United States Government, which made him a brevet brigadier general
. His first duty, which he assumed in June, 1862, was that of assistant engineer and chief of the construction corps of the Army of the Potomac
. In February, 1863, he was made chief engineer of the military railroads of Virginia
, and after a year’s service in that capacity he was made general superintendent of the Government railroads in the Military Division of the Mississippi
. Late in 1864 he was made chief engineer and superintendent of the military railroads of the United States, and held this position until July, 1866.
After the war General Anderson held various important offices on Western railroads. He was best known as the chief engineer, of the Northern Pacific Railroad, with which he was connected from about 1880. In 1886 he was made a second vice-president of the company. About a year and a half ago he retired from the company’s service and since that time he had been occupied largely in pushing certain mechanical inventions, having an office for a time at Liberty St., and afterward in the Stewart Building. Recently he had given up his office as he did not desire to lease it for a while year, and of late he had been transacting his business in the office of a friend at No. 155 Broadway.
Mr. Anderson was possessed of strong qualities and he resisted with great force the attempt to fasten Northern Pacific misfortunes on mistakes of the engineering department. Mr. Anderson proved that his estimates were not wide of the mark and that when there was any difference it was due principally to the orders of the executive department. It may be assumed that in any circumstances he was the victim, for his honesty was never questioned. He could not be induced to join in the efforts to advance Northern Pacific stock although his life was bound up in the completion of the line.
General Anderson’s Public Service.
To the Editor of the Tribune.
Sir: In the death of General Adna Anderson the country loses a distinguished engineer and a man whose high integrity and aversion to intrigue and pretension make him worthy of praise in this Centennial year. a native of New England
, he married in Tennessee
, and was practicing his profession there when the war broke out. Entering the service of the National Government, he had general charge of military railroads in the West. When the history of this remarkable part of our military operations is fully written it will reflect great credit upon those who gave talent, fidelity, and strenuous effort without a prospect of gain or glory. Since the war General Anderson has been steadily engaged in the development of our Western railway system, but his most remarkable service was as chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which he built through to Puget Sound, overcoming the greatest natural obstacles, and having to contend with the impatience and diverging views of financial promoters, who were after all banking on his sound and ultimately successful work. – New York, May 15, 1889.
New-York Daily Tribune, Thursday, May 16, 1889, n.p.
Ridgeway, New York
Ridgeway, New York is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 6,886 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is derived from "Ridge Road," an important highway in the 19th century....
, July 25, 1827, and died May 15, 1889, in Philadelphia.
Early career
Anderson began his railway career in 1847, as chainman on the New York and New Haven RailroadNew York and New Haven Railroad
The New York and New Haven Railroad was a railroad connecting New York City to New Haven, Connecticut along the shore of the Long Island Sound. It opened in 1849, and in 1872 it merged with the Hartford and New Haven Railroad to form the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad...
. From October 1847 to November 1848, he was assistant engineer of the Connecticut River Railroad
Connecticut River Railroad
The Connecticut River Railroad was formed in 1845 by the merger of the Northampton and Springfield Railroad with the unbuilt Greenfield and Northampton Railroad....
; from November 1848 to September 1848 assistant engineer on the Mobile and Ohio
Mobile and Ohio Railroad
The Mobile and Ohio Railroad was a railroad in the Southern U.S. The M&O was chartered in January and February 1848 by the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It was planned to span the distance between the seaport of Mobile, Alabama and the Ohio River near Cairo, Illinois...
; from that date to March 1850 assistant engineer on the Ashuelot Railroad in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. Afterward he was successively resident engineer of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana; locating engineer
Locating engineer
A locating engineer is a civil engineer that surveys the best course for a road, or rail line, through the available terrain....
of the Mobile and Ohio; chief engineer on the Tennessee and Alabama; chief engineer and superintendent of the Edgefield and Kentucky; and for a short time chief engineer of the Henderson and Nashville. When the Edgefield and Kentucky failed, General Anderson was appointed receiver.
When the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
broke out General Anderson offered his services to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government, and was made assistant engineer and chief of the Construction Corps of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
in Virginia. In the following year he was made general superintendent of Government Railroads of the Military Division of the Mississippi
Military Division of the Mississippi
The Military Division of the Mississippi was an administrative division of the United States Army during the American Civil War that controlled all military operations in the Western Theater.-History:...
. From November 1864 to July 1866 he was chief superintendent and engineer of all the military railroads.
From February to May 1867, he was chief engineer of the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge; afterwards general superintendent of the Kansas Pacific Railway
Kansas Pacific Railway
The Kansas Pacific Railway was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. It operated many of the first long-distance lines in the state of Kansas in the 1870s,...
; then vice-president and general manager of the Toledo, Wabash and Western. General Anderson was made president of the LaFayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad
Lafayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad
The LaFayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad was a railroad company incorporated in Indiana on July 13, 1869. It operated in Indiana and eastern Illinois until its sale on April 28, 1879, to the Lake Erie and Western Railroad. The LM&B line was so named because it ran from the city of Muncie...
in 1873; he was appointed receiver of the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes
Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad
The Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad was a railroad established in 1865 that served various communities along the eastern border of Illinois...
in May 1875; in February 1880 he was made chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Northern Pacific career
In the latter part of 1881 General Anderson took a long and fatiguing journey over the proposed line of the Northern Pacific, making a personal inspection of the proposed route across the backbone of the continent and through what was then the western wilds.From the observations made on this long journey from Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 108,779...
to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, General Anderson became satisfied that the general route laid down by the late William Milnor Roberts
William Milnor Roberts
William Milnor Roberts was an American civil engineer...
(a former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
), as the line of the Northern Pacific, was in the main correct, at least so far as the line between the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
and Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
was concerned, and on this line, substantially, he went on and completed the road, witnessing the driving of the last spike September 8, 1883.
The main line having been completed from St. Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
to Wallula
Wallula, Washington
Wallula is a census-designated place in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 179 at the 2010 census.-History:Lewis and Clark reached the area April 27, 1806, on their return journey from the Pacific...
where junction was formed with the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company’s line, thus making a through line to Portland, the company turned its attention to its Cascade Division, intended to connect its line at some point near the mouth of the Snake River
Snake River
The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
, with Tacoma
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
on Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
. Surveys for this division had been in progress much of the time since March, 1880, and much had been done even previous to that date, at intervals, in the way of reconnaissance and preliminary work. The company desired to build on the best attainable line, but to find this line, with conditions then existing, was a work of great difficulty, requiring time, labor and expense. General Anderson took great interest in all this work, but did not express any final judgment until the autumn of 1883, after all the information was available, when he reported that the line ought to be built through Stampede Pass
Stampede Pass
Stampede Pass is a mountain pass through the Cascade Range just south of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington.-Discovery of the Pass:The pass was discovered by Virgil Bogue, a civil engineer working for the Northern Pacific Railway...
, believing it to be the route that could be operated at least expense and that it would best protect the company from the encroachments of rival enterprises, which judgment has been fully confirmed by the events of the past two years.
In October, 1886, General Anderson was elected second vice-president of the Northern Pacific, which position, together with that of chief engineer of this road, he held up to January, 1888.
Personal life
General Anderson married, in 1856, Juliet C. Van Wyck, with whom he had six children. The eldest daughter, Sallie, married United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Lieutenant John C. Fremont, Jr., a son of General John C. Fremont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
; the oldest son, Philip Van Wyck Anderson, was a civil engineer on the Northern Pacific Railroad.
In May 1889 General Anderson opened an office in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, at 155 Broadway, where he was engaged in organizing the Gordon Fire Alarm Company and the Steel Car Company. About a year before his death he contracted what is known as mountain fever while on one of his western trips, from which he never entirely recovered.
General Anderson was a quiet and somewhat taciturn man, of absolute integrity and clear headed, impartial judgment. He was a steadfast, kindly friend through evil or good report. His works were managed with honorable motives and without scandal. He served his country during the long War of the Rebellion with honor and fidelity. While he must have had many opportunities to become wealthy in legitimate ways, the fact that he died poor shows that no consideration of self-interest was allowed to influence him a hair’s breadth in his professional duties or in his loyalty to the enterprise he served.
News items
Died—Anderson—Suddenly, at Hotel Lafayette, Philadelphia, on the 15th inst., Gen. Adna Anderson, late Chief Engineer and Second Vice-President of the Northern Pacific Railroad, in the 62d year of his age.Suicide of Gen. Anderson—Shooting himself in a Philadelphia Hotel—He was a prominent New-York railroad man—No motive known for his deed—By telegraph to the Tribune.
Philadelphia, May 15—General A. Anderson, of New-York City, late last night committed suicide in the Lafayette Hotel, by lodging a bullet in his brain. At about midnight Harry Johnson, a colored bellboy, rushed downstairs to the office and informed the watchman that one of the guests had shot himself. The watchman ran to the fourth floor and burst in the door of a toilet-room, seated in which, with his arms hanging limp by his sides and his head back, was the dead body of a well-dressed and fine-looking man apparently about sixty years old. Beside the body lay a revolver. In the faint light Watchman Price saw a gaping bullet hole in the man’s temple, from which a stream of blood dripped down his cheek and stained his shirt-front. A doctor was summoned, but was too late to be of service. The body was removed to an undertaker’s.
General Anderson arrived at the hotel last Sunday evening and registered as “A. Anderson, New York City.” He took his meals regularly at the hotel, and little was seen of him outside of the dining-room. It was said that on Monday he was seen acting strangely, but no liquors of any kind appear on the books as having been ordered by him in the hotel. The only effects which he had were a black spring overcoat and a small valise containing underwear. Several letters were in his pocket, and a bunch of keys bore the address “A. Anderson, Everett House, Union Square, New York City.” A pass of the Northern Pacific Railroad was inscribed: “For the personal use of General A. Anderson.”
Mr. Maltby, proprietor of the Lafayette Hotel, telegraphed to the Everett House the news of the sad occurrence, and asked for information regarding General Anderson’s family. The reply, which arrived this morning, stated that word had been sent to the General’s widow at her home in Sing Sing, N.Y., and that she or some other member of the family would come on to Philadelphia. The first intimation that the police had regarding the suicide was given them at the Fifth District Station by newspaper men to-day.
A son of General Anderson told the Coroner that he believed his farther to have been insane at the time of the shooting, and could not assign any other cause for the rash act. About a year ago, while engaged in mining, the General contracted what was known as “mountain fever.” This troubled him for some time, and finally developed into brain trouble. On a page of a memorandum book left by General Anderson was written: “I feel a great buzzing in my ears, and a very peculiar feeling in my head. Can this be brain fever?”
Arrangements have been made to ship the body to Washington, whence it will be removed to Georgetown, where the burial will take place. General Anderson leaves a large family.
Mr. Anderson as born at Ridgeway, N.Y., on July 25, 1827. When a young man, his taste for civil engineering made him a chainman in laying out the line of the New York and New Haven Railroad
New York and New Haven Railroad
The New York and New Haven Railroad was a railroad connecting New York City to New Haven, Connecticut along the shore of the Long Island Sound. It opened in 1849, and in 1872 it merged with the Hartford and New Haven Railroad to form the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad...
. He left this to become assistant engineer on the Connecticut River Road, afterward serving as resident engineer, chief engineer, superintendent and receiver upon various Southern roads, among them the Mobile and Ohio, the Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, the Central Southern, and the Edgefield and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
During the last three years of the war General Anderson’s professional skill was placed at the service of the United States Government, which made him a brevet brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
. His first duty, which he assumed in June, 1862, was that of assistant engineer and chief of the construction corps of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
. In February, 1863, he was made chief engineer of the military railroads of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and after a year’s service in that capacity he was made general superintendent of the Government railroads in the Military Division of the Mississippi
Military Division of the Mississippi
The Military Division of the Mississippi was an administrative division of the United States Army during the American Civil War that controlled all military operations in the Western Theater.-History:...
. Late in 1864 he was made chief engineer and superintendent of the military railroads of the United States, and held this position until July, 1866.
After the war General Anderson held various important offices on Western railroads. He was best known as the chief engineer, of the Northern Pacific Railroad, with which he was connected from about 1880. In 1886 he was made a second vice-president of the company. About a year and a half ago he retired from the company’s service and since that time he had been occupied largely in pushing certain mechanical inventions, having an office for a time at Liberty St., and afterward in the Stewart Building. Recently he had given up his office as he did not desire to lease it for a while year, and of late he had been transacting his business in the office of a friend at No. 155 Broadway.
Mr. Anderson was possessed of strong qualities and he resisted with great force the attempt to fasten Northern Pacific misfortunes on mistakes of the engineering department. Mr. Anderson proved that his estimates were not wide of the mark and that when there was any difference it was due principally to the orders of the executive department. It may be assumed that in any circumstances he was the victim, for his honesty was never questioned. He could not be induced to join in the efforts to advance Northern Pacific stock although his life was bound up in the completion of the line.
General Anderson’s Public Service.
To the Editor of the Tribune.
Sir: In the death of General Adna Anderson the country loses a distinguished engineer and a man whose high integrity and aversion to intrigue and pretension make him worthy of praise in this Centennial year. a native of New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, he married in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, and was practicing his profession there when the war broke out. Entering the service of the National Government, he had general charge of military railroads in the West. When the history of this remarkable part of our military operations is fully written it will reflect great credit upon those who gave talent, fidelity, and strenuous effort without a prospect of gain or glory. Since the war General Anderson has been steadily engaged in the development of our Western railway system, but his most remarkable service was as chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which he built through to Puget Sound, overcoming the greatest natural obstacles, and having to contend with the impatience and diverging views of financial promoters, who were after all banking on his sound and ultimately successful work. – New York, May 15, 1889.
New-York Daily Tribune, Thursday, May 16, 1889, n.p.