Ellis Sylvester Chesbrough (1813–1886) was an engineer credited with the design of the Chicago sewer system, which are sometimes known as the 'Chesbrough sewers'. This was the first comprehensive sewer system in the United States. He is responsible for the plan to raise Chicago, construction of the first water crib in Chicago, and designing the Boston water distribution system. The water system he designed for Chicago is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and has been designated a Historical Civil Engineering Landmark by the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

Early life and career

Chesbrough was born in 1813 in Baltimore, Maryland to Isaac M. Chesbrough and Phrania Jones. Chesbrough's father was originally a farmer in Massachusetts, but he pursued other means of business, which mostly failed. One of these failed ventures forced Chesbrough to abandon regular schooling when he was nine. Chesbrough spent the next few years working for mercantile houses in Baltimore. Chesbrough's father became a surveyor for the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

in 1828, and Chesbrough became a surveyor for the city of Baltimore later that year through his father's job. Chesbrough moved to Pennsylvania in 1830 to become a surveyor for the

Allegheny Portage Railroad The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania. It operated from 1834 to 1854 as the first transportation infrastructure through the gaps of the Allegheny that connecte ...

under the command of Colonel Stephen Harriman Long. From 1831 to 1842, Chesbrough worked on the construction of railroads under the command of William Gibbs McNeill and his brother-in-law George Washington Whistler, the father of the artist

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

. Chesbrough worked as a farmer between 1842 and 1844 as the effects of the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...

deprived him of employment as an engineer. After he returned to his profession, Chesbrough became the engineer for the water systems of Boston, and helped to build the Cochituate Aqueduct. He was named the first city engineer of Boston in 1851.

Work in Chicago

In the late 1840s, Chicago was growing rapidly and was plagued with health issues: the majority of the city sat at water level, which meant water was unable to drain out of the city. The problem was fully realized in the summer of 1849, when a cholera epidemic struck Chicago. In response, the public held meetings and demanded that the City Council rid the city of filth. The legislature of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

created the Board of Sewerage Commissioners on February 14, 1855, leading to the appointment of Assistant health officers to aid the cleanup, and by August the Council resolved to build a sewage system. Chesbrough was appointed engineer of the Board of Sewerage Commissioners because of his work on Boston’s water distribution system. From an engineering standpoint, the main problems were moving waste water out of the city and keeping it from polluting the city's drinking water supply, drawn from

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

. His plan was twofold: first, to build the sewer system above ground, and then raise all of the city buildings (see Raising of Chicago) as much as ten feet using an elaborate system of jacks. The new sewer system featured innovations such as manhole covers, which eased access to and cleaning of the sewers. However, sewage still flowed into the lake and polluted the city's drinking water. In 1863, work began on a two-mile Chicago lake tunnel, sixty feet under the lake, out to a new intake crib. that would draw cleaner water farther from the city. Eventually, however, sewage water seeped all the way to the crib, giving Chesbrough a third chance. Plans were made to reverse the flow of the Chicago River, leading water away from Lake Michigan and carrying Chicago's sewage into the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. In the late 1860s, the

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago ...

was dredged and deepened to expand its ability to handle the city's sewage and move it away from the lake, but continued population growth quickly outstripped the canal's waste management capacity. The project of reversing the river was completed after Chesbrough's death by the Sanitary District of Chicago (now The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District), created in 1889, which undertook the construction of the

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, historically known as the Chicago Drainage Canal, is a canal system that connects the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River. It reverses the direction of the Main Stem and the South Branch of the Chicago ...

. Chesbrough died in Chicago on August 18, 1886, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesbrough, Ellis S. Engineers from Chicago American civil engineers 1813 births 1886 deaths Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)