ABSTRACT
ALLEN H. 10.05. 1802 Schenectady NY/USA 01.01. 1890 Montclair NJ/USA Horatio Allen entered Columbia College in 1821, graduating in 1823. He first studied law but then decided to enter upon civil engineering and joined the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. He was appointed in 1824 resident engineer at the canal summit level. Once the first locomotives appeared in the USA, after they were successfully introduced by the British Stephenson in 1825, Allen crossed the Ocean to see the railroad system. In 1829 he was appointed chief engineer of the South Carolina Railroad, and in 1837 chief engineer of the Croton Aqueduct. He became in 1844 a member of the firm Stillman, Allen & Co. His last official place was as consulting engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, New York. He retired from active life in 1870 and was one of the eldest civil engineers when passing away at age 88. Allen’s most noteworthy feature of his life was his participation in the introduction of the locomotive in the USA. He was attracted by Stephenson’s experiments and recognized that the steam locomotive had a great future in his country. He bought in Europe two engines and on their arrival at Honesdale PA, Allen made tests himself. In later years, Allen devoted much energies into hydraulic engineering, and he was also associated with the supply of heavy engines to the American steamers before the time of Cunard. In the early 1840s, Allen was instrumental for the Croton Aqueduct supplying drinking water to New York City. Later, he was appointed a Member of the Croton Aqueduct Commission, and he recommended crossing the Harlem River by tunnel rather than by bridge. Some 50 years later, the New Croton Aqueduct was taken into service, including a tunnel across the river. Allen took then interest in naval machinery which was built in his company mainly for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and a number of vessels and monitors for the United States during the Civil War. Allen was the most prolific inventor from 1840 to 1880. He served as President ASCE from 1871 to 1873, during which term the ASCE Transactions were issued. Allen, H. (1832). Report to the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Co. Allen, H. (1884). Horatio Allen. Railroad Gazette 28(April 4): 253-254. P Anonymous (1890). Horatio Allen. The Engineering and Building Record 21(5): 66. Anonymous (1890). The late Horatio Allen. Industries 8(Jan.31): 111. P Anonymous (1936). Early presidents of the Society: Horatio Allen. Civil Engineering 6(8): 536. P Fitzsimons, N. (1967). Horatio Allen, Hon. M. ASCE. Civil Engineering 37(2): 67. P
ALLEN H.C. 10.09. 1864 Newark NJ/USA 05.08. 1932 Syracuse NY/USA Henry Clayton Allen graduated from Syracuse High School in 1882. He was then employed there on surveys, accepting the appointment as assistant city engineer of Syracuse NY. He was engaged as leveler for the New Croton Aqueduct Commission, New York NY, promoted to assistant engineer in 1889. He returned in 1890 to Syracuse as city engineer, directing the construction of sewers and municipal work. He was in 1896 employed by the New York State in making surveys of Oswego Canal, and then designed in private practice water supplies for cities of New York State. In 1897 he further undertook the reconstruction of a section of the old Erie Canal near Rochester NY. From 1900 he was resident engineer of the Middle Division, the New York State Canals, including locks, dams, maintenance and canal repair. He was promoted in 1904 Special Deputy State Engineer responsible for all new Barge Canals of the State. He resigned from this position in 1907, to be re-appointed city engineer of Syracuse until 1913, and then once more from 1916 to 1921, when he opened a private practice as consulting engineer. From 1907 to 1913 Allen served as member of the Syracuse Intercepting Sewer Board. In 1918 Syracuse University honored Allen by conferring upon him the honorary MSc degree in engineering. He was a charter member and past-president of the Syracuse Technology Club; in 1932 he was elected honorary member in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments as an engineer, and his long and valued services to the community. Nearly all his active life was devoted to the interests of the City and the State. His advice on matters outside his own particular field were continually sought, and he gave freely of his time and efforts in meeting these demands. The fact that many knew him during his years of service with the city as ‘Straight Line Allen’ was a tribute to his uncompromising honesty of policy and to the directness of his methods as an engineer. He was a student of the history of the ancient inhabitants of America; he loved nature, and was particularly interested in his collection of local ferns. He also was a member of the Archeological Society of Syracuse, and since 1905 a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE. Anonymous (1933). Henry C. Allen. Trans. ASCE 98: 1497-1498. Anonymous (1907). Henry C. Allen. The Post-Standard Syracuse NY: 2. P Horton, R.E., Grover, N.C., Hoyt, J.C. (1906). Report of progress of stream measurements. Water Supply and Irrigation Paper 166. US Geological Survey: Washington DC.
