View source for Benjamin Henry Latrobe II

{{Short description|American civil engineer and railroad official}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Benjamin Henry Latrobe II
| image         = Photograph of Benjamin Henry Latrobe II in 1871 ASCE book entitled early history of civil engineering.png
| alt           =
| caption       =
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1806|12|19}}
| birth_place   = [[Philadelphia|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1878|10|19|1806|12|19}}
| death_place   = [[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]], U.S.
| resting_place = {{unbulleted list|[[Green Mount Cemetery]]|Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.}}
| other_names   =
| alma_mater    =
| occupation    = {{hlist|[[Civil Engineer]]|railway executive}}
| years_active  =
| employer      = [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]]
| known_for     = [[Thomas Viaduct]]
| notable_works =
| spouse        = {{marriage|Maria Eleanor "Ellen" Hazlehurst|1833|1872|reason=died}}
| children      = 7
| father        = [[Benjamin Henry Latrobe]]
| relatives     = [[Henry Sellon Boneval Latrobe]] (brother),Julia Latrobe (sister) [[John H. B. Latrobe]] (brother),
| signature     =
}}
'''Benjamin Henry Latrobe II''' (December 19, 1806 – October 19, 1878) was an American [[civil engineer]] best known for pioneering railway bridges, notably the Thomas Viaduct, and serving as chief engineer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. His innovations in wooden bridges and curved masonry viaduct designs significantly advanced American civil engineering in the 19th century. Latrobe also collaborated with Wendel Bollman, a prominent bridge designer, who contributed to early developments in iron truss bridges. His engineering survey plans for crossing the Allegheny Mountains were later incorporated into legislation guiding the construction of the Pacific railroads, establishing his lasting impact on national infrastructure.
==Family==
Benjamin Henry Latrobe II was born in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, on December 19, 1806,<ref name="Stuart_1871">{{cite book |last1=Stuart |first1=Charles Beebe |title=Lives and works of civil and military engineers of America. |date=1871 |publisher=Van Nostrand |location=New York |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011634248 |access-date=22 March 2024}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>{{rp|243}} Latrobe was the youngest son of [[Benjamin Henry Latrobe]], who, six years previously, had married his second wife, Mary Elizabeth Hazlehurst (1771–1841), the eldest daughter of Issac Hazelhurst, a Philadelphia merchant <ref name="Stuart_1871"/> and business partner for [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]].<ref name="Latrobe_obit">{{cite news |last1=anon. |title=Baltimore Sun |url=https://about.proquest.com/en/news/2009/The-Baltimore-Sun-1837-1985-Joins-ProQuest-Historical-Newspapers/ |access-date=23 March 2024 |agency=ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Baltimore Sun |publisher=Baltimore Sun |date=October 21, 1878}}</ref>
Latrobe married Maria Eleanor "Ellen" Hazlehurst (1806–1872) of [[Altoona, Pennsylvania]] on March 12, 1833. They had four sons (two of whom survived childhood) and three daughters.
Their eldest son, Charles Hazelhurst Latrobe (1833–1902), moved to Florida, where he married and later joined the [[Confederate States Army]]. A civil engineer like his father and grandfather, Charles H. Latrobe later moved back to Baltimore, where he served as the city's chief engineer for 25 years and continued to design public buildings and bridges noted for their beauty.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://monumentcity.net/2011/06/18/the-latrobe-family-and-charm-city/ |title=The Latrobe Family and Charm City at Monument City Blog |access-date=April 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425032237/http://monumentcity.net/2011/06/18/the-latrobe-family-and-charm-city/ |archive-date=April 25, 2018  }}</ref><ref>"Latrobe, Charles Hazelhurst", in ''Concise [[Dictionary of American Biography]]'' (1964), New York:  Scribner's.</ref> His brother, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, III (1840–1901) became an [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] priest and rector of the Church of Our Savior in [[Silver Spring, Maryland]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://latrobefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I6346&tree=mytree | title=Rev. Benjamin Henry Latrobe, III b. 4 Dec 1840 Baltimore, Independent Cities, Maryland, USA d. 7 Jul 1901 Baltimore, Independent Cities, Maryland, USA: JHBL Genealogy }} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
==Early life==
Latrobe attended [[Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences|Georgetown College]] in Washington, D. C. and graduated from what was then known as [[St. Mary's Seminary and University|St. Mary's College]] in [[Baltimore]], Maryland, in 1823.<ref name="Dilts_Latrobe">Dilts, James D. "''The Latrobes: First Family of Baltimore Architecture and Engineering.''" Baltimore Civil Engineering History. 2004. American Society of Civil Engineers pages 41-52.</ref> After that, he entered the law office of [[Charles F. Mayer]], a prominent attorney in Baltimore, becoming a member of the Baltimore Bar in 1825.<ref name="Stuart_1871"/> After a short stay in New Jersey, tending to his mother's affairs, he returned to Baltimore in 1830 to practice law again. However, during this period in New Jersey, Latrobe learned about working with the timber business and found that he loved surveying.<ref name="Dilts_Latrobe"/>
Meanwhile, John Latrobe. John, his elder brother, who had been educated as an engineer, changed his profession to law. At that time, he was a junior legal counsel for the [[Baltimore and Ohio]] railroad.<ref name="Latrobe_obit"/> Through his brother's influence, Latrobe was hired as a rodman on the survey locating the railroad west of Ellicott's Mills.<ref name="Latrobe_obit"/><ref name="Treese">{{cite book |last=Treese |first=Lorett |title=Railroads of Pennsylvania: Fragments of the Past in the Keystone Landscape |year=2003 |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |isbn=978-0-8117-2622-1 |page=194}}</ref>{{rp|129}}<ref name="Dilts"/>
==Early civil engineering contributions==
Although trained in the law, Latrobe was already an accomplished [[Drafter|draftsman]] and mathematician.<ref name="Stuart_1871"/> In 1830, he left the practice of law and entered into [[civil engineering]].  Latrobe read [[Jean-Rodolphe Perronet]]'s books on bridges in the french language as well as traveling to Philadelphia to study the bridges there.<ref name="Dilts"/>
In 1827, the Maryland General Assembly passed "An Act to Incorporate the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad" and "An Act to Authorize the President, Managers, and Company of the Washington and Baltimore Turnpike Road to Construct a Rail Road from the City of Baltimore to the District of Columbia in the Direction of Washington." Similarly, the Federal government passed legislation to authorize a railroad within the District of Columbia in 1828.<ref name="Cullen_1957">{{cite journal |last1=Cullen |first1=Elizabeth O. |title=The Coming of the Railroads to Washington, D. C. |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |date=January 1957 |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=26–32 |jstor=40067182 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40067182 |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> This was to be the first rail link to Washington. No progress, however, had been made on this railroad as the Company was busy building the main line to Frederick. But, in 1829, the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]] Company obtained two legal injunctions that "...restrain(ed) the (railroad) from constructing the road at all, within the limits of Frederick County." This brought the progress of the main line work to a complete halt, and the focus then became on the Washington branch.<ref name="Smith_1853">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=W|title=A History and Description of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad |date=1853 |publisher=J. Murphy & Company. |location=Baltimore, MD |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4GI3AQAAMAAJ |access-date=23 March 2024}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> In 1831, [[Jonathan Knight (railroader)|Jonathan Knight]], the Chief Engineer of the road, appointed Latrobe and Henry J. Ranney to locate the railroad <ref name="Smith_1853"/><ref name="Harwood">{{cite book |last=Harwood |first=Herbert H. Jr. |title=Impossible Challenge II: Baltimore to Washington and Harpers Ferry from 1828 to 1994 |year=1994 |publisher=Barnard, Roberts & Co. |location=Baltimore, MD |isbn=0-934118-22-1 }}</ref>{{rp|47–8}} assisted by [[Henry R. Hazlehurst]].
In 1834, the legal issues had been resolved to the point that work on the railroad could be resumed in conjunction with the canal company, and Latrobe located the railroad from Frederick County to [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harpers Ferry, Virginia]] (now [[West Virginia]]).<ref name="Stuart_1871"/>
In 1835, Latrobe became the chief engineer for the [[Baltimore and Port Deposit Railroad Company]], which helped build the first rail link (Baltimore to Havre-de-Grace) between Philadelphia and Baltimore.<ref name=Stover>{{cite book |last = Stover |first = John F. |title = History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad |publisher = Purdue University Press |year = 1987 |location = West Lafayette, IN |isbn = 0-911198-81-4}}</ref>{{rp|38}} The road crossed the [[Susquehanna River]] using a series of three bridges supported by piles which at that time were the first long bridges of that type in the United States.<ref name="Stuart_1871"/>
erected in the United States. <!-- In 1835–36, he completed a survey of the B&PD between Baltimore and the Susquehanna River. (Dilts, p. 169) -->
==Key projects==
[[File:Model of Latrobe Truss built at Harper's Ferry in 1836-37 by Louis Wernwag.png|thumb|500px|Model of Latrobe Truss built at Harper's Ferry in 1836-37 by Louis Wernwag]]
[[File:1860 Baltimore & Ohio Bridge at Harper's Ferry with Latrobe and Bollman Trusses.png|thumb|350px|1860 Baltimore & Ohio Bridge at Harper's Ferry with Latrobe and Bollman Trusses]]
In 1836, working with [[Louis Wernwag]], Latrobe designed the first viaduct and bridge over the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]] and [[Potomac River]] at [[Harper's Ferry, Virginia]], now West Virginia, for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. <ref name=Smith>Smith, W. P. (William Prescott). (1858). The book of the great railway celebrations of 1857: embracing a full account of the opening of the Ohio & Mississippi, and the Marietta & Cincinnati railroads, and the Northwestern Virginia branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, with ... an account of the subsequent excursion to Baltimore, Washington and Norfolk ... New York: D. Appleton & Co..</ref>{{rp|34}} <ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=78001484}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=Paula Stoner Dickey and Robert M. Vogel |date=June 26, 1973 }} With {{NRHP url|id=78001484|photos=y|title=accompanying photo}}</ref> The bridge was a wooden structure designed by Latrobe, nicknamed the "Latrobe truss" and built by Wernwag in 1836-1837. <ref name="nrhpdoc"/><ref name="Harwood" />{{rp|31}}
[[File:Thomas-viaduct-1.jpg|thumb|250px|Thomas Viaduct in 1970]]
Latrobe designed the [[Thomas Viaduct]] for the Baltimore and Washington railroad, a [[Basket-handle arch|"basket handle"]]<ref name="Dilts">{{cite book |title=The Great Road: The Building of the Baltimore and Ohio, the Nation's First Railroad, 1828–1853 |last=Dilts |first=James D. |year=1996 |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Palo Alto, CA |isbn=978-0-8047-2629-0}}</ref> arch bridge which became the largest and first curved masonry railway [[viaduct]] in the United States when completed in 1835. The viaduct spans the [[Patapsco River]] between [[Arbutus, Maryland|Relay]] and [[Elkridge, Maryland]].<ref name="Harwood" />{{rp|50}} As the project engineer, Latrobe worked closely with the railroad's construction chief, Caspar Wever.<ref name="Dilts">{{cite book |title=The Great Road: The Building of the Baltimore and Ohio, the Nation's First Railroad, 1828–1853 |last=Dilts |first=James D. |year=1996 |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Palo Alto, CA |isbn=978-0-8047-2629-0}}</ref>{{rp|159–168}} Nicknamed "Latrobe's Folly" by those who doubted the massive structure could support itself, the bridge remains in use today (as of 2024), carrying far heavier loads than ever envisioned.<ref name="Dilts"/>
In 1838, Latrobe completed reconnaissance and surveys to extend the Main Stem of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad from Harper's Ferry to Wheeling and Pittsburgh.<ref name=Smith/> {{rp|35}} Latrobe accomplished one of the first crossings of the Alleghenies at a maximum grade of sixty feet (1.25%) to the mile. However, the railroad did not achieve the legal rights to the right of way until 1847.<ref name=Smith/> {{rp|42}} The difficulties of locating the railroad, especially west of Cumberland in the Cheat and Tygart Valley rivers, induced the railroad's Board of Directors to call upon two consulting engineers ([[Jonathan Knight]] and John Child) to work with Latrobe to finalize the location of the road. Latrobe went on to help organize the [[North Western Virginia Railroad]] in 1851, which Latrobe completed to [[Parkersburg, Virginia]] in 1857. <ref name=Smith/> {{rp|71}} Latrobe worked with his principal assistants,
George Hoffman, J. C. C. Hoskins and [[Albert Fink]]. The North Western Virginia Railroad was planned to be part of the B&O's main stem, from Baltimore to [[St. Louis, Missouri]].<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hh:@field(DOCID+@lit(WV0105)) ''Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Parkersburg Bridge, Ohio River, Parkersburg, Wood County, WV''], Historic American Engineering Record, accessed August 22, 2012</ref>
==Leadership roles==
{{Main|American_Society_of_Civil_Engineers#Institution_of_American_Civil_Engineers|l1=Institution of American Civil Engineers}}
On December 17, 1838, a petition started circulating asking civil engineers to meet in 1839 in [[Baltimore]], Maryland, to organize a permanent society of civil engineers.<ref name="Calhoun_1960">Calhoun, Daniel Hovey. The American civil engineer: Origins and conflict. Technology Press, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1960.</ref> Before that, thirteen notable civil engineers largely identifiable as being from New York, Pennsylvania, or Maryland met in [[Philadelphia]]. This group presented the [[Franklin Institute]] of Philadelphia with a formal proposal that an Institution of American Civil Engineers be established as an adjunct of the Franklin..."<ref name="Calhoun_1960"/> This group included Latrobe and Chief Engineer [[Jonathan Knight (railroader)|Jonathan Knight]]. Membership in the new society restricted membership to engineers, and "architects and eminent machinists were to be admitted only as Associates."<ref name="Hunt_1897">{{PD-notice}} Hunt, C. Warren. (1897). Historical sketch of the American Society of Civil Engineers. New York: [Printed by order of the Board of Direction]. Accessed at [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012304815 HathiTrust]</ref> The proposed constitution failed, and no further attempts were made to form another society.<ref name="Calhoun_1960"/> Miller later ascribed the failure to the difficulties of assembling members due to available means for traveling in the country at the time.<ref name="Calhoun_1960"/> One of the other difficulties members would have to contend with was the requirement to produce each year one previously unpublished paper or "...present a scientific book, map, plan or model, not already in the possession of the Society, under the penalty of $10."<ref name="Hunt_1897"/>
In that same period, the editor of the ''American Railroad Journal'' commented that effort had failed in part due to certain jealousies that arose due to the proposed affiliation with the Franklin Institute.<ref name="Calhoun_1960"/> That journal continued discussion on forming an engineers' organization from 1839 thru 1843 serving its own self-interests in advocating its journal as a replacement for a professional society but to no avail.
In 1842, Latrobe became chief engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, serving for 22 years <ref name="Treese"/><ref name=Stover/>{{rp|54}} and was appointed to the concurrent position of general superintendent of the road in 1847.<ref name=Stover/>{{rp|57}} Latrobe later became president of the [[Keystone Subdivision|Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad]],<ref name="Treese"/><ref name=Stover/>{{rp|113}} part of the B&O's Pittsburgh District.<ref>[http://pghbridges.com/articles/railroads/RRhistory_pghplanhistory.htm Railroad History, Pittsburgh Plan, 1923] {{PD-notice}}</ref> [[File:Map, exhibiting the railway route between Baltimore & St. Louis, together with the other principal lines in the eastern, middle & western states; prepared under the direction of B. H. Latrobe, Ch. LOC 98688350.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|1843 lithograph,'Map, exhibiting the railway route between Baltimore & St. Louis, together with the other principal lines in the eastern, middle & western states; prepared under the direction of B. H. Latrobe, Ch. LOC 98688350]]
In the 1860s, Latrobe became a consulting engineer for the [[Troy and Greenfield Railroad]] and worked on the construction of the [[Hoosac Tunnel]] in [[Massachusetts]], then the second-longest tunnel in the world.<ref name="Hoosac Report">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o38pAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP2 | title=Report of Benj. H. Latrobe, Consulting Engineer, on the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel | author=Latrobe, Benjamin H. II | author-link=Benjamin Henry Latrobe II | year=1869 | location=Boston}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
==Death==
Latrobe died in [[Baltimore]] on October 19, 1878, at his home in Baltimore.<ref name="Latrobe_obit"/> Pallbearers included fellow engineers Charles P. Manning, chief engineer for the Baltimore City water works, General [[William Price Craighill]], Future president of the American Society of Civil Engineers-Mendes Cohen,[[Richard McSherry]], Cary Breckinridge Gamble. Fellow railroad directors who attended included Daniel J. Foley and Henry A Thompson.<ref name="Latrobe_obit"/> At his funeral, The speaker's eulogy noted that he could not speak to the "... great achievements or the notable work he had so well done (sic). History ... would take care of that."<ref name="Latrobe_obit"/> The eulogy noted that the commercial prosperity of Baltimore, the "... tunneled hills and long lines of railroads were monuments to that success and would live longer than marble or granite."<ref name="Latrobe_obit"/> The [[American Society of Civil Engineers]], or ASCE, noted that although Latrobe was not a member, it wanted to recognize him as "... one of the pioneers of the engineering profession in this country."<ref name="ASCE_1878">{{cite book |last1=anon. |title=Proceedings |date=1878 |publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers |location=New York |page=123 |hdl=2027/uva.x002207884 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uva.x002207884 |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref>
Latrobe was buried in [[Green Mount Cemetery]], whose landscape architecture he had designed, beside his wife.<ref name="tclf">{{cite web|url=https://tclf.org/benjamin-henry-latrobe-jr|title=Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Jr.|publisher=The Cultural Landscape Foundation|website=TCLF.org|language=en-US|access-date=July 30, 2019}}</ref> His brother John H. B. Latrobe was on the cemetery's board of directors as well as helped found the [[Maryland Historical Society]], which maintains the family papers.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/014300/014346/html/14346bio.html | title=John H.B. Latrobe, MSA SC 3520-14346 }}</ref>
==Legacy==
Latrobe played a prominent role in the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, particularly the location of the road in one of the first crossings of the [[Allegheny Mountains|Alleghenies]].<ref name="ASCE_1878"/> Latrobe's plan for a maximum grade of 2.2%, or 116 feet per mile <ref name=Smith/> {{rp|68}} over the crest in 1848 became the standard for the [[Pacific Railroad Acts#Act of 1862, and amended 1864–65|pacific railroads]] in the 1860s.<ref name="Dilts_Latrobe"/>
:"(T)he two Latrobes ... spent virtually their entire professional careers, spanning much of the 19th century. Benjamin supervised the construction of most of the line between Baltimore and the Ohio River; he subsequently became the B&O Railroad's chief engineer. (While his brother) John made many of the financial and political deals that enabled the line to be built." (Dilts, 2004) <ref name="Dilts_Latrobe"/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*Family tree in [https://web.archive.org/web/20181215224436/http://mdz10.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00000559/images/index.html?seite=159 ''Genealogisches Handbuch der baltischen Ritterschaften, Estland,  Görlitz 1930''] {{in lang|de}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latrobe, Benjamin Henry II}}
[[Category:1806 births]]
[[Category:1878 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American railroad executives]]
[[Category:19th-century American engineers]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Baltimore]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:American railway civil engineers]]
[[Category:Baltimore and Ohio Railroad people]]
[[Category:American railroad pioneers]]
[[Category:Engineers from Maryland]]
[[Category:Latrobe family]]