Background
Charles was born on July 20, 1856 at Buffalo, New York, the son of William Sooy Smith and Elizabeth (Haven) Smith.
Charles was born on July 20, 1856 at Buffalo, New York, the son of William Sooy Smith and Elizabeth (Haven) Smith.
His father determined to give him the best technical training available, and he was accordingly sent to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at that time the most famous engineering school in America. After his graduation, at the age of twenty, he was sent to Europe for two years' study and travel, a considerable part of which he spent at the Polytechnic Institute in Dresden, Germany.
Returning to America in 1879 from Germany after studying at the Polytechnic Institute in Dresden, he entered the service of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway as assistant superintendent of the department of track, bridges, and buildings, but left this position in 1881 to form with his father the firm of William Sooy Smith & Son, Engineers & Contractors.
Six years of association with his father served to fix the son's interests in the field of subaqueous foundations, to which he was to devote the remainder of his professional life. Withdrawing from the partnership in 1887, he formed his own organization, Sooysmith & Company, Contractors, of which he was president. This firm during the following ten years was engaged in many of the most difficult and important foundation projects in the country. Among these may be mentioned the piers for the bridges over the Mississippi River at Keithsburg, Illinois, and at Fort Madison, Iowa; and over the Missouri River at Sioux City, Iowa, East Omaha, Nebraska, Kansas City, Missouri, and Sibley, Missouri. His company also built the Manhattan Life, the American Surety, the Empire, and the Washington Life buildings in New York City.
Sooysmith acted personally as chief engineer of construction on the Central Bridge over the Harlem River in New York City, and directed the foundation construction for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad bridge over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He wrote very little; one short paper "Concerning Foundations for Heavy Buildings in New York City" and a few scattered discussions constitute the whole of his contributions to the technical press.
Sooysmith retired from contracting in 1898 and opened an office as consulting engineer in New York City, where he resided until his death.
He was married, December 17, 1887, to Pauline Olmsted of Hartford, Connecticut.