Isham Randolph (March 25, 1848 in

Clarke County, Virginia Clarke County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,783. Its county seat is Berryville, Virginia, Berryville. Clarke County is inc ...

– August 5, 1920) 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 ...

who is best known as the chief engineer of the Sanitary District of Chicago during 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 ...

. Randolph had no formal engineering training, he began his career as a railroad axeman. After completing the

, at the time the largest canal in the world, Randolph became a consulting engineer on the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

at the request of the Roosevelt Administration.

Early life in Virginia (1848–1870)

Isham Randolph is a descendant of the prominent

Randolph family of Virginia The Randolph family of Virginia is a prominent political family, whose members contributed to the politics of Colonial Virginia and Virginia after it established statehood in June 1788, following the American Revolutionary War. They are descended ...

. He was 13 years old when the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

began, and lost two brothers who fought for the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. Randolph's family owned slaves, and Randolph learned the beginnings of his engineering skills from a slave his family owned. In 1868, Randolph became an axeman working on the Winchester and Strasburg Railroad, part of the Winchester and Potomac Railroad operated at the time by 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 ...

. Following his service with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, he was th
Assistant Engineer for the Scioto Valley Railroad
Randolph Street in Ashville, Ohio is named in his honor.

Railroad work in Chicago (1870–1893)

Randolph arrived in Chicago in 1870, working as a surveyor for the Chicago Division of the

. In 1880 Randolph became the chief engineer of the

Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad The Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad was the owner of Dearborn Station in Chicago and the trackage leading to it. It was owned equally by five of the railroads using it to reach the terminal, and kept those companies from needing their ow ...

. In 1880, Randolph presented himself to Carter Harrison, Sr. the Mayor of Chicago, and his 3rd cousin. The mayor opposed the expansion of the line Randolph was working on, and encouraged mob action against Randolph and his men.

Chief Engineer, Sanitary District of Chicago (1893–1907)

Randolph was appointed the Chief Engineer of the Sanitary District of Chicago on June 7, 1893, and left that position in 1907. His most significant contribution to the district was the

which reversed the flow of the Chicago River and created a large vessel waterway between Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico. Randolph was the fourth Chief Engineer of the district, the previous three were not able to conceive of a plan for the canal that would meet the requirements of the city for a budget that the city was satisfied with. The last statement is not correct, although it may be attributed to the cited reference. The basic plan for the canal was in the 1887 report of the Commission on Drainage and Water Supply appointed by the Chicago City Council. The report was prepared by Rudolph Hering assisted by Benezette Williams and Samuel Artingstall. Williams and Artingstall were the second and third chief engineers of the Sanitary District of Chicago, preceding Randolph. The initial contracts for construction of the canal were awarded and construction began before Randolph was appointed. Randolph's genius in the construction of the canal and later projects of the district was his strict adherence to the plan and contract requirements. He deftly guided the elected board members of the district in making sound engineering decisions. He also supervised others in the design of regulating structures, controlling gates and a navigation lock that were pioneering for the time.

The Panama Canal & private practice (1905–1920)

Randolph was appointed to the International Board of Consulting Engineers for the construction of the

in May 1905 by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. After resigning from the Sanitary District of Chicago in 1907, Randolph went into private practice as a civil engineer.Engineering and contracting vol. 28, The Myron C. Clark Publishing Co., 1907 Isham Randolph died August 2, 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randolph, Isham 1848 births 1920 deaths American civil engineers People from Ashville, Ohio Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago people