Samuel Matthews Vauclain (May 18, 1856 – February 4, 1940) was an American

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, inventor of the

Vauclain compound The Vauclain compound was a type of compound steam locomotive that was briefly popular circa 1900. Developed at the Baldwin Locomotive Works, it featured two pistons moving in parallel, driving a common crosshead and controlled by a common valve ...

locomotive, and president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works.Guide to the Samuel M. Vauclain papers
University of Texas He was awarded the

John Scott Award John Scott Award, created in 1816 as the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, is presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way. "...the John Scott Medal Fund, establish ...

and the Elliott Cresson Medal by

The Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

in 1891. He was also awarded the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

for arming the United States Army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Railroads

Vauclain served an apprenticeship in the machine shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. When he was 24, he was sent to inspect locomotives at the Baldwin Locomotive Works. In those days, machining was a manual job with the machining done by hammers, files and chisels with the men's own hands. Vauclain's hands were left in a permanent clutching position from endless hours of chipping and filing metal. He became general foreman of Baldwin's 17th Street Shops in 1883, and quickly moved up through the company, as plant superintendent in 1886, then general superintendent."S.M. Vauclain dies; locomotive expert," ''New York Times'', February 5, 1940 He joined the board of directors in 1896, became vice-president in 1911, senior vice-president in 1917, president from 1919 to 1929, and chairman of the board from then until his death. He was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal by

in 1891. At the same time, the Franklin Institute selected Vauclain for the

funded by the City of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He helped professor

Thomas Garrigue Masaryk Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

legions especially in Russia in 1918.

Personal life

Samuel Vauclain was born in

Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Port Richmond is a neighborhood in the River Wards section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is notable for its extremely large Polish immigrant and Polish American community. The neighborhood is also home to a large Irish American community and ...

, the son of Andrew Constant Vauclain and Mary Ann Campbell Vauclain. In 1879, he married Annie Kearney; they had six children. Vauclain was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and served as a delegate from Pennsylvania's 7th District to the 1920 Republican National Convention, which nominated

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

for president. In 1923, he and several Baldwin officials took a trip around the Middle West in which he gave eight speeches in eight different cities.Greenough, Grafton. "To Boulder and Back: Trip of Samuel M. Vauclain and Party Through the Middle West, May 21–30, 1923." Vauclain died following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

, in Broadlawn, his home at Rosemont, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

Samuel M. Vauclain papers
at the University of Texas

April 21, 1923
Photograph of Samuel Vauclain
at the Library of Congress

in 20th Century American Leaders, Harvard Business School * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vauclain, Samuel 1856 births 1940 deaths Locomotive builders and designers 20th-century American railroad executives American railroad mechanical engineers Businesspeople from Philadelphia Engineers from Pennsylvania

Railroads

Personal life

See also

References

External links