Ephraim S. Claybourn
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Ephraim S. Claybourn (February 8, 1851 – 1909) was the first superintendent of all floating equipment of the United States government's property on the
Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...
.


Early life and career

Claybourn was born on February 8, 1851, in Dix, Illinois, to William D. Claybourn and Frances Alla Hawker. His nephew
John G. Claybourn John Geronald Claybourn (May 23, 1886 - June 26, 1967) was a civil engineer and Dredging Division Superintendent of the Isthmian Canal Commission. He was the original designer of Gamboa, Panama. During his career on the Panama Canal and after his ...
and cousin Vern Claybourn both held positions of prominence with the Panama Canal, making work there a family business of sorts. His great-granddaughter is skeet shooting champion
Becky McCumber Becky Stutzman McCumber (born Rebecca Stutzman, 1956) is a champion in the sport of skeet shooting Skeet shooting is a recreational and competitive activity where participants use shotguns to attempt to break clay targets which two fixed stat ...
. Ephraim began working for the U.S. government in 1891 as an engineer on the Missouri River. In 1892, he was transferred to the Mississippi River and worked on the dredge fleet at Memphis, Tennessee. He worked first as chief engineer of a centrifugal dredge, then as master of dredges, and later as master mechanic in which he built and operated the extensive dredging plant shops. At the time the plant included eight of the largest dredges afloat.


Panama Canal work

In 1905, the Isthmian Canal Commission sought engineers for work on the canal's construction, and since Claybourn was considered one of the best for such work, he accepted a position as superintendent of all floating equipment of the U.S. government property on the Canal Zone. He oversaw a staff of about 500 men and was paid $3,000 per year. Claybourn designed and constructed the drydock shops at
Cristóbal, Colón Cristóbal is a port town and corregimiento in Colón District, Colón Province, Panama. The corregimiento has a population of 49,422 as of 2010. The town is located on the western edge of Manzanillo Island, on the Atlantic side of the Panama ...
, and rebuilt the "Old French" dock to accommodate larger vessels. He also supervised the construction of various canal machines, including several dredges and a variety of "Old French" machinery that was adapted to American methods. Claybourn worked on the canal for about three years but resigned after a fall which affected his heart. He died in 1909.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claybourn, Ephraim S. Panama Canal Zone American civil engineers 1851 births 1909 deaths