Joseph Miller Wilson (1838-1902)
1903 Obituary [1]
JOSEPH MILLER WILSON, son of William Hasell and Jane (Miller) Wilson, was born in Phoenixville, Chester Co., Pa., on the 20th June, 1838.
After some preliminary education at private schools he entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in September, 1854, and having graduated there he studied analytical chemistry for two years with Professor F. A. Genth, of Philadelpbia, with the idea of adopting it as it profession. He had also a strong inclination for engineering, and some work which ho did in 1859 on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad decided him to enter the service of that Company in March, 1860, as an Assistant Engineer.
In 1863 he was appointed Resident Engineer of the Middle Division of that road, and in 1865 Principal Assistant Engineer over the whole road, in special charge of bridges, his title being afterwards changed to Engineer of Bridges and Buildings. He retained that post until 1886, the duties of the department being gradually enlarged and extended until it included all the lines of the Company from New York on the east to Pittsburg and to Erie on the west, and from Canandaigua on the north to Quanti, Va., on the south. He also acted as Engineer of Bridges and Buildings on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. . . . [more]