John Birkinbine (November 16, 1844 – May 14, 1915) was an American mining engineer who worked alongside

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

during 1881 at the

Edison Ore-Milling Company The Edison Ore-Milling Company was a venture by Thomas Edison that began in 1881. Edison introduced some significant technological developments to the iron ore milling industry but the company ultimately proved to be unprofitable. Towards the end ...

Early life

Birkinbine was born November 16, 1844, in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

, to parents Henry P M Birkinbine and Louise Yocum as their eldest son. His father was a hydraulic engineer. He was educated in public schools and Friends' High School in Philadelphia, as well as Hill School in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts (Pennsylvanian), John Potts. The old name was abando ...

, and the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania. In 1863, he undertook 1 year of

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

, although his subsequent studies were interrupted by a vision imperfection.

Career

His father worked as chief engineer of Philadelphia Water Department for a decade, during which time John Birkinbine received training in field engineering and

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore wind farms, offshore oil exploration and drilling and related activities. Surveys may als ...

s. He was associated with designing and constructing various public water supplies and later worked as a consulting engineer. He served two terms as a president of American Institute of Mining Engineers. For a number of years during the late 19th century, he was connected with the United States Geological Survey and was regarded by the government as being "an expert on iron and manganese ores". He was called to the majority of states in America, as well as to other countries such as Canada and Maxico and examine and report upon iron ore mines, as well as to assist in designing and constructing new

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...

s. Around 1905, he was the Head of New State Water Supply for Pennsylvania. By 1910, he had compiled a map showing the distribution of iron ores across the United States following years of studying ore shipments and was by then described as being "one of the foremost mineralogists of the country". Among his other accomplishments included developing a scheme for utilizing the water power of

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

and devising blast furnaces for use in the

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

copper region.

Death

He died on May 14, 1915 of heart failure. He was survived by his widow and nine children, comprising four sons and five daughters. His funeral was held on May 17 and he was interred at Westminster cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkinbine, John 1844 births 1915 deaths American mining engineers