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IT is a noteworthy fact that in
nearly all of the great engineering works that have blossomed in the
atmosphere of American enterprise, Scottish engineers and engineers of
Scottish descent have had a notable hand. The subject of this sketch had
the honour of being the first American Chief Engineer in the construction
of the Panama Canal, and this alone is sufficient to mark his prominence
in his chosen calling.
John Findley Wallace was born,
September 10, 1852, in Fall River, Mass., the oldest son of the Rev. David
A. and Martha J. (Findley) Wallace. His father, Rev. David A. Wallace, D.D.,
LL.D., from about 1850 to 1855 was pastor of a Scottish church, first in
Fall River and afterward in East Boston. His parish embraced the families
of the superintendents, foremen and principal Scottish mechanics in the
shipyard of the celebrated Donald MacKay, then the chief builder of
clipper ships in America. During these years, in connection with several
other clergymen of various Scottish sects, he assisted in combining the
Covenanters, Seceders, Associates and Associate Reformers and forming what
has since been known as the United Presbyterian Church
in America. In 1856, in the interest of that
denomination, he was assigned the duty of establishing a classical college
in the west, at Monmouth, Ill.. Monmouth College, of which he was one of
the founders and President for twenty-five years. He raised an endowment
for the college and established it as a classical institution with an
attendance of between 400 and 500 students. It is now one of the leading
institutions in the west, and while theoretically under denominational
control has among its trustees, faculty and students, members of the
leading evangelical denominations. Dr. Wallace was succeeded at Monmouth
by Rev. Dr. McMichael, who was President for twenty years, and he was
succeeded by his son, Dr. T. H. McMichael, who has been President for the
last fifteen years. Dr. Wallace was a graduate of Miami University, Ohio,
at the age of eighteen, and at the age of nineteen was President of a
college at New Concord, Ohio, where Dr. Harper, the future President of
the University of Chicago and a relative of Dr. Wallace, received his
education. After resigning the presidency of Monmouth, Dr. Wallace removed
to Wooster, Ohio, where he was a trustee of the University of Wooster. The
second son of Rev. Dr. David A.
Wallace is Rev. William Wallace, D.D., of the United Presbyterian Church,
now in charge of Church Extension and Home Mission Work in South Dakota.
Dr. Wallace’s third son is Rev. Mack. H. Wallace, D.D., pastor of
the Brewster Congregational Church, Detroit, Mich. The fourth child
was
Elizabeth, who married Judge Frank Taggert, of Wooster, Ohio, now
Superintendent of Insurance of the State of Ohio. The fourth son is Capt.
Charles S. Wallace, U. S. A., U. S. Signal Corps, Washington, D. C.
Mr. John Findley Wallace studied at
Monmouth College, received his degree of C.E. from the University of
Wooster, 1882, and Sc.D. from Armour Institute, 1904. He was honoured with
the degree of LL.D. by Monmouth College, 1904, and at its sixtieth
commencement anniversary, 1916, was called upon to make the annual
address.
During the last two or three years
of his college course, Mr. Wallace supported himself and paid his way by
working as axeman, rodman, and assistant engineer in an engineering corps
engaged in the location and construction of various branch lines of the C.
B. & Q. Ry. The first twenty years of his professional life were years of
constant struggle and hard work in the daily routine of his profession. He
attributes his success, first, to the strong physical constitution
inherited from his parents, and second, to the religious, moral, and
economic training he received, supplemented by the sound advice and
constant and loyal helpfulness of his wife. Superimposed upon all this has
been an enthusiastic love for his work, which prevailed to such an extent
that his work has been his principal recreation; also a constant fund of
persistency, the ability to meet trouble and disappointment with a
friendly smile, and a personality able to make friends not only of his
superiors and equals but also of his subordinates. With a generous fund of
humour, an interesting talker, a brilliant entertainer, a genial
companion, with many charming traits and fine sympathies, he has a
multitude of friends and well wishers. Possessing rare capabilities in
organization and leadership, with special gifts of patience and
cheerfulness even under discouraging conditions, he inspires an esprit
de corps among his associates and employees which compels success.
Mr. Wallace was Assistant Civil
Engineer U. S. Corps, engaged in river and harbor work, on the upper
Mississippi River and improvements of Rock Islands Rapids, 1871-1876;
County Surveyor and City Engineer, 1876-1878; Chief Engineer and
Superintendent of the Peoria & Farmington Ry., 1878-1881, and Iowa Central
Ry. in Illinois, 1881-1883; Superintendent of Construction and Master of
Transportation, Iowa Central Railway, 1883-1886; Bridge Engineer,
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry., in charge of construction of Sibley
Bridge over the Missouri River, 1886-1889; and Resident Engineer of the
Chicago, Madison & Northern Ry., 1889-1891. He was fourteen years with the
Illinois Central Ry.—as Engineer of Construction, 1891-1892; designed and
constructed the World’s Fair Terminals, Chicago, 1892; Chief Engineer,
1892-1897; Assistant Second Vice-President, 1897-1900; and General
Manager, 1900-1904.
He conducted extensive surveys and
examinations and created the initial organization for the construction of
the Panama Canal, as Chief Engineer, 1904-1905; and was a member of the
Isthmian Canal Commission and Vice-President and General Manager of the
Panama R. R. & S. S. Line, 1905. He conceived and designed the present
passenger terminal facilities for the Chicago & Northwestern Ry., in
Chicago, 1905-1906; was President of the Electric Properties Co.,
1906-1914; President of Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Co., 1911-1916, and
Chairman of Board of this firm, 1906 to date; engineering expert for the
City Council Committee on Railway Terminals of the City of Chicago and
Chairman of the Chicago Railway Terminal Commission, 1913, to date. He is
consultant and adviser of various large corporations.
While Mr. Wallace is a member of
numerous clubs and associations, he is in no sense a club man, but has
enjoyed a continuously happy domestic life and such time as is not taken
up with his business affairs is spent with his family. His recreations are
golf, hunting and fishing. Mr. Wallace is Past-President and member of the
American Society of Civil Engineers, American Railway Engineering
Association, and Western Society of Engineers; and a member of the
Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain and American Institute of
Consulting Engineers; and of the following clubs: Engineers’, Bankers’,
Automobile, Union League, Lido Golf, Sleepy Hollow Country, and Chamber
of. Commerce (New York) ; Cosmos and Metropolitan (Washington) Chicago,
Chicago Engineers’, Glen View, Kenwood, Union League, City, and South
Shore Country (Chicago). He is a Republican, and a Presbyterian.
Mr. Wallace married, September 11,
1871, Sarah E. Ulmer, daughter of Henry and Hettie (Miller) Ulmer, of
Warren County, Ill. His wife’s parents were of good ancestry, her father
being of German descent and her mother English. They have two children: a
son, Harold U., who was educated at Purdue University as a civil engineer,
and who was employed for several years by the Illinois Central R. B. as
Assistant Engineer, Engineer of Maintenance of Way, Division
Superintendent, and Chief Engineer; later VicePresident of J. G. White &
Co.; then Consulting Engineer on his own account; and now Vice-President
and General Manager of the Western Light & Power Co., Boulder, Colo.; and
one daughter, Birdena Frances. Mr. Wallace’s home is at 390 West End
Avenue, New York City; his business addresses, 37 Wall Street, New York,
and 175 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago. |
