Background
Ashbel Welch, son of Ashbel and Margaret (Dorrance) Welch, was born at Nelson, Madison County, N. Y. When Ashbel was seven years old his parents moved to Deerfield, Oneida County, N. Y.
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Ashbel Welch
Edit ProfileEducation
He attended schools in Utica, completing his education in the winter of 1826 at Albany Academy, where he studied under the immediate direction of Joseph Henry.
Career
In the summer of 1827 Welch began his engineering career as rodman on the staff of the Lehigh Canal, at Mauch Chunk, Pa. , where his older brother was resident engineer, and after three years here he became connected with the Delaware & Raritan Canal, in Trenton, N. J. , of which he was made chief engineer in 1835. During the succeeding twenty-five years he engaged in a variety of engineering work in the transportation field. He made the reconnaissances for and subsequently built the Belvidere Delaware Railroad, which followed the banks of the Delaware River from Trenton northward to Manunka Chunk, near the Delaware Water Gap. In addition to looking after all the engineering work of the Delaware & Raritan Canal, he engaged in a consulting engineering practice covering a varied field of activities. He assisted John Ericsson, for example, in designing the steamship Princeton; he made examinations of coal and iron properties in Virginia; he supervised experiments in gunnery initiated by Commodore R. F. Stockton of the United States Navy, and made a trip to Europe in 1844 for the special purpose of superintending the construction of a large, wrought-iron gun. In 1847 he designed and built for the Delaware & Raritan Canal at Bordentown, N. J. , a wooden lock, the unusual feature of which was that it was constructed upon a quicksand, and in 1852 he accomplished the unusual feat of enlarging the whole of the Delaware & Raritan Canal in three months. The following year he undertook the work of designing and constructing the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, but in the course of this arduous task, carried on in connection with his many other engineering activities, he broke down physically and was compelled to give up all active work. After a rest in Europe in 1854, however, he again took up his consulting engineering work, particularly in connection with New Jersey railroads, being engaged in the construction both of the roads themselves and of terminal facilities. In 1862 he was appointed vice-president of the Camden & Amboy Railroad. In this position he worked ceaselessly to bring about the consolidation of the several competing railroad companies in New Jersey, and, largely through his efforts, in January 1867 final arrangements were made uniting the Delaware & Raritan Canal Company, the Camden & Amboy Railroad & Transportation Company, and the New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Company. Welch was immediately made president of the new organization, known as the United Companies of New Jersey, and was in charge of all administrative matters until December 1871, when the properties were leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. As early as 1845 Welch, with the assistance of Joseph Henry, began a series of experiments in the application of telegraphy to railroad signaling, and in 1865 presented to the Camden & Amboy Railroad Company a plan for telegraphic safety signals. It was immediately accepted and applied on the railroad between Kensington and New Brunswick, and is generally regarded as the earliest installation of the block signaling system which came into general use in the United States. Welch also carried on investigations looking toward the improvement of railroad rolling stock, particularly car trucks and wheels, and made a study of iron and steel rails, publishing many articles on the subject in technical journals. He was an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, serving as vice-president in 1880 and being chosen president the year of his death. He died in Lambertville, N. J.
Achievements
Connections
On October 25, 1834, he married Mary Hannah Seabrook. They had four children.
References
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Born
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Died
September 25, 1882 (aged 73) -
Nationality
American