Alfred Brooks Fry (March 3, 1860 – December 4, 1933), was a marine, mechanical and civil engineer. He was head of the

New York Naval Militia The New York Naval Militia is the naval militia of the state of New York, and is under the authority of the Governor of New York as Commander-In-Chief of the state's military forces. With the New York Guard, the New York Army National Guard and Ne ...

and served on active duty during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was chief engineer of the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

., supervising engineer for the Port of New York. and chief superintendent of United States public buildings in New York City.

Early life

He was born in New York City on March 3, 1860 to Brevet Major Thomas William Gardiner Fry (1832-1869), who served in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, and Frances E. Olney. He was the great grandson of Major Benjamin Fry (d. 1799) who served in the Rhode Island Militia during the American Revolution.

Early career

He entered Columbia College in 1877 and pursued a course in engineering but dropped out to pursue a career as a mariner. He was employed as a rodman and draftsman from 1877 to 1879 and as a machinist and marine engineer from 1879 to 1886. He was assistant engineer and chief engineer under the United States Treasury Department starting in 1886. By the early 20th Century he was employed as chief engineer and superintendent of United States public buildings and of engineering work under the Department of Commerce and Labor and Treasury Department for the Port of New York.

Marriage

He married Emma Viola Sheridan on July 30, 1890 in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Congressman George Augustus Sheridan. Their only son, Sheridan Brooks Fry, was born in 1893.

Naval career

Fry joined the

when it was founded in 1892 and rose to become its Chief of Staff holding the rank of Engineer Lieutenant-Commander. During the

he served in the United States Navy when he was appointed on April 4, 1898 as Passed Assistant Engineer aboard the Civil War vintage monitor USS ''Nahant''. The ''Nahant'' was assigned to defend New York harbor. He was promoted on June 22, 1898 as Acting Chief Engineer aboard the armed yacht USS ''Stranger'' and served as part of the West Indies Blockading Squadron off Havana, Cuba. He was discharged on September 13, 1898. After the war, he was promoted to Commander in the New York Naval Militia. In 1900 he was named as the naval aide-de-camp to Governor

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

to replace Samuel Dana Greene, Jr. who died of hypothermia when he fell through the ice while skating in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. Fry continued in this position in the administration of Governor Odell.

Later career

In addition to his position with the Government, Fry also worked as a consultant in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineer for large corporations. He designed the ventilation system of the state of the art Lyceum Theater, which opened in September 1903. Fry was appointed on February 18, 1904, by Governor Benjamin Odell of New York as a member of the Board of Consulting Engineers for canal construction and enlargement. He served in this capacity until 1911. During the First World War, Fry served as a captain (with date of rank March 27, 1916) in the National Naval Volunteers – a component of the United States Navy, similar to the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

, which was later integrated in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

. After the war's end, he was re-instated on August 5, 1919 as supervising chief engineer of the Treasury Department in New York City. In the early 1920s Fry served as an advisor in the Office of Naval Operations in Washington before he was appointed as the commander of the

and was promoted to the rank of

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

about August 1923.

Death

Fry died in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, in December 1933 at the age of 73. His widow died in 1936.

Memberships

Fry belonged to numerous organizations including the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Traver ...

Army and Navy Club The Army and Navy Club in London is a private members club founded in 1837, also known informally as The Rag. Fry also belonged to several hereditary and military societies. He was elected to the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati in 1887 and he was a charter member of the Massachusetts Society of the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...

. He joined the Society on May 10, 1889 and was assigned national membership number 679 and state membership number 78. He was also a member of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or simply the Loyal Legion is a United States patriotic order, organized April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Army. The original membership was composed of members ...

, Society of Colonial Wars,

Military Order of Foreign Wars The Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States (MOFW) is one of the oldest veterans' and hereditary associations in the nation with a membership that includes officers and their hereditary descendants from all of the Armed Services. Memb ...

and the

Naval and Military Order of the Spanish War The Naval and Military Order of the Spanish War was a short lived military society formed by American officers who had served during the Spanish–American War. History The Naval and Military Order of the Spanish-American War (NMOSAW) was founded ...

Legacy

There is a large stone plaque listing Fry's accomplishments on display at the Newport Historical Society in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

. There is a similar plaque honoring Fry's father, Brevet Major Thomas William Gardiner Fry (1832-1869), in the armory of the Varnum Continentals in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Major Fry was wounded in action at the

Battle of Chancellorsville The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because h ...

and recovered from his wounds to fight at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

two months later. The plaque was presented by his relative William Congdon Fry in 1938.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Alfred 1860 births 1933 deaths Military personnel from New York City 19th-century American engineers 20th-century American engineers American civil engineers Engineers from New York City