FORRER

FORRER 06.01. 1793 Harrisburg PA/USA 25.03. 1874 Dayton OH/USA Samuel Forrer demonstrated a natural aptitude for mechanical pursuits and mill work at young age. In 1814, at age 21, he visited Ohio and returned there three years later, traveling down the river from Pittsburgh on a skiff, settling first at Cincinnati OH, working there as a carpenter. He was engaged soon later as deputy surveyor of Hamilton County. In 1820 he was hired to examine the summit between Scioto and Sandusky Rivers, to determine whether Lake Erie and the Ohio River might be connected with a canal. The result of this survey initiated an examination of the value of such a canal. The canal commissioners appointed James Geddes (1763-1838) as chief engineer, and Forrer advanced soon to assistant engineer in 1822. Two routes were proposed, namely the Erie-Ohio Canal connecting Ohio River at Portsmouth with Lake Erie, and the Miami Canal connecting Cincinnati to Dayton OH. In 1825, both canals were accepted. The Canal Commission appointed Forrer as resident engineer. After marriage in 1826, he lived at Dayton OH, serving until 1831. The Miami Canal was opened in 1829, with ‘The Forrer’ as the second boat arriving at Dayton, illustrating his importance for the city and the creation of the canal. In 1832 Forrer was appointed to the Board of Canal Commissioners; he managed during three years the activities of the Miami Extension. In 1836 he was appointed principal engineer of the Miami Canal. In 1839 he agreed to the position of engineer and general superintendent of the turnpikes, including the Dayton and Lebanon Turnpike, The Dayton and Springfield Turnpike, and the Great Miami Turnpike. Due to political changes, Forrer became consultant soon later for public works projects throughout Ohio and the Midwest, including his advice on the proposed Richmond and Brookville Canal in Indiana. In 1846 he travelled east hoping to be hired as contractor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. From then he was mainly engaged in projects relating to canals and to railways in Indiana and Missouri. In the 1860s he was responsible for the entire canal. Huntington, C.C., McClelland, C.P. (1905). History of the Ohio Canals: Cost, use and partial abandonment. Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society: Columbus OH. Trevorrow, F.W. (1973). Ohio canal men: Samuel Forrer. Ohio’s canals: History, description, biography: 16-70. Oberlin OH. https://lisarickey.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/bio-sketch-samuel-forrer-1793-1874-miami-eriecanal-engineer/ P

FORSHEY 18.07. 1812 Somerset County PA/USA 25.07. 1881 Carrollton LA/USA Caleb Goldsmith Forshey attended from 1833 to 1836 the US Military Academy, West Point NY, but did not graduate. He was professor of mathematics and civil engineering then at Jefferson College, Washington MS, and from 1838 was employed on engineering projects along the Mississippi River. He lived at Vidalia LA until 1848 while serving as city engineer of Natchez MS, across the river from his house. In 1848 he constructed at Carrollton LA a hydrologic station to measure the river discharge until 1855 for the Mississippi Delta Survey. After work for railroad companies Forshey founded in 1854 the Texas Military Institute, Galveston TX. The school moved two years later to Rutersville TX, where he served until 1861 as superintendent when the school was closed on the onset of the Civil War. He then worked in the Engineering Corps on the defense of the Texas Coast, playing an important role in 1862 in planning the recapture of Galveston. In 1863 he supervised the building of Fort Esperanza on Matagorda Island TX. He from then planned Confederate fortifications near Orange along Sabine River. After the war he was an engineering consultant to the city of Galveston. He published in 1866 a report proposing a system of railroads designed to lead from the port of Galveston into the inferior of Texas. He was in 1870 chairman of a committee that suggested improvements to the channels and harbors of Galveston Bay. He worked along the Red River in the mid-1870s returning eventually to the Mississippi Delta, where he died at age 69. Anonymous (1881). Caleb Goldsmith Forshey. Weekly Picayune. New Orleans LA. Evans, D.S., Olson, D.W. (1990). Early astronomy in Texas. Southwestern Historical Quarterly 93(4): 433-456. Forshey, C.G. (1850). Memoir on the physics of the Mississippi River, and certain internal improvements in the State of Louisiana. Office of the Bee: New Orleans. Forshey, C.G. (1873) The delta of the Mississippi. Wilson & Son: Cambridge. Forshey, C.G. (1878). Physics of the Gulf of Mexico and of its chief affluent. Salem Press: TX. Geiser, S.W. (1958). Men of science in Texas 1820-1880. Southern Methodist University Press. Kolupaila, S. (1960). Caleb G. Forshey. Early history of hydrometry in the United States. Journal of the Hydraulics Division ASCE 86(HY1):12. P Terreo, J. (1980). Caleb Goldsmith Forshey diaries, 1838-1879. State University: Memphis TN. Waterfield, M. (2003). Errant rebel: Caleb Goldsmith Forshey. Waterbend: Maumee OH. https://www.tshaonline.org/Handbook/online/articles/ffo16