Campbell W. Adams (December 9, 1852, in Utica,

Oneida County, New York Oneida County ( ) is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of February 26, 2024, the population was 226,654. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or '' ...

– November 1930) was an American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

, surveyor and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He was

New York State Engineer and Surveyor The New York State Engineer and Surveyor was a state cabinet officer in the State of New York between 1848 and 1926. During the re-organization of the state government under Governor Al Smith, the office was abolished and its responsibilities trans ...

from 1894 to 1898.

Life

Adams was educated at the

Utica Free Academy Utica Free Academy, whose predecessor, Utica Academy, opened in 1814, was a high school in Utica, New York, which operated from 1840 until 1990, when it was consolidated with Thomas R. Proctor High School. The combined entity operated briefly at ...

. In 1872, he became an assistant to William H. Christian, City Surveyor of Utica, and in the following year, when Christian's term expired, they formed a partnership and carried on a general surveying business. In 1872 and 1874 Adams had charge of building the Savage Reservoir at the end of Pleasant Street, Utica, for the Utica Water Works. From 1875 to 1880, he was a traveling salesman for the firm of Adams Bros., rope manufacturers. From 1880 to 1885, he was city surveyor of Utica. Afterwards he was constructing engineer for the

Delaware and Hudson Canal Company The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP, which would it ...

, on the Albany and Susquehanna division, but a year later returned to Utica and served as Assistant City Surveyor during Mayor Kinney's administration. In 1887, he was employed as Resident Engineer for the

Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad The Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad that grew, in stages, from Rome, New York to Watertown and then to Ogdensburg, New York and Massena, New York. The original Rome and Watertown Railroad terminated in Cape Vincent, NY o ...

, supervising the construction of the branch from

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, to Windsor Beach on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

; of a viaduct at Harpursville; and of a bridge over the

Genesee River The Genesee River ( ) is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. The river contains several waterfalls in New York at Letchworth State Park and Roch ...

. He was again appointed Assistant City Surveyor of Utica in 1888, and in 1891 was one of the engineering corps on the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railroad. In 1892 and 1893, he was again City Surveyor of Utica. He was state engineer and surveyor from 1894 to 1898, elected in

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

and

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

on the Republican ticket. One of his assistants was

Halbert Powers Gillette Halbert Powers Gillette (1869–1958) was an American engineer and prolific author of textbooks and handbooks for the engineering and construction fields. Biography Born on August 5, 1869, in Waverly, Iowa, to Theodore Weld and Laetitia S. ( ...

. From 1901 to 1903, Adams was engaged in building a railway and harbor for the Dunderland Iron Co., Ltd., of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, on the west coast of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, near the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. Until 1905, he remained as superintendent of this work, during which time the plant has been completed for mining, concentrating and briquetting about 2,500 tons daily of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

for shipment to England. In December 1905, he was made general manager of the entire works. Adams died on November 7, 1930, in

Belleville, New Jersey Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "beautiful town") is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 38,222. an increase of 2,296 (+6.4%) from the 2010 ...

References

Sources

CANDIDATES OF THE PARTIES
- Presentation of the candidates for state office, in the ''New York Times'' on November 5, 1893 {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Campbell W 1852 births 1930 deaths American civil engineers American surveyors New York State Engineers and Surveyors Politicians from Utica, New York New York (state) Republicans Engineers from New York (state)