Samuel Matthews Vauclain (May 18, 1856 – February 4, 1940) was an American engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

, inventor of the Vauclain compound

Vauclain compound

The Vauclain compound was a type of compound steam locomotive that was briefly popular around 1900. Developed at the Baldwin Locomotive Works, it featured two pistons moving in parallel, driving a common crosshead and controlled by a common valve gear using a single, complex piston...

 locomotive

Compound locomotive

A compound engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure cylinder, then having given up heat and losing pressure, it exhausts directly into one or more larger...

, and president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works

Baldwin Locomotive Works

The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...

. He was awarded the John Scott Award

John Scott Award

The John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, created in 1816, is a medal presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way...

 and the Elliott Cresson Medal

Elliott Cresson Medal

The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848...

 by The Franklin Institute in 1891. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for arming the United States Army during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Railroads

Vauclain served an apprenticeship in the machine shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

. When he was 24, he was sent to inspect locomotives at the Baldwin Locomotive Works. In those days, machining was a manual job with the machining done by hammers, files and chisels with the mens' own hands. Vauclain's hands were left in a permanent clutching position from endless hours of chipping and filing metal. He became general foreman of Baldwin's 17th Street Shops in 1883, and quickly moved up through the company, as plant superintendent in 1886, then general superintendent. He joined the Board of Directors in 1896, became Vice-President in 1911, Senior Vice-President in 1917, President from 1919 to 1929, and Chairman of the Board from then until his death. He was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal

Elliott Cresson Medal

The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848...

 by The Franklin Institute in 1891. At the same time, the Franklin Institute selected Vauclain for the John Scott Award

John Scott Award

The John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, created in 1816, is a medal presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way...

 funded by the City of Philadelphia.

Personal life

Samuel Vauclain was born in Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Port Richmond, also referred to as simply Richmond, is a neighborhood in the Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is notable for its extremely large Polish immigrant and Polish American community. The neighborhood is also home to sizable Irish, German and Italian communities as...

, the son of Andrew Constant Vauclain and Mary Ann Campbell Vauclain. In 1879, he married Annie Kearney; they had six children.

Vauclain was a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, and served as a delegate from Pennsylvania's 7th District to the 1920 Republican National Convention

1920 Republican National Convention

The 1920 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States nominated Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding for President and Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge for Vice President...

, which nominated Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding

Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...

 for president.

Vauclain died following a heart attack, in Broadlawn, his home at Rosemont, Pennsylvania

Rosemont, Pennsylvania

Rosemont is a community in Pennsylvania on the Pennsylvania Main Line lying partly in Radnor Township, Pennsylvania and partly in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania.Part of the geographic area is served by the Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, ZIP code...

.

External links

• Samuel M. Vauclain papers at the University of Texas
• TIME Magazine cover photo of Samuel M. Vauclain, April 21, 1923
• Photograph of Samuel Vauclain at the Library of Congress
• Samuel M. Vauclain in 20th Century American Leaders, Harvard Business School
• Samuel Matthews Vauclain at Find-a-Grave