John Doane Fay (April 20, 1815 in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, then Montgomery Co., now in

Fulton County, New York Fulton County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It forms part of the state's Mohawk Valley region. Its county seat is Johnstown. At the 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 53,324. The county is named in honor of Robert F ...

– June 6, 1895 in Rochester,

Monroe County, New York Monroe County is a county in the Finger Lakes region of the State of New York. The county is along Lake Ontario's southern shore. At the 2020 census, Monroe County's population was 759,443, an increase since the 2010 census. Its county seat an ...

) 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 politician from New York

Life

He was educated at

Lowville, New York Lowville is a town in Lewis County, New York, United States. The population was 4,888 at the 2020 census,Stephen Clark in re-constructing the

Long Bridge Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

over the Potomac, and was a Resident Engineer on the New York State canals from 1841 to 1849. On October 23, 1845, he married Maria Lydia Noble (b. April 24, 1824), and they had eight children. In 1850, Fay and Orville W. Childs were sent to

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

to make a survey for the proposed

Nicaragua canal The Nicaraguan Canal ( es, Canal de Nicaragua), formally the Nicaraguan Canal and Development Project (also referred to as the Nicaragua Grand Canal, or the Grand Interoceanic Canal) was a proposed shipping route through Nicaragua to connect th ...

. He was Division Engineer of the Western Division of the State Canals from 1852 to 1853, from 1856 to 1860, and from 1874 to 1875. In

1853 Events January–March * January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida. * January 8 – Taiping Reb ...

, he ran for

New York State Engineer and Surveyor New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

on the

Hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock super ...

ticket but was defeated by Whig John T. Clark. In

1855 Events January–March * January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city. * January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru. * January 23 ** The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens ...

, he ran again but was again defeated, this time by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Silas Seymour Silas Seymour (June 20, 1817 – July 15, 1890) was an American civil engineer and politician from New York (state), New York. Life He was the son of John Seymour (1792-1876) and Sarah (Montgomery) Seymour (1793-1824). He was born and educa ...

. From 1868 to 1873 he was a Canal Commissioner, elected in

1867 Events January–March * January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...

and

1870 Events January–March * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Broo ...

on the Democratic ticket.

Sources

Bios of Engineers, at Rochester history
''Fay Genealogy''
(1898; pages 48, 90 and 142) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, John Doane 1815 births 1895 deaths People from Northampton, Fulton County, New York Erie Canal Commissioners American surveyors American civil engineers New York (state) Democrats Engineers from New York (state)