John Bogart

John Bogart (February 8, 1836 Albany, New York - April 25, 1920 Manhattan, New York City) was an American civil engineer and politician from New York. He was New York State Engineer and Surveyor from 1888 to 1891.

Life

He was the son of John Henry Bogart, a merchant of Albany and New York City. He was educated at The Albany Academy and graduated M.A. from Rutgers College in 1853.

He spent a summer with the engineer corps of the New York Central Railroad and decided to become an engineer. He baegan engineering work on the enlargement of the Erie Canal as Second Assistant Engineer from 1856 to 1858. He was Assistant Engineer on the construction of Central Park in New York City.

From December 1861 to July 1866, he was in engineering service with the Union Army. During this time he was stationed at Fortress Monroe and was in charge of the fort at the Rip Raps, Virginia.

In 1866, he was appointed Engineer in charge of construction, and in 1870 Chief Engineer of the Park Commission of Brooklyn, N.Y., and from 1872 to 1877 was Chief Engineer of the New York City Department of Public Parks.

In 1870, he married Emma Cherrington Jefferis.

From 1877 on, he was engaged as Engineer for many important enterprises, among them the municipal works at New Orleans, Chicago, Nashville and Baltimore; the designs of the parks at Albany, N.Y., the Public State Grounds at Nashville, the West Side parks of Chicago and the park system of Essex County, New York. He was Constructing Engineer of Washington Bridge, Consulting Engineer of the Niagara Falls Power Co., of the Atlantic Electric and Water Power Co., of the Rapid Transit Commission and of the New York State Board of Health.

From 1886 to 1887, he was Deputy State Engineer under Elnathan Sweet. He was State Engineer and Surveyor from 1884 to 1887, elected on the Democratic ticket. Afterwards he resumed his practice as consulting engineer in New York City.

He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain. He was a lieutenant colonel and Chief Engineer of the New York National Guard.

He died from pneumonia at his home at 640, Madison Avenue (Manhattan).

ources

* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/boe-boggess.html] Political Graveyard
* [http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/whitford/old1906/vol2/chapter3.htm Engineers' bios, at Rochester history]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F00E7D91E3CEE3ABC4E51DFB266838B639EDE] Obit in NYT on April 26, 1920