Charles Haynes Haswell (May 22, 1809 – May 12, 1907) was a naval engineer, New York City politician and historian. A native resident of New York City, Haswell was author of one of the most broadly circulated engineering manuals of the 19th century, and also published a collection of remembrances of the city drawn from his private journals. He was the first Engineer-in-Chief of the United States Navy.

Early life

Charles Haynes Haswell was born May 22, 1809, on North Moore Street, New York City, the son of a Dublin-born member of the British foreign service, Charles Haswell, and his wife Dorothea Haynes of a Barbados planter family, her brother Gen. Robert Haynes having been Speaker of the House of Assembly there for over three decades.''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography'', New York: James T. White & Company, 1899, vol. 9, p. 486. He attended school at Jamaica Academy on

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and received tutelage in the classics in New York City. At the age of 19, he entered James P. Allaire’s engine works, which represented one of the top marine engineering firms of the time. There Haswell rose to become chief draftsman and designer.Frederick R. Hutton, "Charles Haynes Haswell, In Memoriam", ''The American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Transactions'', vol. 29, pp. 1149-1155. By 1836, he was working for the West Point Foundry, and the next year saw his production of the first steam launch or yacht, the ''Sweetheart''.

Naval career

At this time the United States Navy committed to the construction of several steam vessels, and Haswell, who had watched their earlier experimental steam vessels in

New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

, applied to supervise the engineering of , under construction. Although at first his role was only quasi-unofficial, there being no rank structure for engineers in the Navy at the time, when he was finally officially nominated and confirmed in 1851 to the rank of chief engineer, the appointment was to date from the start of his service in July 1836. Thus began a Naval career during which he would supervise the design of engines for ten warships.Burr William McIntosh, "People of Note", ''Burr MacIntosh Monthly'', August 1907, vol. 14 (no. 53) In 1839, he served on a naval board responsible for the construction of the steam frigates '' Missouri'' and '' Mississippi'', for which he was relieved of his duties to the ''Fulton''. After work on the '' Michigan'', he became chief engineer on the ''Missouri'', but a dispute over a plan to replace its one smokestack with two earned him a two-year suspension, during which time he was involved in the construction of the boilers for the '' Allegheny'' and several revenue cutters. He was also instrumental in the Navy's creation of a corps of engineers, and he was named the first engineer-in-chief in October 1844. He subsequently designed the engines of '' Powhatan'' and '' San Jacinto''. A public dispute over the design of the latter led to his removal as Engineer-in-Chief, and he was instead made chief engineer of the ''San Jacinto'', having had responsibility for the design of its propulsion system, advocating his preferred propeller over a sidewheel, but being overruled.George W. Baird, "Charles H. Haswell, M.E.", ''Marine Engineering'', vol. 5 (1900), p. 538-540 One of his innovations while with the navy was the use of zinc lining to the boilers to reduce corrosion. As chief engineer, he is credited with establishing the qualifications for the engineering corps of the Navy. However, by 1850, his health declined and he was declared unfit for duty, yet word failed to reach the Navy and he was ordered to sea with ''San Jacinto''.Desmond FitzGerald, Clemens Herschel and Ira N. Hollis, "Obituary: Charles Haynes Haswell", ''Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies'', vol. 39, pp. 277-281. His ill health continued, and he left the ship in mid-cruise, going ashore in Spain to recover, and then to New York. Still unaware of his true medical state, the Navy considered him to have abandoned his post and removed him from the service in May 1852. He would briefly return to naval service during the American Civil War, when he served as chief engineer for the

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, and there briefly commanded a small steamer that pulled off the shoaled gunboat ''Ranger'' from under the guns of Fort Bartow during the shelling of Roanoke Island.

Private sector

Following his separation from the Navy in the early 1850s, Haswell returned to New York, where he started work in the private sector, designing numerous commercial ships. He served as a consulting engineer for the

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, the Quarantine Commission, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and for the Board of Public Improvements,Thomas William Herringshaw, ''Herringshaw’s National Library of American Biography'', Chicago: American Publishers’ Association, 1914, vol. 3, p. 92 being much sought on questions of the suitability of the uncertain geological structure underlying New York City for establishing firm foundations for the city's growing skyscrapers. Following the city's purchase of

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, he directed improvements including grading and trimming of the island,"Charles H. Haswell Dead", ''The New York Times'', 13 May 1907 personally supervising the work when in his nineties, and also made improvements to Hart Island and Hoffman Island. He applied his marine engineering experience as Surveyor of Steamships for Marine Underwriters of New York, a roll he occupied for four decades, performing similar work for Boston and Philadelphia firms, and for Lloyd's. He was sent a $1500 diamond ring by the

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for supplying drafts of his design of the engines of the ''Powhatan''.Nelson P. Lewis, "Charles Haynes Haswell", ''The Railroad Magazine'', vol. 42 (1907), no. 20, p. 686 He was also a yachting enthusiast, serving as chairman of the regatta committee and chief measurer for the New York Yacht Club. He was a member of numerous engineering societies, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, and he was also member of the Union Club. In religion, he was a regularly attending member of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Politics

From the time of his return to New York following his Naval service, Haswell also became active in politics. In 1855 he was elected to the New York City Common Council, representing the city's 21st Ward, and in his final year, 1859, he served as president of the council. He served as chairman of a politically stacked grand jury impaneled to investigate voter fraud in the election of 1868. Like most of the members of this body, he was deeply associated with the Tammany Hall political machine, of which he served as leader or Grand Sachem from 1876 to 1882. He would serve as a trustee of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, and as president of the New York Board of Corrections. A lifelong Democrat, at the time of his death he was the oldest living member of the Tammany organization.

Author

Haswell also had a career as a published author. His most popular work was ''The Engineer's and Mechanic's Pocket Book'', which was first published in 1843, and by 1907 had gone through 72 editions. It has been described as "Engineering 101 meets '' Ripley's Believe It or Not''."Gillen d'Arcy Wood, "The Man who Knew Too Much", ''The New York Times'', July 24, 2005

/ref> Other professional works included: ''Mechanic's Tables'' (1856), ''Mensuration and Practical Geometry'' (1858), ''Book-keeping'' (1871), and an unpublished ''History of the Steam Boiler and its Appendanges'' (1887).James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., "Haswell, Charles Haynes", ''Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography'', New York: Appleton and Company, 1888, vol. 3, p. 113 He is also well known as a chronicler of everyday life in New York City. From the age of 9, he kept a private journal which would serve as the primary source for his ''Reminiscences of the City of New York by an Octogenarian (1816–1860)'', published in 1896. This somewhat eclectic work proves a unique source for the everyday details of life in New York City for the first half of the century.

Family and death

In 1829, Haswell married Ann Elizabeth Burns, and had six children who survived to adulthood, Sarah Haynes, Edmund Haynes, Frances Roe, Gouverneur Kemble, Charles Haynes and Lillie Bulwer Haswell. Days short of his 98th birthday, Haswell suffered a fall in the dining room of his home. Dislocating his shoulder, he never recovered from the shock and died the next day, May 12, 1907. His son, Gouverneur Kemble Haswell, attended the United States Naval Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Navy before retiring in 1876. He was briefly reactivated during the Spanish–American War and was promoted in retirement to Commander.William C. Alberger, "In Memoriam: Gouverneur Kemble Haswell", (Circular no. 6, Series of 1918) San Francisco: Headquarters Commandery of the State of California, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 1918)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haswell, Charles Haynes 1809 births 1907 deaths Politicians from New York City History of New York City United States Navy engineering officers American civil engineers Engineers from New York City