Elias Pym Fordham (1788-1850) was the original surveyor of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. He was an English immigrant to the United States and author of an American travel memoir. Elias Pym Fordham was born in

Royston, Hertfordshire Royston is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Hertfordshire, District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated on the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian, which brush ...

, one of two sons and seven children to Elias Fordham (1762-1838) and his first wife Ann Clapton.Sheryl D. Vanderstel. "Elias Pym Fordham", in ''The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis'', 1994. The family background was of liberal nonconformism in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, exemplified by his uncle Edward King Fordham. He studied civil engineering under

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...

(a developer of the

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

). Fordham immigrated to the US in 1817 with his sister Maria and travelled to

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 ...

where he purchased a tract of land in what was known as "the English Prairie", settled also by his first cousin George Flower (1788-1862), a founder of Albion, Illinois. In April 1821 he along with Alexander Ralston received joint appointments as surveyors of Indianapolis. Little else is known of Fordham. He was well educated and articulate as evidenced by his ''Personal narrative of travels in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky : and of a residence in the Illinois Territory: 1817-1818'' which was not published until 1906 (now out of print). He eventually returned to England and continued working on projects with George Stephenson. On 16 Jul 1832 he obtained a licence to marry a widow, Priscilla Ebenezer Morris at

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. His death was listed in the Dover Telegraph as having occurred at age 62 on 19 October 1850 in

Capel-le-Ferne __NOTOC__ Capel-le-Ferne is a village on the White Cliffs of Dover, near Folkestone in Kent, England. Its name derives from a medieval French term meaning "chapel in the ferns". In 2011 the village had a population of 1,884. It is perched on ...

. His will was proved on 14 December 1850, his wife surviving him.England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858

Notes

External links

*Ogg, Frederic Austin (editor)
''Personal narrative of travels..''
Cleveland: A.H. Clark Co. 1906. * http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/news50c3.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Fordham, Elias Pym 1788 births 1850 deaths American surveyors