Samuel Honeyman Kneass (1806–1858) 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 architect. Kneass was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, on November 5, 1806. He was the elder son of

William Kneass William Kneass ( "niece"; September 25, 1780 – August 27, 1840) was the second Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1824 until his death in 1840. Kneass is credited with designing the "Classic Head" motif, which appeared on numerous ...

(1781-1840), who would go on to become the second Chief Engraver of the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...

, and the older brother of engineer

Strickland Kneass Strickland Landis Kneass (July 29, 1821, in Philadelphia - January 14, 1884, in Philadelphia) was a United States civil engineer, municipal surveyor, and railroad president. Kneass's father, William Kneass, was for many years engraver of the U.S. ...

(1821-1884). At age 15, Samuel joined the Philadelphia architectural firm of William Strickland, with which he helped build the headquarters building of the

Second Bank of the United States The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January 1836.. The Bank's formal name, ac ...

, survey the route of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and build the Susquehanna division of the Pennsylvania state canal. In 1837 and 1838, Kneass was the lead engineer during the

Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

's construction of the

Newkirk Viaduct Gray's Ferry Bridge (more recently, Grays Ferry Bridge) has been the formal or informal name of several floating bridges and four permanent ones that have carried highway and rail traffic over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The bridge today ...

, the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

bridge that completed the first rail link between the cities. His service is noted on the 1839

Newkirk Viaduct Monument The Newkirk Viaduct Monument (also, Newkirk Monument) is a 15-foot white marble obelisk in the West Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Installed in 1839, it is inscribed with the names of 51 railroad builders and executives, ...

in Philadelphia. On March 14, 1837, Kneass married Anna Lombaert (1814-1869) in Morrisville, Pennsylvania.Rash's Surname Index
/ref> Anna was a daughter of Charles Lombaert, who was one of the PW&B's three superintendents. From 1849 to 1853, Kneass was the Chief Surveyor and Regulator for Philadelphia. His 1853 report to the city was "the first attempt to systematize the disparate sewers and sewerage systems in place in various municipalities around the time of Philadelphia's consolidation."Report on Drainage and Sewerage made to the Select and Common Councils of the City of Philadelphia
May 9, 1853, by Samuel H. Kneass, City Surveyor and Regulator. He was succeeded in the job by his younger brother, Strickland, who served as Chief Engineer & Surveyor from the city's consolidation in 1855 until his retirement in 1872. Kneass died in Philadelphia on February 15, 1858, and was buried in that city's

Woodlands Cemetery The Woodlands is a National Historic Landmark District on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It includes a Federal-style mansion, a matching carriage house and stable, and a garden landscape that in 1840 was transformed into a ...

.Find A Grave: Samuel Honeyman Kneass
/ref>

Notes

External links

Kneass family papers
at the Historical Society of Philadelphia
Plan exhibiting the curb heights, water courses and culverts in the Northern Section of Passyunk, 1839 ca.
by Kneass {{DEFAULTSORT:Kneass, Samuel Honeyman American civil engineers Architects from Philadelphia 19th-century American architects American surveyors American railroad pioneers 19th-century American railroad executives 1806 births 1858 deaths Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery Engineers from Pennsylvania