John Ferris Alden

Background

John Ferris Alden was born on March 19, 1852 in Cohoes, New York, United States. He was a direct descendant of John Alden and son of Sidney and Harriet Webster Alden.

Education

Alden received his early education at private schools in Albany and at the age of twenty he graduated with honors from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in civil engineering.

Career

Alden served as assistant engineer, under Charles Hilton, on the construction of a railroad bridge for the tracks of the New York Central over the Hudson River at Albany, and later accepted a position with the Leighton Bridge & Iron Works at Rochester, New York. He became a member of the firm in 1878, but in 1881, with Moritz Lassig as partner, he leased the Leighton Bridge & Iron Works in both Rochester and Chicago, and they went into business for themselves. After four years the partnership was dissolved, and Alden purchased the interests of the firm in Rochester, reorganizing it under the name of the Rochester Bridge & Iron Works. In 1901 he sold his business to the American Bridge Company but retained an interest in this company until his death.

Alden built bridges for the Delaware & Hudson, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroads; also the bridge over the Columbia River at Pasco, Washington, the viaducts at Los Angeles, the Upper Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls, the Driving Park Avenue Bridge at Rochester, and part of the elevated railroads in New York City.

He also constructed many large buildings in New York, Chicago, and other cities, including the tower and elevator in the Parliament Buildings at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Achievements

• Alden is most notable for building many of the steel and iron bridges which are in use today in both the United States and Canada. He constructed many large buildings in several cities, and furnished most of the iron and steel work for the buildings at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Connections

In 1885 Alden married Mary Emma Bogue of Brooklyn.

Father:

Sidney Alden

Mother:

Harriet Webster Alden

Spouse:

Mary Emma Bogue

Daughter:

Ruth Weston Alden

Daughter:

Priscilla Alden

Daughter:

Mary Bogue Alden

Son:

Sidney Chase Alden

Son:

John Alden

colleague:

Moritz Lassig