William Barclay Parsons (April 15, 1859 – May 9, 1932) 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 ...
. He founded
Parsons Brinckerhoff
WSP USA, formerly WSP, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Parsons Brinckerhoff, is a multinational engineering and design firm with approximately 14,000 employees. WSP stands for Williams Sale Partnership. The firm operates in the fields of strategic con ...
, one of the largest American civil engineering firms.
Personal life
Parsons was the son of William Barclay Parsons (1828–1887)
and Eliza Glass Livingston Parsons (1831–1922).
His siblings included Schuyler (1852–1917), Harry (1862–1935), and George (1863–1939).
His maternal grandparents were Ann Eliza (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Hosie) Livingston (1805–1838) and Schuyler Livingston (1804–1861), a descendant of
Walter Livingston who ran a line of clipper ships from the New York harbor named Barclay & Livingston.
His paternal grandparents were William Burrington Parsons (1794–1869) and Anne Barclay Parsons (1788–1869).
He was the great-grandson of Henry Barclay, second Rector of
Trinity Church in Manhattan.
In 1871, he went to school in
Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...
, England, and studied under private tutors for four years while traveling in France, Germany, and Italy. He received a bachelor's degree from
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King's ...
in 1879, and a second from the
Columbia School of Mines in 1882. He served as class president and president of the
Philolexian Society
The Philolexian Society of Columbia University is one of the oldest college literary and debate societies in the United States, and the oldest student group at Columbia. Founded in 1802, the Society aims to "improve its members in Oratory, Compo ...
, and he co-founded the ''
Columbia Daily Spectator
The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after '' The Harvard Crimson'', and ha ...
'' in 1877. He later served as chairman of the university's board of trustees.
Parsons married Anna Dewitt Reed (1858–1958) on May 20, 1884. (She was the daughter of Rev. Sylvanus Reed (1821–1870) and
Caroline Gallup Reed
Caroline Gallup Reed (also known as Mrs. Sylvanus Reed; 5 August 1821 in Berne, New York – 17 November 1914 in New York City) was a United States educator.
Biography
She was the daughter of Albert Gallup, treasurer of Albany County, New Yor ...
(1821–1914).
Her brother
Sylvanus was the aerospace engineer who developed the modern metal
aircraft propeller
An aircraft propeller, also called an airscrew,Beaumont, R.A.; ''Aeronautical Engineering'', Odhams, 1942, Chapter 13, "Airscrews". converts rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream which pushes the propeller ...
.) Their children were Sylvia (1885–1962), who married Rudolph Weld (1883–1941)
in 1908,
and William (1888–1973),
who married Rose Peabody (1891–1985), daughter of
Endicott Peabody
Endicott Howard Peabody (February 15, 1920 – December 2, 1997) was an American politician from Massachusetts. A Democrat, he served a single two-year term as the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts, from 1963 to 1965. His tenure is probably ...
(1857–1944).
Parsons died on May 9, 1932, 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 ...
.
Career
Parsons worked for the
New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Eri ...
from 1882 through 1885. He wrote ''Turnouts; Exact Formulae for Their Determination'' (1884) and ''Track, A Complete Manual of Maintenance of Way'' (1886) which both addressed railroad problems, and this interest in rail transportation continued throughout his life.
Parsons designed the
Cape Cod Canal
The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the neck ...
as Chief Engineer. He was also Chief Engineer of the
Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners and was responsible for the construction of the
Interborough Rapid Transit
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...
(IRT) subway line.
He left New York in October 1886 to serve as Chief Engineer for the
Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...
, although he retained his affiliation with the District Railway Company. In 1887, he became the Chief Engineer and General Manager of the Denver Railroad and Land and Coal Company. He returned to New York in 1891 upon the completion of these railway projects and a number of water-work ventures in Mississippi.
Parsons was appointed to the
Isthmian Canal Commission
The Isthmian Canal Commission (often known as the ICC) was an American administration commission set up to oversee the construction of the Panama Canal in the early years of American involvement. Established on February 26, 1904, it was given cont ...
in 1904 by President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
.
He was also appointed to the Advisory Board which provided technical advice to the
Royal Commission on London Traffic in 1904, along with Sir
Benjamin Baker and Sir
John Wolfe-Barry
Sir John Wolfe Barry (7 December 1836 – 22 January 1918), the youngest son of famous architect Sir Charles Barry, was an English civil engineer of the late 19th and early 20th century. His most famous project is Tower Bridge over the River ...
, both British civil engineers. In early 1905, he traveled to
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
as a member of the committee of engineers which favored a sea-level canal.
* Parsons was the Colonel of the 11th Engineers of the
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...
(AEF) in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
He was with a team of engineers in
Battle of Cambrai that was suddenly attacked by Germans while making railroad repairs; the engineers fought back with picks and shovels. He was cited for "specially meritorious services" and received decorations from the United States,
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
, France,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
, and the state of New York.
[''Dictionary of American Biography''. Volume VII, Page 277.]
Publications
''An American Engineer in China''(1900)
"The American Engineers in France 1920.
*''Engineers and Engineering of the Renaissance'' (1939)
Robert Fulton and the Submarine 1922.
Track, a complete manual of maintenance of way 1886.
*''Turnouts: exact formulae for their determination, together with practical and accurate tables for use in the field''. (1884). .
References
External links
New York Public Library
Columbia College
William Barclay Parsons Flickr Commons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, William Barclay
1859 births
1932 deaths
Livingston family
Schuyler family
American civil engineers
Columbia School of Mines alumni
History of the New York City Subway
Columbia College (New York) alumni