Joseph S. Gitt (September 9, 1815 – January 22, 1901) was a self-taught
civil engineer and politician from
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. After an unsuccessful career as a newspaper publisher, Gitt went back into railroading, estimating that in his career, he had conducted 31 different railroad surveys for a total distance of over 300 miles in his career Gitt either surveyed or engineered most of the railroads constructed in Frederick and Carroll county, Maryland and Adams county, Pennsylvania in the 1855-1885 period with the exception of the civil war.
Life
Joseph S Gitt was born on September 9, 1815, the oldest of the eleven children of Daniel (1793-1872) and Lydia Gitt (1797-1886) in Conowago township,
Adams County, Pennsylvania
Adams County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,852. Its county seat is Gettysburg. The county was created on January 22, 1800, from part of York County, and was named for the secon ...
. He studied at
Gettysburg college
Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...
(1835–36) receiving a degree of Fellow of Philosophy. He married on March 31, 1841, to Miss Anna M Baughman (1817-1898), daughter of David Baughman, of
Hanover, Pennsylvania
Hanover is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, southwest of York and north-northwest of Baltimore, Maryland and is north of the Mason-Dixon line. The town is situated in a productive agricultural region. The population was 16,429 at the ...
. They had four children, one of whom Maria Louisa Gitt, married William Gardner Smyser (1845-1926) a civil engineer for the
Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...
living in Topeka, Kansas.
Gitt was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, he was a democrat in his youth (See newspapers above) and later a republican, as well as a prohibitionist and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In 1862, Gitt was nominated by the Union party ticket for county surveyor. In 1895, Gitt was nominated by the local Prohibitionist party to run as county surveyor for Adams county, Pennsylvania.
Newspaper Work (1839 to 1851)
* 1839: Starts publication of the Hanover Herald in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
* 1842: Starts publication of another newspaper in Hanover, the Democrat and changes that title in 1844 to the Planet and Weekly News which he sells and moves to Carlisle, Pennsylvania
* 1846: Starts publication of the Statesman, a self-labeled "democratic paper" and in 1847, changes that title to the American Democrat and in turn closes the paper and moves back to Hanover.
* 1848: starts publishing the Regulator as well as managing a book store and bindery thru 1852.
Surveyor
* 1836: Gitt worked as a rodman on the railroad surveys being conducted by
Herman Haupt
Herman Haupt (March 26, 1817 – December 14, 1905) was an American civil engineer and railroad construction engineer and executive. As a Union Army General officer, General during the American Civil War, he revolutionized U.S. military transpo ...
for locating the route of the
"old tapeworm" (Gettysburg Rail Road) railroad near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
* Gitt was identified as the architect for the newly forming cemetery association in Hanover that he ultimately be buried in, namely Mount Olivet Cemetery.
* Gitt also conducted highway and local road surveys in his late career (circa 1880) as the Streets committee for the borough of New Oxford performs surveys and route locations for local roads and highways up to York Springs near Harrisburg, PA. he also performed work for the East Berlin, PA.
* Gitt mapped out the borough of New Oxford, Pennsylvania and produced a new plat map at its request identifying boundaries and streets.
Railroad Engineer
After being employed as a surveyor on earlier railroads, in 1851, Gitt became Assistant Engineer for the construction of the
Hanover Branch railroad (later, consolidated under the name of
Hanover Junction, Hanover & Gettysburg Railroad). Upon its completion in November, 1854 Gitt became Chief engineer for the
Philadelphia and West Chester railroad.
Gettysburg Railroad
Gitt was Engineer (of Record) for the
Gettysburg railroad
The Gettysburg Railroad was a railway line in Pennsylvania that operated from 1858 to 1870 over the 17-mile (27 km) main line from the terminus in Gettysburg to the 1849 Hanover Junction. After becoming the Susquehanna, Gettysburg & Poto ...
from 1855 to its opening on February 11, 1856. He then became chief engineer for the
Littlestown railroad, a railroad from Hanover to New Oxford in Pennsylvania which opened on January 6, 1858.
Western Maryland Railway
After the civil war, Gitt surveyed and prepared cost estimates for the extension of the
Western Maryland Rail Road Company from Union Bridge, Maryland its
terminus
Terminus may refer to:
* Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination
* Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination
Geography
*Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...
in 1865 to Hagerstown, Maryland a route distance of 42.75 miles along the line of Pipe creek towards Mechanicstown, Frederick County (known today as
Thurmont, Maryland
Thurmont is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 6,935 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the northern part of Frederick County (north of Frederick, the county seat), approximately ten miles from the Pen ...
) proceeding on towards
Sabillasville and from there in a southwesterly direction,
Hagerstown at an estimated cost, net of right of way of $1.25 million in US$,1865.
: Gitt in his report notes that he conducted reconnaissance and instrumental surveys for the road and had located the route from Union Bridge to (permanently to the Monocacy) Thurmont, east of the mountain, and from Mount Zion (permanently from Chewsville) to Hagerstown, west of the mountain as well as proposed branches to Emmittsburg, and up Friends' Creek to Mount Zion. Gitt noted that only twenty weeks were occupied in field service and 200 miles were surveyed. Gitt noted in his summary that only a portion of the line that could be considered "permanently located", namely from Union Bridge to Monocacy river, at the eastern end, and from Chewsville to Hagerstown, at the western end.
: Gitt also recommended a bridge crossing for the Monocacy river 30 feet above its bed, requiring a truss bridge with two spans of 150 feet each connecting to wooden trestle work on the west shore of about 300 feet in length, and 15 feet high with masonry foundations up to the "high water" mark.(Gitt, page 43) Gitt also noted that some of the ravine crossings would be replaced with embankments within ten to twelve years. Bridge spans were required for Big Pipe Creek (100 feet), Little Pipe Creek and Antietam required spans of 80-90 feet and 60 feet for Owings Creek.(Gitt, page 44)
: Gitt developed the cost estimate for the road assuming single track operation, iron rail at 52 pounds per yard, ties on 24-inch centers, a road bed base fourteen feet in width, with slopes of one foot and-a-half horizontal to each vertical for cuts or fills. The cost for right of way was not included in Gitt's estimate.(Gitt, page 45)
: The
ruling grade
The term ruling grade is usually used as a synonym for "steepest climb" between two points on a railroad. More simply, the steepest grade to be climbed dictates how powerful the motive power (or how light the train) must be in order for the run ...
for Gitt's proposed route was 95 feet to the mile, or 1.8%.
Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad
In 1867, Gitt located a route for the
Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad.
Unlike the 1865 survey for the Western Maryland, Gitt made a fourteen-day reconnaissance in the field on horseback for the proposed road and did not supplement that information with instrumental surveys. (Gitt, preface) The major feature of Gitt's proposed route was that from Woodsboro south into Frederick, it was located between the
Woodsboro and Frederick Turnpike, now
Maryland Route 194
Maryland Route 194 (MD 194) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs from MD 26 in Ceresville north to the Pennsylvania state line near Taneytown, where the highway continues as Pennsylva ...
and Israel creek. Aside from diverting in Walkersville, the road continued south along the eastern side of the turnpike, crossing over at the
toll house
A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge.
History
Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th an ...
and crossing the Monocacy just north of what is today
Route 194 at Ceresville, Md. The first route south of Walkersville terminated opposite the Court House, at Church Street, in Frederick, Md. A second route started on the east-side and headed due north to Worman's mill and intercept the first line near the river crossing.
European and North American railroad
Gitt then briefly became Chief engineer for the
European and North American railroad from Bangor, Maine to New Brunswick, Canada for the extension from Saint John westward.
Emmitsburg Railroad
In 1868, Gitt returned to survey and locate the newly incorporated
Emmitsburg Railroad.
In 1882, Gitt surveyed possible routes for the
Round Top Branch
The Round Top Branch was an extension of the Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad from the Gettysburg borough across the Gettysburg Battlefield to Round Top, Pennsylvania. The branch ran southward from the terminus of the railroad's main line ...
which was an extension of the
Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad
The Gettysburg and Harrisburg Railroad (G. & H. R. R.) was a railway line of Pennsylvania from Hunter's Run southward to Gettysburg in the 19th century. The north junction was with the South Mountain RR, and a crossing with the Hanover Junc ...
from the
Gettysburg borough across the
Gettysburg Battlefield
The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first shot ...
to
Round Top, Pennsylvania
Round Top is a populated place in Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, near Little Round Top. It is notable for two Battle of Gettysburg hospitals, the 1884 Round Top Station, and several battlefield commemorative era attractions s ...
.
Death
On January 22, 1901, Gitt died in New Oxford Borough, Adams County, Pennsylvania and was buried at
Mount Olivet Cemetery in Hanover with the rites of the Odd Fellows.
Legacy
Gitt estimated that in his career, he had conducted 31 different railroad surveys for a total distance of over 300 miles in his career Gitt either surveyed or engineered most of the railroads constructed in Frederick and Carroll county, Maryland and Adams county, Pennsylvania in the 1855-1885 period with the exception of the civil war.
Five years after his death, Gitt was eulogized in the same paper as a man of means and a civil engineer of some repute who was willing to fore-go his work at any time to offer gratuitous support for public education for as the editor put it.. "if there was one thing Joseph Gitt loved above all else, it was to write for the papers."
References
External links
Emmitsburg Maryland Area Historical Society website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gitt, Joseph S
American civil engineers
American surveyors
American railroad pioneers
19th-century American railroad executives
1815 births
1901 deaths