Background
Samuel Honeyman Kneass, the brother of Strickland Kneass, was a son of William Kneass and Mary Turner (Honeyman) Kneass. He was born on November 05, 1806 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Samuel Honeyman Kneass, the brother of Strickland Kneass, was a son of William Kneass and Mary Turner (Honeyman) Kneass. He was born on November 05, 1806 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
When Kneass was fifteen he was placed in the office of William Strickland to learn the profession of architect and engineer. Strickland was at that time engaged upon several notable projects, one of them the Bank of the United States (now the Philadelphia Custom House). Making rapid strides in his new profession, Kneass was called upon to design one of the triumphal arches which were erected in Philadelphia to honor General Lafayette when he visited that city in 1824. The original drawing is in the collection in Independence Hall. He was also in charge of the fieldwork, under his preceptor, of the survey for the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.
When Strickland was commissioned, in 1825, by the Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvements, to report upon the public works in England, he selected young Kneass as his assistant, and all the drawings which illustrate Strickland's Reports on Canals, Railways, and Other Subjects (1826) were made for it by Kneass. Years later the plates and copyright were secured by an Englishman, F. W. Simms, who combined the material with new matter of his own and published it in London, under the title, Public Works of Great Britain (1838).
Upon his return from Europe, Kneass was made principal assistant engineer in the corps organized by Strickland for the construction of the Susquehanna division of the Pennsylvania State Canal. In 1828 he was transferred to the Delaware division, and the following year became chief engineer of the Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven Railroad, which position he occupied until 1831, when he left to commence work on the first of the western railroads, between Lexington and Frankfort, Kentucky.
After a year he resigned to accept the position of chief engineer of the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad. He was engaged successively with various transportation companies, working on the Feliciana Railroad in Louisiana, the Philadelphia & Wilmington Railroad, and the Delaware & Schuylkill Canal. In 1836 he was elected engineer of the Philadelphia & Wilmington Railroad, which he completed. He remained with this company until 1840, when he revisited England and familiarized himself with the improvements made since his first visit. Upon his return he was immediately engaged on surveys and improvements for the southern districts of his native city, as well as upon some construction projects of the municipality.
In 1845 he was appointed United States consul at Carthagena, New Grenada (Colombia). At the same time he had a contract for the construction of a canal from Carthagena to the river Magdalena. Returning the following year, he took charge of the Wisconisco Canal, and subsequently was engaged upon the Pennsylvania Central Railroad. In 1848 he resigned to take a position with the Northern New York Railroad, between Ogdensburg and Rouses Point. After a year in New York state, he went back to Philadelphia, having been elected city surveyor.
Being primarily a railroad and canal builder, Kneass left the city's employ in 1853 and after a brief season with the Franklin & Warren Railroad in Ohio, became chief engineer of the North Western Railroad of Pennsylvania, which connected the Pennsylvania Railroad with the Cleveland & Mahoning. He remained in this employ until his death four years later in Philadelphia.
Kneass was married on March 14, 1837, to Anna Arndt Lombaerdt.