Ashbel Welch

Ashbel Welch (1809–1882) was a prominent American civil engineer and a president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 1882. ^[1] Welch originated and installed a block signaling system on the Camden and Amboy Railroad between Philadelphia and New Brunswick. First in America, the system later came into use on all American railroads.

Early Life and Family

Ashbel Welch (Born in Madison Co., N.Y. Dec. 4, 1809, died in Lambertville, N.J., Sept. 25, 1882.) to Ashbel Welch (1764 - 1826) and Margaret Dorrance Welch (1776 - 1830), the younger brother of Sylvester Welch (1798 - 1852),^[2] the future chief engineer of the Allegheny Portage railroad in Pennsylvania. In 1843, the College of New Jersey at Princeton (renamed Princeton University in 1896) conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts.
Ashbel married Mary Hannah Seabrook, daughter of James and Merriam Lambert Seabrook (1813-1874) on 25 October, 1834 at Lambertville, NJ. They had seven children.^[2]

Career

Lehigh and Delaware Canal

1826-started his engineering career on the Lehigh and Delaware Canal as a rodman for his brother Sylvester Welch.

Delaware and Raritan Canal

1830-called to Trenton, NJ by Canvass White to join engineers, ready to start construction of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. 1832-placed in charge of digging the feeder northwestward from Trenton, he selected Lambertville for his headquarters. 1834-Delaware and Raritan Canal completed and open for business. Ashbel married Mary Hannah Seabrook. 1835-appointed chief engineer of the newly formed "Joint Companies" of the Delaware and Raritan Canal and the Camden and Amboy Railroad.

Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad

1836-appointed Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad.

1844-sent to England to supervise construction of an order of guns for the United States Navy.

Camden and Amboy Railroad

1863-originated and installed a block signaling system on the Camden and Amboy Railroad between Philadelphia and New Brunswick. First in America, the system later came into use on all American railroads.

Belvidere Delaware Railroad and Flemington Railroad

1869-president of the Bel-Del Railroad and the Flemington Railroad.

Legacy and Death

Ashbel died on September 25th, 1882 and is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, Lambertville, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, USA.^[2]

References

↑ ASCE Past and Present Officers, page 116, downloaded at on June 5, 2016.
1 2 3 Find a grave, (Ashbel Welch) accessed on June 5, 2016

Presidents of the American Society of Civil Engineers

1853–1879	James Laurie (1853–1867) James Pugh Kirkwood (1868) William Jarvis McAlpine (1868–1869) Alfred Wingate Craven (1870–1871) Horatio Allen (1872–1873) Julius Walker Adams (1874–1875) George Sears Greene (1876–1877) Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough (1878) William Milnor Roberts (1879)

1880–1899	Albert Fink (1880) James Bicheno Francis (1881) Ashbel Welch (1882) Charles Paine (1883) Don Juan Whittemore (1884) Frederic Graff (1885) Henry Flad (1886) William Ezra Worthen (1887) Thomas Coltrin Keefer (1888) Max Joseph Becker (1889) William Powell Shinn (1890) Octave Chanute (1891) Mendes Cohen (1892) William Metcalf (1893) William Price Craighill (1894) George Shattuck Morison (1895) Thomas Curtis Clarke (1896) Benjamin Morgan Harrod (1897) Alphonse Fteley (1898) Desmond Fitzgerald (1899)

1900–1919	John Findley Wallace (1900) John James Robertson Croes (1901) Robert Moore (1902) Alfred Noble (1903) Charles Hermany (1904) Charles Conrad Schneider (1905) Frederic Pike Stearns (1906) George Henry Benzenberg (1907) Charles Macdonald (1908) Onward Bates (1909) John Anderson Bensel (1910) Mordecai Thomas Endicott (1911) John Agustus Ockerson (1912) George Filmore Swain (1913) Hunter McDonald (1914) Charles David Marx (1915) Elmer Lawrence Corthell (1916) Clemens Herschel (1916) George Herndon Pegram (1917) Arthur Newell Talbot (1918) Fayette Samuel Curtis (1919)

1920–1939	Arthur Powell Davis (1920) George Smedley Webster (1921) John Ripley Freeman (1922) Charles Fredrick Loweth (1923) Carl Ewald Grunsky (1924) Robert Ridgeway (1925) George Stewart Davison (1926) John Frank Stevens (1927) Lincoln Bush (1928) Anson Martson (1929) John Francis Coleman (1930) Francis Lee Stuart (1931) Herbert Samuel Crocker (1932) Alonzo John Hammond (1933) Harrison Prescott Eddy (1934) Arthur Smith Tuttle (1935) Daniel Webster Mead (1936) Louis Clarence Hill (1937) Henry Earle Riggs (1938) Donald Hubbard Sawyer (1939)

1940–1959	John Phillip Hogan (1940) Fredrick Hall Fowler (1941) Ernest Bateman Black (1942) Ezra Bailey Whitman (1943) Malcolm Pirnie (1944) John Cyprian Stevens (1945) Wesley Winans Horner (1946) Edgar Morton Hastings (1947) Richard Erwin Dougherty (1948) Franklin Thomas (1949) Ernest Emmanuel Howard (1950) Gail Abner Hathaway (1951) Carlton Springer Proctor (1952) Walter Leroy Huber (1953) Daniel Voiers Terrell (1954) William Roy Glidden (1955) Enoch Ray Needles (1956) Mason Graves Lockwood (1957) Louis Richard Howson (1958) Francis de Sales Friel (1959)

1960–1979	Frank Alwyn Marston (1960) Glenn Willis Holcomb (1961) George Brooks Earnest (1962) Edmund Friedman (1963) Waldo Gleason Bowman (1964) Wallace Lacy Chadwick (1965) William Joseph Hedley (1966) Earle Topley Andrews (1967) Richard Henry Tatlow III (1968) Frank Hastings Newnam Jr. (1969) Thomas McMaster Niles (1970) Samuel Serson Baxter (1971) Oscar Simon Bray (1972) John Elmer Rinne (1973) Charles William Yoder (1974) William McCoy Sangster (1975) Arthur Joseph Fox Jr. (1976) Leland Jasper Walker (1977) William Read Gibbs (1978) Walter Emanuel Blessey (1979)

1980–1999	Joseph Simeon Ward (1980) Irvan Frank Mendenhall (1981) James Redding Sims (1982) John H. Wiedeman (1983) S. Russell Stearns (1984) Richard W. Karn (1985) Robert Dewey Bay (1986) Daniel Bythewood Barge Jr. (1987) Albert Abraham Grant (1988) William J. Carroll (1989) John A. Focht Jr. (1990) James E. ""Tom"" Sawyer (1991) Celestino R. ""Chuck"" Penoni (1992) James E. McCarty (1993) James W. Poirot (1994) Stafford E. Thornton (1995) Charles A. Parthum (1996) Edward O. Groff (1997) Luther W. Greaf (1998) Daniel S. Turner (1999)

2000–present	Delon Hampton (2000) Robert W. Bein (2001) H. Gerard Schwartz Jr. (2002) Thomas L. Jackson (2003) Patricia D. Galloway (2004) William P. Henry (2005) Dennis R. Martenson (2006) William F. Marcuson III (2007) David G. Mongan (2008) D. Wayne Klotz (2009) Blaine D. Leonard (2010)

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