ABSTRACT
LEMEN 19.12. 1873 Collinsville IL/USA 07.04. 1935 Interlachen FL/USA William Caswell Smith Lemen obtained in 1895 the BSc degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign IL. He was then recorder for the Mississippi River Commission, St. Louis MO. From 1899 he was topographer in the US Engineer Office, St. Paul MN, engaged in the survey of headwaters of the Mississippi River. In 1901 he moved to Paris IL as city engineer, but soon later returned to the Mississippi Basin as chief of reservoirs of the head-waters. In 1903 he became junior assistant engineer, the US Engineer Office, Savannah GA, having charge of surveys and construction work. From 1910, then as principal assistant engineer, he supervised all improvements of the District, including these conducted at Savannah Harbour and the Inside Waterway. This also included construction of bank-protections, stone jetties, wharves, and hydraulic dredges; these works were summarized in special reports. In 1917, when the USA entered World War I, Lemen became captain of the US Army Corps of Engineers, and was promoted then to lieutenant colonel. He became the officer in charge of the Kearny US Engineer Depot, Newark NJ, and depot engineer of the Port of New York, of which deals his 1930 paper. From 1919 to 1920 he was commissioned, now as major in the regular army Corps of Engineers. From then to 1922 he acted as US district engineer at Jacksonville FL, for which position he fitted well from his earlier experience. He then attended the Engineer School at Fort Humphrey VA, serving until 1925 as engineer supplier at Fort Hayes OH. Until 1926 he was commanding engineer at Schofield Barracks HI. In 1928 he became at his old school assistant professor of Military Science and Tactics, University of Illinois, continuing until 1934, the year of his retirement due to illness. During his career Lemen was ever ready to lend his aid and to corporate to the actions in which he could be of assistance. He was described as most agreeable socially and a fine type of citizen, with his home always open to all friends. He was member of the American Association of Engineers, the American Society of Military Engineers, and from 1916 member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Anonymous (1936). William Caswell S. Lemen. Trans. ASCE 101: 1588-1590. Crawford, W.G. (1997). Major William Lemen. The Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway from Jacksonville to Miami. History of Florida’s East Coast Canal: 1-27. P Lemen, W.C.S. (1930). Construction and reorganisation of the US Engineer Supply Depot, Kearny NJ. The Military Engineer 22(5/6): 262-265.
