John Anderson Bensel (August 16, 1863 – June 19, 1922) was an American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was President of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

in 1910. He was

New York State Engineer and Surveyor New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

from 1911 to 1914.

Biography

He was born on August 16, 1863, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to Brownlee Bensel and Mary Maclay Hogg. He graduated from

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanical ...

in 1884, and became an assistant engineer with the Aqueduct Commission. Then he worked for the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, and from 1889 to 1895 was in charge of constructions on New York City's North River waterfront. In 1896, he married Ella Louise Day. The same year he became Consulting Engineer of the

Philadelphia Water Department The Philadelphia Water Department is the public water industry, water utility for the City of Philadelphia. PWD provides integrated Drinking water, potable water, wastewater, and stormwater services for Philadelphia and some communities in Bucks C ...

. In 1898, he became Chief Engineer of the New York City Dock Department, and in 1906 was appointed a Dock Commissioner. From 1908 to 1910, he was President of the New York City Board of Water Supply. He was

from 1911 to 1914, elected on the Democratic ticket in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

and

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

, but defeated for re-election in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

. In 1914, he was investigated during

Charles S. Whitman Charles Seymour Whitman (September 29, 1868March 29, 1947) was an American lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of New York from January 1, 1915, to December 31, 1918. An attorney and politician, he also served as a delegate from New York to t ...

's graft investigation, but was cleared of all suspicions by his successor Frank M. Williams after the latter inspected the department's accounts in 1915. As a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, he commanded the 125th Battalion of Engineers of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

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 died of

myelitis Myelitis is inflammation of the spinal cord which can disrupt the normal responses from the brain to the rest of the body, and from the rest of the body to the brain. Inflammation in the spinal cord, can cause the myelin and axon to be damaged re ...

on June 19, 1922, in

Bernardsville, New Jersey Bernardsville () is a borough in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is nestled in the heart of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,707,

at age 58. He was buried in

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...

in Brooklyn, New York.

Legacy

Bensel's New Jersey mansion, which was built in 1905 and was named "Queen Anne Farm", is now Cross Estate Gardens and part of the Morristown National Historic Park. The surrounding grounds are open to visitors and contain a five-story stone water tower and a large

Silver Maple ''Acer saccharinum'', commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Canad ...

tree planted by Bensel in 1906.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bensel, John Anderson 1863 births 1922 deaths Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery New York State Engineers and Surveyors Politicians from New York City American civil engineers Stevens Institute of Technology alumni United States Army officers People from Bernardsville, New Jersey Engineers from New Jersey Military personnel from New Jersey