Schuyler Skaats Wheeler

Background

Schuyler Skaats Wheeler was born on May 17, 1860, in New York City, to James Edwin Wheeler and Annie Skaats Wheeler. He came of age in New York during the rapid expansion of commercial electricity, when central stations, electric lighting, and new forms of industrial machinery were transforming urban technology.

Wheeler's professional life remained closely connected with New York and New Jersey. His later residence was in Bernardsville, New Jersey, while his business and professional activities connected him with New York City, the Ampere district, and the developing American electrical-manufacturing industry.

Education

Wheeler attended Columbia Grammar School and Columbia College, leaving college in 1881 as electrical engineering was emerging as a distinct American profession. Columbia College, later Columbia University, had developed a strong scientific and technical tradition within New York's expanding industrial and intellectual environment.

He received an honorary Doctor of Science from Hobart College in 1894 and an honorary Master of Science from Columbia in 1912. These degrees recognized his standing as a practicing engineer and inventor rather than representing a conventional sequence of graduate study. Hobart College, founded in 1822 in Geneva, New York, was a liberal-arts institution that granted advanced honorary degrees to distinguished figures in public and professional life.

Career

Wheeler began his electrical career with the Jablochkoff Electric Light Company and subsequently worked with the United States Electric Lighting Company. These companies operated during the formative period of commercial electric lighting, when engineers were developing systems for generating, distributing, and controlling electrical power.

In 1883 he joined Thomas Edison's engineering staff and took charge of work associated with the first central station for incandescent lighting. He later installed or supervised station apparatus at Fall River, Massachusetts, Newburgh, New York, and other locations. The Edison system represented an important stage in the transition from experimental electrical devices to urban utility networks. Wheeler also worked for the Herzog Teleseme Company before becoming associated with electric-motor manufacturing.

In 1886 Wheeler became electrician and manager of the C. & C. Electric Motor Company, which he helped organize with Charles G. Curtis and Francis B. Crocker. The company was an early manufacturer of small electric motors. In 1888 Wheeler and Crocker organized the firm of Crocker & Wheeler, which developed into the Crocker-Wheeler Motor Company and then the Crocker-Wheeler Company in Ampere, New Jersey. Wheeler served as president from the late 1880s until his death in 1923, directing a company that manufactured electrical equipment and became associated with the development of motors for machine-tool drives.

From 1888 to 1895 Wheeler served as electrical expert for New York City's Board of Electrical Control, a municipal body concerned with regulating and supervising electrical installations. His inventions and engineering work included an electric fan, electric elevator and fire-engine designs, series-multiple motor control, and methods for paralleling dynamos. These devices addressed practical problems in the early electrification of buildings, factories, transportation facilities, and municipal services.

Wheeler was also a leader of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the principal professional organization for electrical engineers in the United States before the later formation of the IEEE. He served as its manager, vice president, and president in 1905–1906. In 1904 he helped incorporate the United Engineering Society, an umbrella organization that supported cooperation among engineering societies and the construction of the Engineering Societies Building in New York.

In 1900 Wheeler purchased the Latimer Clark Library in London and presented it to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1901. The collection of rare electrical books became the foundation of the institute's electrical library. His presidential address of 1906 contributed ideas that were later incorporated into the institute's code of professional conduct for electrical engineers, adopted in 1912.

Achievements

• Wheeler invented and developed electrical and mechanical devices including the electric fan, electric elevator and fire-engine designs, series-multiple motor control, and methods for paralleling dynamos.

• He helped establish Crocker-Wheeler as an early American manufacturer of small electric motors and electrical equipment, contributing to the application of electric motors to machine tools.

• He purchased the Latimer Clark Library in London and presented it to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1901, creating the foundation of the institute's major electrical-engineering library.

• His 1906 presidential address to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers contributed ideas later incorporated into the institute's code of professional conduct for electrical engineers, adopted in 1912.

• He helped organize the United Engineering Society in 1904, supporting cooperation among American engineering organizations and the development of the Engineering Societies Building in New York.

Works

More photos

• technical manual

  • The Practical Management of Dynamos and Motors

    (Co-authored with Francis B. Crocker, with a special chapt...)

    1894

Views

Wheeler's professional outlook emphasized practical engineering, cooperation among technical societies, and ethical standards for engineers. His leadership in developing a code of professional conduct reflected the growing effort to define engineering as a public profession with responsibilities extending beyond individual inventions and commercial enterprises.

Membership

Wheeler belonged to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. These organizations provided professional forums for technical exchange, engineering standards, and institutional leadership during the expansion of electrical and mechanical industry.

His participation in the American Institute of Electrical Engineers included service as manager, vice president, and president. He also helped organize the United Engineering Society, which brought several engineering organizations together in a common institutional setting.

• Served as manager, vice president, and president in 1905–1906; chaired the committee concerned with professional conduct.

  American Institute of Electrical Engineers , United States

  1887 - 1923

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers , United States

• American Society of Civil Engineers , United States

• Served as one of the society's incorporators.

  United Engineering Society , United States

  1904

Interests

• Rare electrical books and engineering history

Connections

Wheeler was the son of James Edwin Wheeler and Annie Skaats Wheeler. He married Ella Adams Peterson and later married Amy Sutton; the second marriage took place in October 1898.

Father:

James Edwin Wheeler

Mother:

Annie Skaats Wheeler

Wife:

Ella Adams Peterson

Wife:

Amy Sutton

References

• Schuyler Skaats Wheeler: Member Biography American Institute of Electrical Engineers member biography describing Wheeler's education, electrical-engineering career, inventions, leadership of the institute, donation of the Latimer Clark Library, and contribution to professional ethics.
  1934
• Schuyler Wheeler Engineering and Technology History Wiki biography documenting Wheeler's work with Edison, Crocker-Wheeler, the Board of Electrical Control, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and the United Engineering Society.
• Biographical Directory of the State of New York Biographical entry giving Wheeler's New York City birth date, Columbia and Hobart education, electrical-control work, and presidency of Crocker-Wheeler.
  1900