Major Nathaniel Henry Hutton (Washington, D.C. November 18, 1833–Baltimore, Maryland, May 8, 1907) was an American architect and

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 ...

. He worked as a surveyor in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

in the 1850s before participating in the Union Army defense of Baltimore in the American Civil War. After the war, he established an architectural practice in Baltimore. From 1876 until his death he was associated with the Harbor Board of Baltimore, serving as engineer, chief engineer, and President of the Board.

Family

Nathaniel Henry "Harry" Hutton was the fourth of five children and youngest son of James Hutton (d. 1843) and his wife, the former Salome Rich, sister of bibliographer

Obadiah Rich Obadiah Rich (November 25, 1777 – January 20, 1850) was an American diplomat, bibliophile and bibliographer specializing in the history of Latin America. He was credited with making the field of Americana a recognized field of scholarship by th ...

and botanist and explorer William Rich. Hutton was the brother of artist, surveyor and civil engineer

William Rich Hutton William Rich Hutton (March 21, 1826 – December 11, 1901) was a surveyor and artist who became an architect and civil engineer in Maryland and New York in the latter half of the 19th century. His sketches of the pueblo of Los Angeles and diary ...

and of artist, cartographer and pioneer photographer

James D. Hutton James Dempsey Hutton (c. 1828–1868) was an artist, surveyor, cartographer and early photographer active in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota in the years before the American Civil War. He served as an engineer in the Confederate ...

. Hutton married Meta M. Van Ness (1839–1907) daughter of Colonel Eugene Van Ness (1804-1862) of New York. They had one son, Nathaniel Henry Hutton, Jr (1865-1923) and two daughters, Meta Van Ness Hutton (1867-1946) and Julia Van Ness Hutton (1861-1933).Craighill 1908

Career

Hutton was U. S. Assistant Engineer on explorations for the Pacific Railroad Surveys west of the Missouri River, on the 32nd and 35th parallels, from 1853 to 1856, including surveys for a route from Fort Smith via Albuquerque and the Colorado River to Los Angeles in 1853 and for a route from

Benicia, California Benicia ( , ) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the ...

, to Fort Fillmore (now in New Mexico) in 1854–55. For the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

, Hutton served as chief engineer of the El Paso and Fort Yuma wagon road in 1857 and 1858 (the southerly or "Oxbow Route" used by the Butterfield Overland Mail from 1858 until June 1861), and as surveyor on the western boundary of Minnesota in 1859 and 1860. During the Civil War, Hutton served as U. S. Assistant Engineer on the Union defenses of Baltimore (1861–1865), achieving the rank of Major. Following the cessation of hostilities, he served as U. S. Assistant Engineer in charge of the improvement of the

Patapsco River The Patapsco River mainstem is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal port ...

(1867 to 1876) and on the Western division of the Virginia Central Water Line (surveyed 1874–1875). Hutton was a charter member and vice president of the Engineers' Club of Baltimore. Hutton formed an architectural partnership with John Murdoch from about 1867 to 1873, with offices on Lexington Street, east of Charles Street in Baltimore. The firm worked on the construction and alteration of churches, houses, and warehouses in Baltimore, Washington, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Their 1868

Norman Gothic Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church (since 1911, the Baltimore Bethel A. M. E. Church), is a registered historical site in Baltimore. From 1873 to 1880, Hutton maintained an architectural practice with his older brother William Rich Hutton. Hutton became a charter member of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects when it was created in 1870 and served as the Chapter’s first Secretary. He was elected Chapter President, but resigned from both the presidency and the Chapter in 1876.Baltimore Architecture Foundation, "Nathaniel Henry Hutton"Baltimore Architecture Foundation, "John Murdoch" From 1876 until his death he was an engineer to the Harbor Board of Baltimore, eventually becoming Chief Engineer and president of the board. He was also U. S. Assistant Engineer in charge of surveys for a ship canal to connect the

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

and Delaware Bays (1878–1879), and served as a consulting engineer for a project to build a ship canal between Philadelphia and the Atlantic Ocean and for a projected ship canal to connect Lake Erie and the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

in 1895–1896. Hutton died in Baltimore on May 8, 1907. His wife died on August 30 of the same year. They are buried in the Greenmont Cemetery in Baltimore. A collection of documents relating to his work with the Baltimore Harbor Board and other papers is housed as MS.1323 (40 items, 1876–1877) by the Maryland Historical Society.Maryland Historical Society

Notes

References

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External links

Map:From the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean from explorations and surveys made under the direction of the Hon. Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War by Lieut. A.W. Whipple, Topogl. Engrs. and Lieut. J.C. Ives, Topogl. Engrs. A.H. Campbell, Civil Eng. and Surveyor, Asst. Surveyors: Wm. White Jr., N.H. Hutton, and J.P. Sherburne. 1853-4. Explorations and Surveys for a Rail Road Route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, War Department, Route Near the 35th Parallel, Map No. 2. Engr. by Selmar Siebert. Drawn by John D. Hoffmann.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutton, Nathaniel H. Union Army officers American civil engineers 19th-century American architects Architects from Baltimore 1833 births 1907 deaths