Background
John James Abert was born on September 17, 1788 in Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia), United States, the son of John Abert, who is said to have emigrated to America as a soldier with Rochambeau in 1780, and Margarita Meng.
(Excerpt from Report in Reference to the Canal to Connect ...)
Excerpt from Report in Reference to the Canal to Connect the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal With the City of Baltimore, 1838 The observations of Mr. Fisk were made upon that part of the canal, between Harper's Ferry and Seneca, which has been the longest in use. Much of it also passes through low ground, and may, therefore, be considered as the drain of the adjacent high grounds; and where exposed to the causes of active filtration, it was puddled with great care. On these accounts, I conceive its loss may be fairly considered, under our system of construction, as a minimum; and that the safer rule for a general estimate, on account of losses from filtration and evaporation, would be 2 prisms per month. Its actual loss being, then, prisms, our safer rule adds of the prism of one mile. Per month, which would increase the stated loss per mile per minute cubic feet; or make the whole, exclusive of the prism left in the canal on the closing of the navigation, cubic feet per mile per minute. This prism, left in the canal at the closing of navigation, is, as has been shown, equal to cubic yards (52) for one mile. As its loss is for the whole ten months, it would be cubic feet per mile per minute, making the total loss per mile per minute equal to cubic feet. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(A Large hardback book measuring 13 and one half inches by...)
A Large hardback book measuring 13 and one half inches by 10 inches of exploration in Comanche Indian Country in 1845.
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John James Abert was born on September 17, 1788 in Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia), United States, the son of John Abert, who is said to have emigrated to America as a soldier with Rochambeau in 1780, and Margarita Meng.
On January 18, 1808, Abert was appointed from Virginia to the Military Academy at West Point where his aptitudes soon won for him an assistantship to the professor of mathematics. In 1811 he left the Academy and for about three years he was an assistant to the chief clerk of the War Office in Washington, at the same time studying law. He was admitted to the District of Columbia bar in 1813.
Abert practised law in the District of Columbia in 1813 and in Ohio in 1814.
He served as a volunteer in the District of Columbia militia in 1814 and fought in the Battle of Bladensburg, August 24, 1814.
On November 22, 1814, he was appointed major in the Topographical Engineers and was attached to the northern division of the army. From this date until January 15, 1829, he was engaged as an assistant under Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler in geodetic surveys of the Atlantic Coast (1816-1818); in topographical surveys concerning harbor and river improvements, canals and defense, especially of the eastern United States, and in the preparation of reports and memoirs covering these and related activities. In recognition of his abilities as well as of his frankness in criticizing the organization and functions of the Topographical Bureau, Abert was brevetted lieutenant-colonel on November 22, 1824, made assistant to the chief engineer, put in charge of the Topographical Bureau on March 19, 1829, and appointed chief of the Topographical Bureau, which was created an independent branch of the War Department on June 22, 1831.
During most of the period 1832 through 1834 Abert served as special agent and commissioner for Indian affairs in activating the removal of Indian tribes to lands west of the Mississippi River. Most of his time during 1833 and 1834 was directed toward an attempt "to locate Reservations for the Creeks" and "to certify contracts for the Creeks. " His reports of these activities are remarkable testimony to his high moral character and sound judgment. From 1834 to 1861, as chief of the Topographical Bureau, he was largely responsible for initiating and guiding the topographic surveys of the United States, particularly in the West. To him fell the task of planning, organizing, and integrating the voluminous textual and cartographic products of these surveys.
An act of Congress, approved July 7, 1838, elevated the Topographical Engineers to a staff corps of the army, and at that time Abert was appointed colonel, which rank he held until he was honorably retired from active duty on September 9, 1861.
Abert's professional affiliations were many. He was one of the directors and founders of the National Institute of Science in Washington, and the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy (1842). He befriended foreign scientists, such as Joseph Nicolas Nicollet and John James Audubon when they experienced difficulties in America, and on occasion enlisted their services in the Topographical Bureau.
Unfortunately his writings are obscured in government documents, the most valuable of which are his annual reports to the secretary of war, 1831 to 1861.
For services in the War of 1812 he was granted 160 acres of bounty land in Wisconsin.
He died in Washington, D. C.
Abert is best known as the head of the U. S. Army’s Corps of Topographical Engineers and its heritage organization, the Topographic Bureau. For 32 years under Abert’s leadership, the Corps of Topographical Engineers, which recruited the best soldier-scientists, or “Topogs, ” made explorations that resulted in the comprehensive mapping of the American W.
(Excerpt from Report in Reference to the Canal to Connect ...)
(A Large hardback book measuring 13 and one half inches by...)
Abert was a member of a number of legal, geographical and scientific societies. He was also a member of the Geographical Society of Paris, the Societe de Geographie.
Abert's instructions to his subordinates are striking examples of lucid scientific thinking and of direct statement of purpose.
Abert was frank and often severe in his criticism of slovenly work and did not hesitate in requiring a rechecking of questionable reports. His awareness of the essential details of the geographic landscape and his requirements for its adequate description place him in the forefront of the American geographers of his time.
His energy, his boundless capacity for work, and his abilities at organization were largely responsible for making the Topographical Bureau perhaps the most valuable repository of topographic description of the United States for this period.
Abert was married to Ellen Matlack Stretch, granddaughter of Col. Timothy Matlack, Revolutionary patriot, on January 25, 1812. They had four sons and two daughters.
