Rufus Henry Gilbert (1832–1885) was an American surgeon and inventor, who worked on

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Biography

Early years

Rufus Henry Gilbert was born in

Guilford, New York Guilford is a town in Chenango County, New York, United States. The town is on the eastern border of the county. The population was 2,922 at the 2010 census. History The land was purchased from the Oneida people in 1785. The town was first ...

on January 26, 1832. Gilbert was the son of William Dwight Gilbert, a county judge in

Steuben County, New York Steuben County (stu-BEN) is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 93,584. Its county seat is Bath. Its name is in honor of Baron von Steuben, a Prussian general who fought on the American ...

."Death of Rufus H. Gilbert: He Breathes His Last Unattended by Relatives or Friends,"
''New York Times,'' July 11, 1885.

Medical career

Gilbert studied at the

New York College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founde ...

and graduated to become a physician and surgeon.

William D. Middleton William D. Middleton (March 25, 1928 – July 10, 2011) was an American reporter, writer and photographer. The majority of his work was on the subject of railroad history and operation. He published over 20 books and approximately 700 articl ...

, ''Metropolitan Railways: Rapid Transit in America.'' Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2003; pg. 17. During his time in

, Gilbert became concerned with the cramped and overly centralized living conditions of the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

, seeing this as a major public health hazard, and began thinking about urban rapid transit as the key to provision of more sanitary living conditions. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, he joined the

5th New York Volunteer Infantry The 5th New York Infantry Regiment, also known as Duryée's Zouaves, was a volunteer infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War, led by Colonel Abram Duryée. Modeled, like other Union and Confederate infantry regiments, ...

as a surgeon, performing the first surgical procedure during the war at the

Battle of Big Bethel The Battle of Big Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War. It took place on the Virginia Peninsula, near Newport News, on June 10, 1861. Virginia's decision to secede from the Union had been ratified by popular v ...

. He eventually became Medical Director and Superintendent of the United States Army Hospitals.

Rapid transit visionary

Towards the end of the war, Gilbert's own medical issues prevented him from a further career in this field. Gilbert subsequently became Superintendent of the

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

, where he worked on developing rapid transport in the New York City area. In 1870 Gilbert obtained a patent for an

elevated railway An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or brick ...

using the principle of

pneumatics Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and ...

. Gilbert incorporated a company known as the Gilbert Elevated Railway Company but had difficulty obtaining adequate financing for the venture. Ultimately Gilbert was forced to surrender control of the company to the New York Loan and Improvement Company in order to obtain sufficient capital. The company constructed the Sixth Avenue road, known as ''Gilbert Elevated Railroad,'' which opened in 1878. Gilbert was forced out of the company by his partners soon after the road opened, however, effectively ending his career.

Death and legacy

With his health failing, Gilbert died in

on July 10, 1885. He was just 53 years old at the time of his death.

Footnotes

External links

Picture of Gilbert
as an army surgeon {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Rufus Henry 1832 births 1885 deaths People from Guilford, New York New York College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni 19th-century American inventors