George Leonard Vose (19 April 1831 – 30 March 1910) was a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
civil engineer and Professor of Civil Engineering at
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...
and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, known as educator in the field of
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s,
["Vose, George Leonard," in: ''The universal cyclopaedia,'' 1900. p. 604 ] and from his "Manual for railroad engineers and engineering students" (1873).
Early life and career
George Leonard Vose was born in
Augusta, Maine
Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County.
The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Maine, and third-least populous state capital in the Un ...
on April 13, 1831, to
Richard Hampton Vose (1803–1864), a politician and Governor of the State of Maine and Harriet Greene Chandler Vose (1811–1861).
Vose was educated at home in
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
. From 1849 to 1850 he studied at the
Lawrence Scientific School
The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is the engineering school within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, offering degrees in engineering and applied sciences to graduate students admitted ...
of
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
.
After Harvard, Vose started his career as an assistant engineer on the Kennebec and Portland Railroad, and until 1859 was engaged on various
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s. From 1859 to 1863, he was associate editor of ''The American Railway Times'' in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, and then for three years, he resided in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1866, he moved to
Paris, Maine
Paris is a town in and the county seat of Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,179 at the 2020 census. The census-designated place of South Paris is located within the town. Because the U.S. Post Office refers to the entir ...
, and was occupied with railroad projects in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
and
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. Vose was a professor of civil engineering in
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...
from 1872 until 1881 and Hayward Professor of Civil and
Topographical
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...
Engineering as well as department head for civil engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
from 1881 until 1887.
![Handbook of Railroad Construction, 1857](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Handbook_of_Railroad_Construction%2C_1857.jpg)
In 1854, Vose married Abba Valentine Thompson Vose (1843-1870) and they had four children,
Harriet Lenora Vose (1856–1886), Mabel Vose (1859–1888), Elizabeth Chandler Vose Torrey (1863–1901) and Richard Hampton Vose (1866–1957).
In 1872, Vose married Charlotte Buxton Andrews (1843-1889).
[ ]
Vose's daughter Harriet married
Arlo Bates
Arlo Bates (December 16, 1850 – August 25, 1918) was an American author, educator and newspaperman.
Biography
Arlo Bates was born at East Machias, Maine, East Machias, Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1876. In 1880 Bates became the ...
.
He was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1870.
Death and legacy
Vose died on March 30, 1910, in Brunswick, Maine and was interred at
Harmony Grove Cemetery
Harmony Grove Cemetery is a rural cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts. It was established in 1840 and is located at 30 Grove Street. The cemetery is approximately 35 acres in size and was designed by Francis Peabody and Alexander Wadsworth.
T ...
in Salem, Massachusetts.
Vose Spur, a subpeak of
Mount Carrigain
Mount Carrigain is a mountain located in Grafton County, New Hampshire. The mountain is named after Phillip Carrigain, NH Secretary of State (1805–10), and is on the south side of the Pemigewasset Wilderness, the source of the East Branch of ...
, is named for him.
Published works
''Handbook of Railroad Construction,'' 1857
The subtitle of the "Handbook of railroad construction: for the use of American engineers. Containing the necessary rules, tables, and formulæ for the location, construction, equipment, and management of railroads, as built in the United States." already explains the purpose and content of this work. It wants to offer rules, tables, and formulæ for the location, construction, equipment, and
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
of
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s.
In the ''Preface'' Vose further explains that:
:''... the object of this work was to give in the plainest possible manner all instructions, rules, and tables necessary for the location, construction, equipment, and management of railroads. ''
:''As a general thing, American engineers are not educated for their business; and when they do possess a knowledge of pure science, they are at a loss how to apply it.''
:''The reader is presumed acquainted with the elements of
arithmetic
Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...
,
geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
,
algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary a ...
, and
mechanics
Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...
; being thus provided, he will, by a perusal of what follows, be enabled to correctly proportion bridges, of wood, stone, and iron ; abutments, piers, retaining walls, superstructure, and locomotive engines; and to plan and lay out, execute, and estimate any description of work occurring upon railroads.''
:''As the object has been more to be useful than original, the best engineering writers and experimenters have been consulted ; among whom are, —
Gauthey,
Navier,
Vicat
Vicat SA is a French company manufacturing cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete in four continents.
Its activity has developed in France by vertical integration and abroad by acquisitions and, more recently by building Greenfield factorie ...
,
Tredgold,
Barlow,
Totten,
Fairbairn
Fairbairn is a surname of Scottish origin which means "a handsome child." Notable people with the surname include:
* Andrew Fairbairn (disambiguation), several people
*Bill Fairbairn (born 1947), Canadian ice hockey player
* Bruce Fairbairn (1949 ...
,
Hodgkinson,
Clark
Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
, and
Lardner. Also a great number of reports by American civil engineers upon railroad matters.''
[George L. Vose. ''Handbook of Railroad Construction'' Boston, (1857) p. iii-iv ]
![Costs of Operating and Maintaining a Railroad, 1857](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Costs_of_Operating_and_Maintaining_a_Railroad%2C_1857.jpg)
Vose further explains that the work is written as "handbook" and not a "treatise", more meant as office companion than as a text-book for students.
Fifteen years later he renewed this work, entitled "Manual for railroad engineers and engineering students: containing the rules and tables needed for the location, construction, and equipment of railroads as built in the United States". This work had the similar table of content but was prepared for both railroad engineers and engineering students.
[George L. Vose. ''Manual for Railroad Engineers and Engineering Students'' (1873). p. v.]
Management
The last chapter of the 1857 handbook was devoted to
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
. In there Vose started explaining that railroad management can be divided into two major sections:
*
Financial management
Financial management is the business function concerned with profitability, expenses, cash and credit, so that the "organization may have the means to carry out its objective as satisfactorily as possible;"
the latter often defined as maximizin ...
*
Operating management
The financial management embraces the entire systems of accounts, and relates to everything to:
* Adjusting the
tariffs
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...
* The transport of
passenger
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...
s and
freight
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...
* Ticket and receiving offices,
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
,
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
, and
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
connections.
The operating or operations management relates to:
* Maintaining the road-bed, superstructure, bridging, masonry, buildings, and fixed stock in working order
* Making all repairs, renewals, enlargements, and alterations
* Purchase, inspection, maintaining, and operating of the rolling stock.
![1872 Vose Manual for Railroad Engineers book cover](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/1872_Vose_Manual_for_Railroad_Engineers_book_cover.png)
Vose further goes into the general principles for efficient operation; a part extracted from
McCallum (1856). The rate and direction of subordination are presented with a functional organization structure (see image), in which the General Superintendent is in charge. Vose had notified earlier, that financial management does not properly come in his days. And indeed, the financial management function is not incorporated into the
organisational structure
An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of organizational aims.
Organizational structure affects organizational action and provides the foundat ...
pictured.
A special feature of the 1857 Handbook, were two
classification chart
Classification chart or classification tree is a synopsis of the classification scheme, designed to illustrate the structure of any particular field.
Overview
Classification is the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentia ...
s of the organization and the costs of a railroad (see images) given in its last chapter on management. After explaining the duties of employees, the number of trains to be used, and the amount of service of engines, Vose goes into expenses, receipts, and profits. He presents another classification chart of the whole cost of operating and of maintaining a railroad (see image).
[Vose (1857, p. 421)]
Selected works
*
Handbook of Railroad Construction' (Boston, 1857)
*
Orographic Geology, or the Origin and Structure of Mountains' (1866)
*
Manual for Railroad Engineers and Engineering Students' (1873)
*
A Graphic Method for solving Algebraic Problems' (New York, 1875)
* ''Elementary Course of Geometric Drawing'' (Boston, 1878)
*
Memoir of George W. Whistler' (1887)
*
Bridge Disasters in America: the Cause and the Remedy' (1887)
References
Attribution
![PD-icon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/PD-icon.svg)
This article incorporates
public domain material from
; and from .
External links
Arlo Bates and George L. Vose Papersat lib.udel.edu
*
*
* George L. Vose (1887
''Bridge disasters in America, the cause and the remedy''-
Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, sitting "majestically on a urban arboretum." It is the "largest independently funded public library of scien ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vose, George Leonard
1831 births
1910 deaths
American civil engineers
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni
Bowdoin College faculty
MIT School of Engineering faculty
People from Augusta, Maine
People from Salem, Massachusetts
Burials at Harrisburg Cemetery