★ Haupt, Herman

Herman Haupt​

Born: March 26, 1817

Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Father: John Jacob Haupt 1776 – 1828

Mother: Anna Margaretta Wiall 1786 – 1857

Wife: Anne Cecelia Keller 1821 – 1891

(Buried: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania)​

Married: August 30, 1838 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Children:

Lewis Muhlenberg Haupt 1844 – 1937​

(Buried: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania)​

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Ella Catherine Haupt Chapman 1848 – 1918​

(Buried: Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul, Minnesota)​

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Herman Haupt Jr. 1852 – 1925​

(Buried: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania)​

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Rev. Charles Edgar Haupt 1854 – 1942​

(Buried: Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul, Minnesota)​

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Rev. Alexander James Derbyshire Haupt 1858 – 1934​

(Buried: Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul, Minnesota)​

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Grace Haupt 1862 – 1863​

(Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)​

Education:

1835: Graduated from West Point Military Academy – (31st​ in class)​

Occupation before War:

1835: Brevet 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 3rd​ Infantry Regiment​

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1835: Resigned from United States Army on September 30th​​

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1835 – 1836: Assistant Engineer for Norristown Railroad Company​

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1836 – 1839: Pennsylvania State Principal Assistant Engineer​

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1840: Civil Engineering & Architecture Professor Pennsylvania College​

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1844 – 1847: Math Professor at Pennsylvania College​

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1847 – 1849: Assistant Engineer for Pennsylvania Railroad Company​

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1851: Author of General Theory of Bridge Construction ​

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1852: Chief Engineer of Southern Railroad Company​

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1852 – 1854: Chief Engineer of Pennsylvania Railroad Company​

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1855: Director for the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania​

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1856 – 1862: Chief Engineer of Hoosac Tunnel in Massachusetts​

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1861: Member and Secretary Board of Visitors at West Point​

Civil War Career:

Chief of Bureau responsible for Constructing & Operating Military Railroads​

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Colonel and Aide on Major General Irvin McDowell's Staff​

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Repaired railroad damage in Washington, D.C.​

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Improved telegraph communications along railroad lines​

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1860 – 1867: Inventor of Pneumatic Drill for excavating Rock​

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1862: Promoted to Brigadier General but refused his appointment​

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1863: Brigadier General for Central Bureau of U.S. Military Railroads​

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1863: Arrived on train to tell President Lincoln of Gettysburg Victory​

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1864: Author of Military Bridges ​

Occupation after War:

1872 – 1876: General Manager of Piedmont Air Line Railroad​

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1876 – 1878: Chief Engineer of Pennsylvania Transportation Company​

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1878 – 1881: Consulting Engineer for Northern Pacific Railroad​

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1881 – 1885: General Manager of Northern Pacific Railroad​

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1885 – 1886: President of Dakota and Great Southern Railway​

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1886 – 1905: Consulting Engineer in Washington, D.C.​

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1901: Author of Reminiscences​

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1905: Suffered a heart attack Philadelphia, Pennsylvania train station​

Died: December 13, 1905

Place of Death: On a train near Jersey City, New Jersey

Age at time of Death: 88 years old

Burial Place: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania

 

[CivilWarTalk]

Selected U.S. Patents of Herman Haupt​

U.S. Patent No. 43,910, dated August 23, 1864 - Improvements in Balance-Valves, applicable to all kinds of engines operated by air, gases, or steam, and also to gas or water meters, steam-hammers, drills, piledrivers, mining machinery in general, riveting-machines, and other purposes.

U.S. Patent No. 47,168, dated April 4, 1865 - Improvements in Apparatus for Mining and Tunneling

U.S. Patent No. 47,819, dated May 23, 1865 - Improvements in Steam or Pneumatic Drills or Machinery for Drilling Rocks

U.S. Patent No. 48,935, dated July 25, 1865 - Improvements in Economical Construction of Boats or Barges for the Transportation of Coal, Ore, or Other Products or Articles on Navigable Waters

U.S. Patent No. 222,950, dated December 23, 1879 - Improvements in Pneumatic Motors

U.S. Patent No. 225,125, dated March 2, 1880 - Improvements for the Purpose of Rendering Rivers Navigable

U.S. Patent No. 228,633, dated June 8, 1880 - Improvements in the Apparatus, Devices, and Plans for Rendering Rivers and other Natural or Artificial Channels Navigable

 

[redbob]

An amazing person and just the person that the Union needed to run their railroad system at the time.

 

[Pollaco]

That is most ironic that He died on a train. Trains were a big part of His life. They were one of the things most remembered about this man. It is hard to complete a sentence about this person without the word "train"in it.Appropriate and fitting.

 

[Pollaco]

Some of His bridges were called "bean pole" bridges , Lincoln himself used to marvel at them.

 

[Pollaco]

There was an autobiography "Reminiscences of General Herman Haupt". I'm curious why Haupt referred to himself as "General" in the title,as the rank of brigadier general was refused or declined by him. That would have made Him Colonel Herman Haupt wouldn't it?

 

[John Hartwell]

[New York Tribune, 15 December 1905]​

Attached below is a lengthy and very interesting article from the December 14, 1959, Gettysburg Gazette, emphasizing Haupt's Gettysburg connections.

 

[redbob]

The Northern Railroad Czar.

 

[Pollaco]

Stewart Sifakis in his book Who Was Who in the Civil War calls Haupt a "contentious person" who did not want any interference in his domain and that He was frequenly in conflict with field commanders.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Happy weekend (Saturday) Birthday Brig. General Herman Haupt! Salutes remembering General Haupt on his birthday week.

 

[Luke Freet]

Haupt was integral in organizing the Union's railroad system for the war effort, keeping the armies in the field properly supplied. He took a backseat after 1863, possibly due to stress and overwork

 

[USS ALASKA]

Civil War Railroad Papers | Railroads & Steam Locomotives

Florida Historical Quarterly Volume 43 Number 3 Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol 43, Number 3 Article 4 1964 Confederate Railroad Construction: The Live Oak to Lawton Connector Jerrell H. Shofner This Article is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted...

civilwartalk.com

Civil War Railroad Books | Railroads & Steam Locomotives

'Railroad Maps of North America: The First Hundred Years' by Andrew M. Modelski Author Andrew M. Modelski, of the LOC, presents 92 maps from the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress along with historical notes. the maps are arranged according to the three North American...

civilwartalk.com

Civil War Railroad Books | Railroads & Steam Locomotives

Sounds like some interesting ones. Thanks for list. It does seem you have many. Perhaps a disclaimer is in order. Some of these books I own and have read. Some of these books I own and are on the pile ('Small Mound' might be a better descriptor). Some of these books are waiting on my Amazon...

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[ErnieMac]

Potomac Creek bridge - Acquia (i.e. Aquia) Creek Railroad built by U. S. M. R.R. construction corps in nine days from standing timber

Potomac Creek bridge - Acquia (i.e. Aquia) Creek Railroad built by U. S. M. R.R. construction corps in nine days from standing timber

1 photographic print on card mount : albumen.

www.loc.gov

"That man Haupt has built a bridge four hundred feet long and one hundred feet high, across Potomac Creek, on which loaded trains are passing every hour, and upon my word, gentlemen, there is nothing in it but cornstalks and beanpoles." - Abraham Lincoln.​

 

[Pollaco]

He declined his brigadier's commission on September 5, 1863 and resumed work in the private sector.