George Rumford Baldwin
Encyclopedia
George Rumford Baldwin (1798–1888) an early American civil engineer who worked with his father Loammi Baldwin
and brothers Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
, and James Fowle Baldwin
(1782–1862), on the Middlesex Canal
and other projects. His later works included surveying and engineering the Boston, Hartford, and Erie Railroad, the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad, and the gas and water systems for the City of Quebec
.
His father, Loammi Baldwin
, was the earliest civil engineer in Massachusetts, and a leading promoter, surveyor, designer, and engineer of the Middlesex Canal
, chartered in 1793. Its course lay through his own estate, the several hundred acres belonging later to George R. Baldwin, and it was completed in 1803. The canal served its uses until superseded by the Boston and Lowell Railroad
.
His middle name recalled the early and continued friendship which existed between his father and Count Rumford. When Count Rumford had attained that rank and title at Munich, a correspondence began between the two which is of great personal and historical interest. In a letter following the birth of George Rumford Baldwin, the father writes to the Count, "I have had a son born to me to whom I have given your name." The father wished this boy, as he grew up, to enter Harvard College, but the son was disinclined to scholarship in that institution as its standard then was, and from his earliest years his bent was for mathematical and scientific studies, pursued by himself, and for practical out-of-door work in waterways, surveying and engineering, in the examination of mills and water-power, dams and raceways. He, as we have already noticed, had marked facilities for practice of this sort, with preliminary training in a school kept by Dr. Stearns in Medford, and by accompanying his father and brother in field and office work. In his fourteenth year he made some sketches of the fortifications of Boston harbor in the war of 1812, of which his brother Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
was the chief engineer.
George married December 6, 1837, the stepdaughter of his brother, Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
, namely, Catherine Richardson Beckford, daughter of Captain Thomas and Catherine (Williams) Beckford, of Charlestown. Her father was at one time the partner of Joshua Bates, the London banker. Mrs. Beckford had two daughters by her first marriage, but no child by her second. He had but one child, a daughter, who married, and resides mainly in Quebec.
The following were some of his early engagements: 1821, built P. C. Brook's stone bridge; 1822–1823, in Pennsylvania with his brother; 1823–1825, at factories in Lowell; 1826, surveyed Charlestown Navy Yard also known as the Boston Navy Yard
in Charlestown; executed Marine Railway; 1831–1833, in England; 1833–1834, on the Boston and Lowell Railroad
; 1834–1836, in Nova Scotia
; 1837, in Georgia
, on Brunswick Canal. In 1845 he was chief engineer on the route to the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad. In 1846 he was employed on the examination of the water power of Augusta, Georgia
, and by the national government on the Dry Docks in Washington and Brooklyn. In 1847 he was summoned to Quebec
to engage on professional tasks which occupied him till he completed them in 1856. This was the introduction of gas, water, and sewer systems into Quebec. He was in full superintendence, under the mayor and a water board. In the course of the work he sailed with his family to Europe to superintend the casting of pipes, gates, etc., and to arrange for their shipment.
In 1857–58, he was in Europe with his family, principally in Paris and London, with many excursions. With accomplished skill in draughting and etching, his pencil was ever busy in sketching all the objects of special interest, and his descriptions are illustrated by a mass of drawings, more or less perfected. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1877.
He was connected as consulting engineer with many more modern works, the most important, perhaps, being the Boston, Hartford, and Erie railroad which was later reincorporated as the New York and New England Railroad
. His journals show how fully every interval between these public works was improved. He was skilled in all family, horticultural, and agricultural labors, and his pen was ever busy in his own affairs, or for the service of friends.
Most paragraphs in this entry are from out of copyright books referenced below.
Loammi Baldwin
Colonel Loammi Baldwin was a noted American engineer, politician, and a soldier in the American Revolutionary War....
and brothers Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
Loammi Baldwin, Jr. was an American civil engineer. His father was Col. Loammi Baldwin a prominent civil engineer.-Biography:...
, and James Fowle Baldwin
James Fowle Baldwin
James Fowle Baldwin was an early American civil engineer who worked with his father and brothers on the Middlesex Canal, surveyed and designed the Boston and Lowell Railroad and the Boston and Albany Railroad, the first Boston water supply from Lake Cochituate, and many other early engineering...
(1782–1862), on the Middlesex Canal
Middlesex Canal
The Middlesex Canal was a 27-mile barge canal connecting the Merrimack River with the port of Boston. When operational it was 30 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, with 20 locks, each 80 feet long and between 10 and 11 feet wide...
and other projects. His later works included surveying and engineering the Boston, Hartford, and Erie Railroad, the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad, and the gas and water systems for the City of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Baldwin Mansion
The land of the original Henry Baldwin held by his descendant George R. Baldwin at the time of this death in 1888, included between 500 acres (2 km²) and 600 acres (2.4 km²). The mansion is on the noteworthy survivals of our earliest times in size, arrangement, adornment, and in its well preserved relics. Within it are to be found implements, household utensils, paintings, ornaments, and sundry furnishings, with luxurious appliances, gathered by the generations which have occupied it from birth to death. Piles of trunks and boxes contain their private papers and settlements of estates. Most interesting among its contents is a large, select, and valuable library of many thousand volumes, collected principally by the father and brothers of George R. Baldwin and by himself, giving evidence of their scientific and literary tastes. Learned tomes in many languages, costly illustrated works, series of scientific publications on construction and engineering, and sumptuous editions of the best writers in various departments of literature, are among its treasures. This library later went to the Baker Library at MIT. The house and its contents is a memorial of one of the oldest and most distinguished families of its citizens.His father, Loammi Baldwin
Loammi Baldwin
Colonel Loammi Baldwin was a noted American engineer, politician, and a soldier in the American Revolutionary War....
, was the earliest civil engineer in Massachusetts, and a leading promoter, surveyor, designer, and engineer of the Middlesex Canal
Middlesex Canal
The Middlesex Canal was a 27-mile barge canal connecting the Merrimack River with the port of Boston. When operational it was 30 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, with 20 locks, each 80 feet long and between 10 and 11 feet wide...
, chartered in 1793. Its course lay through his own estate, the several hundred acres belonging later to George R. Baldwin, and it was completed in 1803. The canal served its uses until superseded by the Boston and Lowell Railroad
Boston and Lowell Railroad
The Boston and Lowell Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in Massachusetts. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state...
.
Family and education
George Rumford Baldwin was born in the Baldwin mansion at North Woburn, January 26, 1798, and died there October 11, 1888, "having devoted his lengthened life, with the full possession of his faculties till its close, to the pursuits of practical science, as a surveyor, a civil engineer, and a constructor. He was the son of his father's second wife.His middle name recalled the early and continued friendship which existed between his father and Count Rumford. When Count Rumford had attained that rank and title at Munich, a correspondence began between the two which is of great personal and historical interest. In a letter following the birth of George Rumford Baldwin, the father writes to the Count, "I have had a son born to me to whom I have given your name." The father wished this boy, as he grew up, to enter Harvard College, but the son was disinclined to scholarship in that institution as its standard then was, and from his earliest years his bent was for mathematical and scientific studies, pursued by himself, and for practical out-of-door work in waterways, surveying and engineering, in the examination of mills and water-power, dams and raceways. He, as we have already noticed, had marked facilities for practice of this sort, with preliminary training in a school kept by Dr. Stearns in Medford, and by accompanying his father and brother in field and office work. In his fourteenth year he made some sketches of the fortifications of Boston harbor in the war of 1812, of which his brother Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
Loammi Baldwin, Jr. was an American civil engineer. His father was Col. Loammi Baldwin a prominent civil engineer.-Biography:...
was the chief engineer.
George married December 6, 1837, the stepdaughter of his brother, Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
Loammi Baldwin, Jr.
Loammi Baldwin, Jr. was an American civil engineer. His father was Col. Loammi Baldwin a prominent civil engineer.-Biography:...
, namely, Catherine Richardson Beckford, daughter of Captain Thomas and Catherine (Williams) Beckford, of Charlestown. Her father was at one time the partner of Joshua Bates, the London banker. Mrs. Beckford had two daughters by her first marriage, but no child by her second. He had but one child, a daughter, who married, and resides mainly in Quebec.
Engineering career
A series of his diaries for more than fifty years contain daily entries of his employments and occupations. He lived a life of marvelous industry, of wide travel, and of useful service. He was called upon as expert, witness, referee or examiner in many ways, at a period when the development of our railroad and manufacturing enterprises made a demand for talent and skill. He helped form the first associated company of engineers. He was naturally shy, modest, diffident, and reticent, of most retiring and undemonstrative ways, therefore when called upon for any utterance in public before many persons it was for him a serious strain. His social intercourse was limited, and under no circumstances could he have made a speech in public of advocacy or argument.The following were some of his early engagements: 1821, built P. C. Brook's stone bridge; 1822–1823, in Pennsylvania with his brother; 1823–1825, at factories in Lowell; 1826, surveyed Charlestown Navy Yard also known as the Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
in Charlestown; executed Marine Railway; 1831–1833, in England; 1833–1834, on the Boston and Lowell Railroad
Boston and Lowell Railroad
The Boston and Lowell Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in Massachusetts. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state...
; 1834–1836, in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
; 1837, in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, on Brunswick Canal. In 1845 he was chief engineer on the route to the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad. In 1846 he was employed on the examination of the water power of Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, and by the national government on the Dry Docks in Washington and Brooklyn. In 1847 he was summoned to Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
to engage on professional tasks which occupied him till he completed them in 1856. This was the introduction of gas, water, and sewer systems into Quebec. He was in full superintendence, under the mayor and a water board. In the course of the work he sailed with his family to Europe to superintend the casting of pipes, gates, etc., and to arrange for their shipment.
In 1857–58, he was in Europe with his family, principally in Paris and London, with many excursions. With accomplished skill in draughting and etching, his pencil was ever busy in sketching all the objects of special interest, and his descriptions are illustrated by a mass of drawings, more or less perfected. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1877.
He was connected as consulting engineer with many more modern works, the most important, perhaps, being the Boston, Hartford, and Erie railroad which was later reincorporated as the New York and New England Railroad
New York and New England Railroad
The New York and New England Railroad was a major railroad connecting southern New York state with Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed by...
. His journals show how fully every interval between these public works was improved. He was skilled in all family, horticultural, and agricultural labors, and his pen was ever busy in his own affairs, or for the service of friends.
Most paragraphs in this entry are from out of copyright books referenced below.
Further reading
- Historic Homes & Places and Genealogical & Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County Massachusetts by William Richard Cutter, published 1908. George Rumsford Baldwin article pages 20–22.
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography By Francess G. Halpenny, published 1990, Volume 12 page 86 George R.Baldwin is mentioned in biography of Sir Narcisse-Forunat Belleau(1808–1894) Mayor of Quebec 1848-1853. Baldwin worked on the gas light system of Quebec and surveyed sources of water for Quebec. He decided to build a dam and water tower in Jeune-Lorette(Wendake) at the outlet of Lac-Saint-Charles and to lay pipe to Quebec. The system was delivering water to Quebec in 1852. This same or similar article is here and here.
- Public Health Papers and Reports By American Public Health, published 1880. George R. Baldwin is mentioned in Vol.4 page 23 as having worked on the Quebec Sewer system.
- Baldwin, George Rumsford. Report, shewing the Cost and Income of a Railroad, as surveyed from Toledo, Ohio; to Chicago, Illinois; incorporated as the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad. Toledo, 1847.
- Baldwin, George Rumsford. 1860 Report on Supplying the City of Charlestown with Pure Water: Made for the City Council by Order of Hon. James Dana, Mayor of Charlestown, by George R. Baldwin and Charles L. Stevenson, Civil Engineers. Boston, MA, published 1860. Also see Report on Tidal Investigations in Mystic River and Pond. By Charles L. Stevenson, published 1861, 16 pages.
- The Memorial History of Boston, by Justin Winsor, Clarence F. Jewett, published 1881 volume 3, page 569 mentions George R. Baldwin being appointed consulting engineer to the Mystic Water Works in 1862.
- Old Charlestown: Historical, Biographical, Reminiscent, by Timothy Thompson Sawyer, published 1902, 527 pages. Chapter 19 Father of Civil Engineering in America Loammi Baldwin ... George R. Baldwin.
- Report of the Joint Special Committee Upon the Subject of the Flowage of Meadows on the Concord and Sudbury Rivers, by Massachusetts, General Court, published 1860. Testimony of George R. Baldwin on page 310.