GEORGE W. WHISTLER 
 
 CIVIL ENGINEER
 
 WOBUKN PUBLIC LIBRARY
 
 '
 
 o 
 
 A SKETCH 
 
 OK 
 
 THE LIFE AND WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE W. WHISTLER 
 
 Ct'fct'I Engineer 
 
 GEORGE L. VOSE 
 
 PRESIDENT OK THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS 
 
 10200 
 
 BOSTON 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 
 1887
 
 NOTE. 
 
 TN placing my name upon the titlepage of this 
 -* sketch, I do so more as a compiler than as an 
 author. My only object has been to collect such 
 facts, from those of our older engineers who knew 
 Major Whistler, as would enable me to place before 
 the younger members of the profession some record 
 of one of its most brilliant ornaments ; to hold up 
 an illustrious example of all that is worthy of imita- 
 tion ; to show them something of one who was 
 equally admired as an engineer, and beloved as a 
 man. Whatever of value may be found in the sketch 
 must be credited to that rapidly decreasing band of 
 veteran engineers who have recalled for me their 
 early years and their early labors ; men who saw 
 the beginning of the railroad system in America, 
 and many of whom had the good fortune to begin
 
 their career under the great master whose memory 
 is so fondly cherished by all who were connected 
 with him. Not only have I availed myself to the 
 fullest extent of the recollections of these men, with- 
 out which I could have done nothing ; but I have 
 also used their exact language whenever I could, as 
 the reader is thus placed in closer communication 
 with the subject of the sketch than would be possi- 
 ble in any other way. It is a most delightful thing 
 to see how the old enthusiasm and the youthful 
 admiration of these veterans in the profession kindle 
 anew as they recall their early service under Major 
 Whistler. It was indeed no common .man who 
 could so inspire his assistants and associates, and 
 who could leave so indelible an impression, not 
 only upon their minds, but in their hearts. 
 
 I am especially indebted for the material which is 
 here presented, to Gen. George S. Greene of New 
 York, to Col. Julius W. Adams of Brooklyn, to 
 Messrs. William Raymond Lee and Charles S. Stor- 
 row of Boston, to James B. Francis of Lowell, and 
 to the late E. S. Chesborough of Chicago, nearly 
 all of whom in their early life were associated with 
 Major Whistler. I am also under obligations to
 
 5 
 
 Dr. William Gibbs McNeill Whistler of London, to 
 G. H. Prince, Esq., of St. Petersburg, to Messrs. 
 William E. Worthen and John Bogart of New 
 York, to Mrs. Gen. D. H. Rucker of Washington, to 
 Lieut. G. N. Whistler of the United-States Army, 
 to Thomas D. Whistler of Tarrytown, to the super- 
 intendent of the United-States Military Academy, 
 to Dr. George D. Stanton of Stonington, to Samuel 
 Nott of Hartford, to E. H. Hazard of Providence, 
 and to John B. Winslow and Joseph Ropes of Bos- 
 ton. The officers of the several libraries in Boston, 
 and of the historical societies in Massachusetts, 
 Rhode Island, and Connecticut, have aided me in 
 many ways in obtaining information ; and the man- 
 agers of the several railroads with which Major 
 Whistler was connected have given me access at all 
 times to their archives. 
 
 The portrait facing the titlepage is from an en- 
 graving published in New York about the time of 
 Major Whistler's death, and shows him in the prime 
 of manhood. It is considered an excellent likeness 
 by those who knew him. 
 
 In conclusion, I may use the words of one of 
 America's foremost engineers, who even as I write
 
 has closed his long and useful life, leaving behind 
 a reputation unsurpassed for sound judgment, great 
 practical ability, and the most sterling worth: "When- 
 ever the true historian of civil engineering in this 
 country shall arise, he will give to Major Whistler a 
 position of which its younger members to-day ap- 
 pear to have no conception, and of which many of 
 the older appear to have very inadequate ideas." 
 
 G. L. V.
 
 GEORGE W. WHISTLER. 
 
 FEW persons, even among those best acquainted 
 with our modern railroad system, are aware of 
 the early struggles of the men to whose foresight, 
 energy, and skill the new mode of transportation 
 owes its introduction into this country. The railroad 
 problem in the United States was quite a different 
 one from that in Europe. Had we simply copied 
 the railways of England, we should have ruined the 
 system at the outset for this country. In England, 
 where the railroad had its origin, money was plenty, 
 the land was densely populated, and the demand for 
 rapid and cheap transportation already existed. A 
 great many short lines connecting the great centres 
 of industry were required, and for the construction of 
 such in the most substantial manner the money was 
 easily obtained. In America, on the contrary, a land 
 of enormous extent, almost entirely undeveloped, 
 but of great possibilities, lines of hundreds and even
 
 8 
 
 thousands of miles in extent were to be made, to 
 connect cities as yet unborn, and to accommodate a 
 future traffic of which no one could possibly foresee 
 the amount. Money was scarce, and in many districts 
 the natural obstacles to be overcome were infinitely 
 greater than any which had presented themselves to 
 European engineers. 
 
 By the sound practical sense and the unconquerable 
 will of George Stephenson, the numerous inventions 
 which together made up the locomotive-engine had 
 been combined in a machine, which, in connection 
 with the improved roadway, was to revolutionize the 
 transportation of the world. The railroad as a ma- 
 chine was invented. It remained to apply the new 
 invention in such a manner as to make it a success, 
 and not a failure. To do this in a new country like 
 America, required infinite skill, unbounded energy, 
 the most careful study of local conditions, and the 
 exercise of well-matured, sound business judgment. 
 To see how well the great invention has been 
 applied in the United States, we have only to look 
 at the network of iron roads which now reaches from 
 the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 
 With all the experience we have had, it is not 
 an easy problem, even at the present time, to de- 
 termine how much money we are authorized to spend
 
 upon the construction of a given railroad. To secure 
 the utmost benefit, at the least outlay, regarding both 
 the first cost of building the road, and the perpetual 
 cost of operating it, is the railroad problem which is, 
 perhaps, less understood at the present day than any 
 other. It was an equally important problem fifty years 
 ago, and certainly not less difficult at that time. It 
 was the fathers of the railroad system in the United 
 States who first perceived the importance of this 
 problem, and who, adapting themselves to the new 
 conditions presented in this country, undertook to 
 solve it. Among the pioneers in this branch of engi- 
 neering, no one has done more to establish correct 
 methods, or has left behind a more enviable or a 
 more enduring fame, than Major George W. Whistler. 
 The Whistler family is of English origin, and is 
 found towards the end of the fifteenth century in 
 Oxfordshire, at Goring and Whitechurch, on the 
 Thames. One branch of the family settled in Sussex, 
 at Hastings and Battle, being connected by marriage 
 with the Websters of Battle Abbey, in which neigh- 
 borhood some of the family still live. Another 
 branch lived in Essex, from which came Dr. Daniel 
 Whistler, president of the College of Physicians in 
 London in the time of Charles II., a person fre- 
 quently mentioned in " Pepys' Diary." From the 
 Oxfordshire branch came Ralph, son of Hugh Whistler
 
 10 
 
 of Goring, who went to Ireland, and there founded 
 the Irish branch of the family ; being the original 
 tenant of a large tract of country in Ulster under 
 one of the guilds, or public companies, of the city of 
 London. From this branch of the family came Major 
 John Whistler, father of the distinguished engineer, 
 and the first representative of the family in America. 
 It is stated that in some youthful freak he ran away, 
 and enlisted in the British army. It is certain that 
 he came to this country during the Revolutionary 
 War, under Gen. Burgoyne, and remained with his 
 command until its surrender at Saratoga, when he was 
 taken prisoner of war. Upon his return to England 
 he was honorably discharged ; and soon after, forming 
 an attachment for a daughter of Sir Edward Bishop, 
 a friend of his father, he eloped with her, and came to 
 this country, settling at Hagerstown in Maryland. He 
 soon after entered the army of the United States, and 
 served in the ranks, being severely wounded in the 
 disastrous campaign against the Indians under Major- 
 Gen. St. Clair, in the year 1791. He was afterwards 
 commissioned as lieutenant, rose to the rank of cap- 
 tain, and later had the brevet of major. At the reduc- 
 tion of the army in 1815, having already two sons in 
 the service, he was not retained ; but in recognition 
 of his honorable record, he was appointed military- 
 storekeeper at Newport, Ky., from which post he was
 
 afterwards transferred to Jefferson Barracks, a short 
 distance below St. Louis, where he lived to a good 
 old age, and died, and was buried. 
 
 Major John Whistler had a large family of sons and 
 daughters, among whom we may note particularly : 
 William, who became a colonel in the United-States 
 Army, and who died at Newport, Ky., in 1863 ; John, 
 a lieutenant in the army, who died of wounds received 
 in the battle of Maguago, near Detroit, in 1812 ; and 
 George Washington, the subject of our sketch. Major 
 John Whistler was not only a good soldier, and highly 
 esteemed for his military services, but was also a man 
 of refined tastes and well educated ; being an uncom- 
 monly good linguist, and especially noted as a fine 
 musician. In his family he is stated to have united 
 firmness with tenderness, and to have impressed upon 
 his children the importance of a faithful and thorough 
 performance of duty, in whatever position they should 
 be placed. 
 
 George Washington Whistler, the youngest son of 
 Major John Whistler, was born on the iQth of May, in 
 the year 1800, at Fort Wayne, in the present State of 
 Indiana, but then a part of the North-west Territory, 
 his father' being at the time in command of that post. 
 Of the boyhood of George Whistler we have no 
 record, except that he followed his parents from one 
 military station to another, receiving his early educa-
 
 12 
 
 tion, for the most part, at Newport, Ky., from which 
 place, on July 31, 1814, he was appointed a cadet 
 to the United - States Military Academy, being then 
 fourteen years of age. 
 
 The course of the student at West Point was a very 
 satisfactory one. Owing to a change in the arrange- 
 ment of classes after his entrance, he had the advan- 
 tage of a longer term than had been given to those 
 who preceded him, remaining five years under instruc- 
 tion. His record during his student life was good 
 throughout. In a class of thirty members he stood 
 number one in drawing, number four in descriptive 
 geometry, number five in drill, number eleven in phi- 
 losophy and in engineering, number twelve in mathe- 
 matics, and number ten in general merit. He was 
 remarkable, says one who knew him at this time, for 
 his frank and open manner, and for his pleasant and 
 cheerful disposition. A good story is told of the 
 young cadet, which shows his ability, even at this time, 
 to make the best of circumstances apparently un- 
 toward, and to turn to his advantage his surroundings, 
 whatever they might be. Having been, for some 
 slight breach of discipline, required to bestride a gun 
 in the campus for a short time, he saw, to his dismay, 
 coming down the walk the beautiful daughter of Dr. 
 Foster Swift, a young lady who, visiting West Point, 
 had taken the hearts of the cadets by storm ; and who,
 
 13 
 
 little as he may at the time have dreamed it, was 
 destined to become his future wife. Pulling out his 
 handkerchief, he bent over his gun, and appeared 
 absorbed in cleaning the most inaccessible parts of it 
 with such vigor as to be entirely unaware that any 
 one was passing ; nor did the young lady dream 
 that a case of discipline had been before her, until 
 in after years, when on a visit to West Point, an 
 explanation was made to her by her husband. 
 
 It was at this time of his life, that the refinement 
 and taste for which Major Whistler was ever after 
 noted began to show itself. An accomplished scien- 
 tific musician and performer, he gained a reputation 
 in this direction beyond that of a mere amateur, and 
 scarcely below that of the professionals of the day. 
 His nickname, "Pipes," which his skill upon the flute 
 at this time gave him, adhered to him through life 
 among his intimates in the army. His skill with the 
 pencil, too, was something phenomenal, and would, 
 but for more serious duties, have made him as distin- 
 guished an artist as he was an engineer. Fortunately 
 for the world, this talent descended to one of his 
 sons, and in his hands has had full development. 
 These tastes in Whistler appeared to be less the re- 
 sults of study on his part than the spontaneous out- 
 growth of a refined and delicate organization, and so 
 far constitutional with him that they seemed to tinge
 
 his entire character. They continued to be developed 
 till past the meridian of life, and amid all the pressure 
 of graver duties furnished a most delightful relaxation. 
 Upon completing his course at the Military Acad- 
 emy, he was graduated, July i, 1819, and appointed 
 second lieutenant in the Corps of Artillery. From 
 this date until 1821 he served, part of the time on 
 topographical duty, and part of the time he was in 
 garrison at Fort Columbus. From Nov. 2, 1821, to 
 April 30, 1822, he was assistant professor at the Mili- 
 tary Academy, a position for which his attainments 
 in descriptive geometry and his skill in drawing espe- 
 cially fitted him. This employment, however, was not 
 altogether to his taste. He was too much of an artist 
 to wish to confine himself to the mechanical methods 
 needed in the training of engineering students. In 
 1822, although belonging to the artillery, he was de- 
 tailed on topographical duty, under Major (afterwards 
 Col.) Abert, and was connected with the commission 
 employed in tracing the international boundary be- 
 tween Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods. 
 This work continued during the four years from 1822 
 to 1826, and subsequent duties in the cabinet of the 
 commission employed nearly two years more. The 
 field service of this engagement was any thing but 
 light work ; much of it being performed in the depth 
 of winter, with a temperature fifty degrees below
 
 zero. The principal food of the party was tallow and 
 some other substance, which was warmed over a fire 
 on stopping- at night. The snow was then removed 
 to a sufficient depth for a bed, and the party wrapped 
 one another up in their buffalo-robes until the last 
 man's turn came, when he had to wrap himself up 
 the best he could. In the morning, after warming 
 their food and eating, the remainder was allowed to 
 harden in the pan, after which it was carried on the 
 backs of men to the next stopping-place. The work 
 was all done upon snow-shoes; and occasionally a 
 man became so blinded by the glare of the sun upon 
 the snow, that he had to be led by a rope. 
 
 Upon the ist of June, 1821, Whistler was made 
 second lieutenant in the First Artillery in the re-organ- 
 ized army. On the i6th of August, 1821, he was 
 transferred to the Second Artillery ; and on the 1 6th of 
 August, 1829, he was made first lieutenant. Although 
 belonging in the artillery, he was assigned to topo- 
 graphical duty almost continually until Dec. 31, 1833, 
 when he resigned his position in the army. A large 
 part of his time during this period was spent in making 
 surveys, plans, and estimates for public works ; not 
 merely those needed by the National Government, 
 but others, which were undertaken by chartered com- 
 panies in different parts of the United States. There 
 were at that time very few educated engineers in the
 
 i6 
 
 country besides the graduates of the Military Acad- 
 emy ; and the army engineers were therefore fre- 
 quently applied for by private corporations, and for 
 several years Government granted their services. 
 
 Prominent among the early works of internal im- 
 provement was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ; and 
 the managers of this undertaking had been successful 
 in obtaining the services of several officers who were 
 then eminent, or afterwards became so. The names 
 of Dr. Howard, who, though not a military man, 
 had been attached to the corps of engineers, of 
 Lieut.-Col. Long, and of Capt. William Gibbs McNeill, 
 appear in the proceedings of the company as " Chiefs 
 of Brigade;" and those of Fessenden, Gwynne, and 
 Trimble, among the assistants. 
 
 In October, 1828, this company made a special re- 
 quest for the services of Lieut. Whistler. The direct- 
 ors had resolved on sending a deputation to England 
 to examine the railroads of that country ; and Jonathan 
 Knight, William Gibbs McNeill, and George \V. Whist- 
 ler were selected for this duty. They were also ac- 
 companied by Ross Winans, whose fame and fortune, 
 together with that of his sons, became so widely known 
 afterwards in connection with the great Russian railway. 
 Lieut. Whistler was chosen for this service, says one 
 who knew him well, on account of his remarkable thor- 
 oughness in all the details of his profession, as well as
 
 for his superior qualifications in other respects. The 
 party left this country in November, 1828, and returned 
 in May, 1829. 
 
 In the course of the following year, the organization 
 of the road, a part of which had already been con- 
 structed under the immediate personal supervision of 
 Lieut. Whistler, assumed a more permanent form, and 
 allowed the military engineers to be transferred to 
 other undertakings of a similar character. Accord- 
 ingly, in June, 1830, Capt. McNeill and Lieut. Whistler 
 were sent to the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad, 
 for which they made the preliminary surveys and a 
 definite location ; and upon which they remained until 
 about twenty miles were completed, when a lack of 
 funds caused a temporary suspension of the work. In 
 the latter part of 1831, Lieut. Whistler went to New 
 Jersey to aid in the construction of the Paterson and 
 Hudson-River Railroad (now a part of the Erie Rail- 
 way). Upon this work he remained until 1833, at 
 which time he moved to Connecticut to take charge of 
 the location of the railroad from Providence to Ston- 
 ington, a line which had been proposed as an extension 
 of the road already in process of construction from 
 Boston to Providence. 
 
 In this year, Dec. 31, 1833, Lieut. Whistler resigned 
 his commission in the army; and this not so much from 
 choice as from a sense of duty. Hitherto his work as
 
 i8 
 
 an engineer appears to have been more in the nature 
 of an employment than a vocation. He carried on 
 his undertakings diligently, as it was his nature to 
 do, but without much anxiety or enthusiasm ; and he 
 was satisfied with meeting difficulties, as they came up, 
 with a sufficient solution. Henceforward he followed 
 his profession from a love of it. He labored that his 
 resources against the demands of matter and space 
 should be over-abundant ; and if he had before been 
 content with the sure-footed facts of observation, he 
 now added the luminous aid of study. How luminous 
 and how sure these combined became, his later works 
 show best. 
 
 In 1834 Mr. Whistler accepted the position of engi- 
 neer to the Proprietors of Locks and Canals at Lowell. 
 This position gave him, among other things, the direc- 
 tion of the machine-shops, which had been made prin- 
 cipally for the construction of locomotive engines. 
 The Boston and Lowell Railroad, which at this time 
 was in process of construction, had imported a locomo- 
 tive from the works of George and Robert Stephenson 
 at Newcastle, and this engine was to be reproduced, 
 not only for the use of the Lowell road, but for other 
 railways as well ; and to this work Whistler gave a 
 large part of his time from 1834 to 1837. The mak- 
 ing of these engines illustrated well the features in his 
 character which then and ever after were of the utmost
 
 19 
 
 value to those for whom he worked. It shows the 
 self-denial with which he excluded any novelties of his 
 own, the caution with which he admitted those of 
 others, and the judgment which he exercised in select- 
 ing and combining the most meritorious of existing 
 arrangements. His preference for what was simple 
 and had been tried did not arise from a want of origi- 
 nality, as he had abundant occasion to show during the 
 whole of his engineering life. He was, indeed, uncom- 
 monly fertile in expedients, as all who knew him testify; 
 and the greater the demand upon his originality, the 
 higher did he rise to meet the occasion. The time 
 spent in Lowell was not only to the great advantage 
 of the company, but it increased also his own stores of 
 mechanical knowledge, and in a direction, too, which 
 in later years was of especial value to him. 
 
 In 1837 the- condition of the Stonington Railroad 
 became such as to demand the continual presence 
 and attention of the engineer. Mr. Whistler, there- 
 fore, moved to Stonington, a place to which he became 
 much attached, and to which he seems during all of 
 his wanderings to have looked with a view of making 
 it finally his home. While engaged upon the above 
 work, he was consulted in regard to many other 
 undertakings in different parts of the country ; and 
 prominent among these was the Western Railroad of 
 Massachusetts.
 
 20 
 
 This great work, remarkable for the boldness of its 
 engineering, was to run from Worcester through 
 Springfield and Pittsfield to Albany. To surmount 
 the highlands dividing the waters of the Connecticut 
 from those of the Hudson, called for engineering 
 cautious and skilful, as well as heroic. The line from 
 Worcester to Springfield, though apparently much less 
 formidable, and to one who now rides over the road 
 showing no very marked features, demanded hardly 
 less study; as many as twelve several routes having 
 been examined between Worcester and Brookfield. 
 To undertake the solution of a problem of so much 
 importance, required the best of engineering talent; 
 and we find associated in this work the names of 
 three men who in the early railroad enterprises of this 
 country stood deservedly in the front rank, George 
 W. Whistler, William Gibbs McNeill, and William H. 
 Swift. McNeill had graduated from the Military Acad- 
 emy in 1817, and risen to the rank of major in the 
 topographical engineers. Like Whistler, he had been 
 detailed to take charge of the design and construction 
 of many works of internal improvement not under 
 the direction of the General Government. These two 
 engineers exercised an influence throughout the coun- 
 try for many years, much greater than that of any 
 others. Indeed, there were very few works of impor- 
 tance undertaken at that time, in connection with
 
 21 
 
 which their names do not appear. This alliance was 
 further cemented by the marriage between Whistler 
 and McNeill's sister. Capt. William H. Swift had 
 also graduated from the Military Academy, and had 
 already shown marked ability as an engineer. Such 
 were the men who undertook the location and con- 
 struction of the railroad which was to surmount the 
 highlands between the Connecticut and the Hudson, 
 and to connect Boston with the Great West. 
 
 The early reports of these engineers to the directors 
 of the Western Railroad show an exceedingly thor- 
 ough appreciation of the complex problem presented 
 to them, and a much better understanding of the prin- 
 ciples involved in establishing the route than seems 
 to have been shown in many far more recent works. 
 In these early reports, made in 1836 and 1837, we 
 find elaborate discussions as to the power of the loco- 
 motive engine ; and a recognition of the fact, that in 
 comparing different lines we must regard the plan as 
 well as the profile, " as the resistance from curves on 
 a level road may even exceed that produced by gravity 
 on an incline ; " and in one place we find the ascents 
 "equated at eighteen feet, the slope which requires 
 double the power needed on a level road," resulting 
 in a " virtual increase" We find also a very clear 
 expression of the fact that an increased expenditure 
 in the power needed to operate the completed road
 
 22 
 
 may overbalance a considerable saving in first cost. 
 To bear this principle in mind, and at the same time 
 to work in accordance with the directors' ideas of 
 economy, in a country where the railroad was regarded 
 very largely as an experiment, was by no means an 
 easy task. The temptation to make the first cost low, 
 at the expense of the quality of the road, in running 
 up the valley of the Westfield River, was very great, 
 and the directors were at one time very strongly urged 
 to make an exceedingly narrow and crooked road 
 west of Springfield ; but Major Whistler so convinced 
 the president, Thomas B. Wales, of the folly of such 
 a course, that the latter declared with a most emphatic 
 prefix that he would have nothing to do with such a 
 twopenny cow-path, and thus prevented its adoption. 
 
 Major Whistler had many investigations to make 
 concerning the plans and policy of railroad companies, 
 at a time when almost every thing connected with 
 them was comparatively new and untried. When he 
 commenced, there was no passenger- railroad in the 
 country, and but very few miles of quarry and mining 
 track. If at that time an ascent of more than one in 
 two hundred was required, it was thought necessary 
 to have inclined planes and stationary power. It was 
 supposed that by frequent relays it would be possible 
 to obtain for passenger-cars a speed of eight or nine 
 miles an hour. Almost nothing was known of the
 
 23 
 
 best form for rails, of the construction of the track, 
 or of the details for cars or engines. In all of these 
 things Major Whistler's highly gifted and well-balanced 
 mind enabled him to judge wisely for his employers, 
 and to practise for them the truest economy. 
 
 Major Whistler's connection with the Western Rail- 
 road began while he was still engaged upon the Ston- 
 ington Line. Associated with his friend McNeill, he 
 acted as consulting engineer for the Western road from 
 1836 to 1840. From 1840 to 1842 he was its chief 
 engineer, with his headquarters at Springfield. The 
 steep grades west of the Connecticut presented not 
 only a difficult problem in location, but in locomotive 
 engineering as well. At the present day we can order 
 any equipment which may best meet the requirement 
 upon any railroad, and the order will be promptly met 
 by any one of our great manufactories ; but in the 
 early days of the Western Railroad it was far other- 
 wise, and the locomotive which should successfully 
 and economically surmount with heavy trains a 
 grade of over eighty feet to the mile was yet to be 
 seen. The Messrs. Winans of Baltimore had built 
 some nondescript machines, which had received the 
 name of " crabs," and had tried to make them work 
 upon the Western road ; but after many attempts they 
 were finally given up as unfit for such service. These 
 "crabs "were eight-wheeled engines, weighing about
 
 2 4 
 
 twenty tons, with a vertical boiler. The wheels were 
 three feet and a half in diameter ; but the engine 
 worked on to an intermediate shaft, which was con- 
 nected with the driving-wheels in such a manner as 
 to get the effect of a five-feet wheel. These engines 
 did not impress Major Whistler at all favorably. His 
 experience in Lowell was here of great value to him ; 
 and he had become convinced that the engine of 
 George Stephenson was, in the main, the coming ma- 
 chine, and needed but to be properly proportioned, 
 and of sufficient size, to meet every demand. 
 
 With Major Whistler's work upon the Western Rail- 
 road, his engineering service in this country concluded, 
 and that by an occurrence which marked him as one 
 of the foremost engineers of his time. Patient, inde- 
 fatigable, cautious, remarkable for exhaustless resource, 
 admirable judgment, and the highest engineering skill, 
 he had begun with the beginning of the railroad sys- 
 tem, and had risen to the chief control of one of the 
 greatest works in the world, the Western Railroad of 
 Massachusetts. Not only had he shown the most far- 
 sighted wisdom in fixing the general features of this 
 undertaking; but no man surpassed him, if indeed any 
 one equalled him, in an exact and thorough knowledge 
 of technical details. To combine the various elements 
 in such a manner as to produce the greatest commer- 
 cial success, and to make the railroad in the widest
 
 25 
 
 sense of the word a public improvement, never forget- 
 ting the amount of money at his disposal, was the 
 problem he had undertaken to solve. He had proved 
 himself a great master in his profession, and had shown 
 how well fitted he was to grapple with every difficulty. 
 He was equally a man of science and a man of busi- 
 ness ; and to all this he added the most delicate sense 
 of honor, and the most spotless integrity. He was 
 in the prime of manhood, and was prepared to enter 
 upon the great work of his life. 
 
 It was not long after the introduction of the railroad, 
 that intelligent persons saw very plainly that the new 
 mode of transportation was not to be confined to the 
 working of an already established traffic in densely 
 populated regions, but that it would be of equal service 
 in awakening the energies of undeveloped countries, 
 in bringing the vast interior regions of the continents 
 into communication with the seaboard, in opening 
 markets to lands which before were beyond the reach 
 of commerce. And it was seen, too, that in event of 
 war a new and invaluable element had been introduced ; 
 viz., the power of transportation to an extent never 
 before dreamed of. 
 
 Especially were these advantages foreseen in the 
 vast empire of Russia ; and an attempt was very early 
 made to induce private capitalists to construct the lines 
 contemplated in that country. The Emperor, besides
 
 26 
 
 guaranteeing to the shareholders a minimum profit of 
 four per cent, proposed to give them gratuitously all 
 the lands of the state through which the lines should 
 pass, and to place at their disposal, also gratuitously, 
 the timber and raw materials necessary for the way and 
 works, which might be found upon the ground. It was 
 further proposed to permit the importation of the rails 
 and the rolling-stock free of duty. Russian proprie- 
 tors also came forward, and not only agreed to grant 
 such portions of their land as the railroads might pass 
 through, gratuitously, but, further, to dispossess them- 
 selves temporarily of their serfs, and surrender them 
 to the use of the companies, on the sole condition that 
 they should be properly supported while thus employed. 
 
 With regard to the great line, however, which was 
 to unite the two capitals, St. Petersburg and Moscow, 
 it was decreed that this should be made exclusively at 
 the expense of the state, in order to retain in the 
 hands of the government, and in the general interest 
 of the people, a line of communication so important to 
 the industry and the internal commerce of the empire. 
 The local proprietors agreed to surrender to the gov- 
 ernment, gratuitously, the lands necessary for this line. 
 
 It was very early understood that the railroad prob- 
 lem in Russia was much more analogous to that in the 
 United States than to that in England. The Emperor, 
 therefore, in 1839, sent the Chevalier De Gerstner to
 
 2 7 
 
 the United States to obtain information concerning the 
 railroads of this country. It was this person who had 
 obtained from the Emperor the concession for the 
 short railroad from St. Petersburg to Zarskoe Selo, 
 which had been opened in 1837, an< ^ wno na d also 
 made a careful reconnoissance in 1835 for a line from 
 St. Petersburg to Moscow, and had very strongly urged 
 its construction on the American plan. The more De 
 Gerstner examined our roads, the more impressed he 
 was with the fitness of what he termed the American 
 system of building and operating railroads, to the needs 
 of the empire of Russia. In one of his letters, in ex- 
 plaining the causes of the cheap construction of Amer- 
 ican railways, after noting the fact that labor as well as 
 material is much dearer in America than in Europe, he 
 refers to the use of steep grades (ninety-three feet to 
 the mile) and sharp curves (six hundred feet radius) 
 upon which the American equipment works easily; to 
 the use of labor-saving machinery, particularly to a 
 steam-excavating machine on the railroad between 
 Worcester and Springfield ; and to the American 
 system of wooden-bridge building ; and says, " The 
 superstructure of the railroads in America is made con- 
 formable to the expected traffic, and costs therefore 
 more or less accordingly;" and he concludes, "Con- 
 sidering the whole, it appears that the cheapness of 
 the American railroads has its foundation in the prac-
 
 28 
 
 tical sense which predominates in their construction." 
 Again, under the causes of the cheap management of 
 the American roads, he notes the less expensive ad- 
 ministration service, the low rate of speed, the use of 
 the eight-wheeled cars, and the four-wheeled truck 
 under the engines; and concludes, " In my opinion, it 
 would be of great advantage for every railroad com- 
 pany in Europe to procure at least one train like 
 those used in America. Those companies, however, 
 whose works are yet under construction, I can advise, 
 with the fullest conviction, to procure all their loco- 
 motive engines and tenders from America, and to 
 construct their cars after the American model." 
 
 Notwithstanding this report, the suggestions of De 
 Gerstner were not at once accepted. The magnitude 
 of the enterprise would not admit of taking a false 
 step. Further evidence was needed ; and, accord- 
 ingly, it was decided to send a committee of engineer 
 officers to various countries in Europe and to the 
 United States, to select such a system for the road 
 and its equipment, as would be best adapted to Russia. 
 These officers, Cols. Menlikoff and Krofft, not only 
 reported in the most decided manner in favor of the 
 American methods, but also stated that of all persons 
 with whom they had communicated, no one had given 
 them such full and satisfactory information upon all 
 points, or had so impressed them as possessing ex-
 
 2 9 
 
 traordinary ability, as Major Whistler. This led to his 
 receiving an invitation from the Emperor to go to 
 Russia, to act as consulting engineer for the great 
 road which was to connect the imperial city upon the 
 Baltic with the ancient capital of the Czars. 
 
 When we consider the magnitude of the engineer- 
 ing works with which the older countries abound, we 
 can but regard with a feeling of pride the fact that 
 an American should have been selected for so high a 
 trust, by a European government possessing every 
 opportunity and means for securing the highest pro- 
 fessional talent which the world could offer. Indeed, 
 the engineers of the Russian service were perhaps 
 the most accomplished body of men to be found in 
 any country. Selected in their youth, irrespective of 
 any artificial advantages of birth or position, but for 
 having a genius for such work, and trained to a degree 
 of excellence in all of the sciences unsurpassed in 
 any country, they stood deservedly in the front rank. 
 Such was the body of men with whom Major Whistler 
 was called to co-operate, and whose professional duties, 
 if not directed specially by him, were to be controlled 
 by his judgment. 
 
 Accepting the position offered to him in so flatter- 
 ing a manner, he sailed for St. Petersburg about mid- 
 summer, in 1842, being accompanied on his voyage 
 by Major Bouttattz of the Russian Engineer Corps,
 
 who had been sent to this country by the Emperor 
 as an escort. Arriving in St. Petersburg, and having 
 learned the general character of the proposed work, 
 he travelled, partly by horse and partly on foot, over 
 the entire route, and made his preliminary report, 
 which was at once accepted. 
 
 The plan contemplated the construction of a double- 
 track railroad, four hundred and twenty miles long, 
 perfect in all its parts, and equipped to its utmost 
 necessity. The estimates amounted to nearly forty 
 millions of dollars, and the time for its construction 
 was reckoned at seven years. The line selected for 
 the road had no reference to intermediate points, and 
 was the shortest attainable, due regard being paid to 
 the cost of construction. It is nearly straight, and 
 passes over so level a country as to encounter no ob- 
 stacle requiring a grade exceeding twenty feet to the 
 mile, and for most of the distance it is level. The 
 right of way taken was four hundred feet in width 
 throughout the entire length. The roadbed was raised 
 from six to ten feet above the ordinary level of the 
 country, and was thirty feet wide on top. 
 
 One of the most important questions to be settled 
 at the outset, in regard to this great work, was the 
 width of the gauge. At that time the opinion in 
 England, as well as in the United States, among engi- 
 neers, was setting very strongly in favor of a gauge
 
 wider than four feet eight and a half inches ; and the 
 Russian engineers were decidedly in favor of such 
 increased width. Major Whistler, however, in an 
 elaborate report to Count Kleinmichel, argued very 
 strongly in favor of the ordinary gauge. To this, a 
 commission of the most distinguished engineers in 
 Russia replied, urging in the most decided manner a 
 gauge of six feet. Major Whistler rejoined in a re- 
 port which is one of the finest models of an engineer- 
 ing argument ever written, and in which we have, 
 perhaps, the best view of the quality of his mind. 
 In this document, no point is omitted ; each part of 
 the question is handled with the most consummate 
 skill ; the bearing of the several parts upon the whole 
 is shown in the clearest possible manner, and in a 
 style which could only come from one who from his 
 own knowledge was thoroughly familiar with all the 
 details, not only of the railroad, but of the locomotive 
 as well. 
 
 In this report the history of the gauge is given, 
 with the origin of the standard of four feet eight 
 inches and a half. The questions of strength, sta- 
 bility, and capacity of cars, of the dimensions, pro- 
 portions, and power of engines, the speed of trains, 
 resistances to motion, weight and strength of rails, 
 the cost of the roadway, and the removal of snow, are 
 carefully considered; the various claims of the advo-
 
 32 
 
 cates for a wider gauge are fairly and critically exam- 
 ined; and while the errors of his opponents are laid 
 bare in the most unsparing manner, the whole is done 
 in a spirit so entirely unprejudiced, and with so evi- 
 dent a desire for the simple truth, as to carry convic- 
 tion to any fair-minded person. The dry way, too, 
 in which Major Whistler suggests that conclusions 
 based upon actual results from existing railways are 
 of more value than deductions from supposed condi- 
 tions, upon imaginary roads, is exceedingly entertain- 
 ing. The result was the adoption of the gauge 
 recommended by Major Whistler ; namely, five feet. 
 Those who remember the " Battle of the Gauges," and 
 who know how much expense and trouble the wide 
 gauge has since caused, will appreciate the stand 
 taken thus early by Major Whistler ; and this was but 
 one among many cases which might be mentioned to 
 show how comprehensive and far-reaching was his 
 mind. 
 
 The roadway of the St. Petersburg and Moscow 
 Railroad was thirty feet wide on top, for a double 
 track of five feet gauge, with a gravel ballasting two 
 feet deep. The bridges were of wood, of the Howe 
 pattern, no spans being over two hundred feet in 
 length. The stations at each end, and the station and 
 engine houses along the line, were on a plan uniform 
 throughout, and of the most ample accommodation.
 
 33 
 
 Fuel and water stations were placed at suitable points ; 
 and engine-houses were made fifty miles apart, built 
 of the most substantial masonry, circular in form, a 
 hundred and eighty feet in diameter, surmounted by 
 a dome, and having stalls for twenty-two engines each. 
 Repair-shops were attached to every engine-house, 
 furnished with every tool or implement that the wants 
 of the road could suggest. 
 
 The equipment of rolling-stock and fixed machinery 
 for the shops was furnished by the American firm of 
 Winans, Harrison, & Eastwick, who from previous 
 acquaintance were known by Major Whistler to be 
 skilful, energetic, and reliable. Much diplomacy was 
 needed to procure the large money advances for this 
 part of the work, the whole Winans contract amount- 
 ing to nearly five millions of dollars ; but the assur- 
 ance of Major Whistler was a sufficient guaranty 
 against disappointment or failure. 
 
 In 1843 tne plans for the work were all complete, 
 and in 1844 the various operations along the line were 
 under way, and proceeding according to the well- 
 arranged programme. In 1844 work had progressed 
 so far that the construction of the rolling-stock was 
 commenced. The locomotives were of two classes, 
 freight and passenger. The engines of each class 
 were made throughout from the same patterns, so that 
 any part of one engine would fit the same position on
 
 34 
 
 any other. The passenger-engines had two pairs of 
 driving-wheels, six feet in diameter, coupled, and a 
 four-wheeled truck similar to that under the modern 
 American locomotive. The waist of trie boiler was 
 forty-seven inches in diameter, and it contained a hun- 
 dred and eighty-six two-inch tubes ten and a half feet 
 long. The cylinders were sixteen inches in diameter, 
 with a twenty-two- inch stroke. The freight-engines 
 had the same capacity of boiler, and the same number 
 and length of tubes, cylinders eighteen inches in 
 diameter, and a stroke of twenty- two inches, and 
 three pairs of driving-wheels four and a half feet in 
 diameter, all coupled, and a four-wheeled truck, all 
 being uniform throughout in workmanship and finish. 
 The passenger-cars were fifty-six feet long and nine 
 and a half feet wide, the first-class carrying thirty- 
 three passengers, the second-class fifty-four, and the 
 third-class eighty. They all had eight truck-wheels 
 each, and elliptic steel springs. The freight-cars were 
 all thirty feet long and nine and a half feet wide, 
 made in a uniform manner, with eight truck-wheels 
 under each. The imperial saloon carriages were 
 eighty feet long and nine and a half feet wide, having 
 double trucks, or sixteen wheels under each. They 
 were divided into five compartments, and fitted with 
 every convenience. 
 
 Early in 1847 tne Emperor Nicholas visited the
 
 35 
 
 mechanical works at Alexandroffsky, where the rolling- 
 stock was being made by the Messrs. Winans, in the 
 shops prepared by them, and supplied with Russian 
 labor. Every thing here was on the grandest scale, 
 and the work was conducted under the most perfect 
 system. Upon this occasion the Emperor was so 
 much gratified at what had already been accomplished, 
 that he conferred upon Major Whistler the decoration 
 of the Order of St. Anne. He had previously been 
 pressed to wear the Russian uniform, which he 
 promptly declined to do ; but there was no escape 
 from the decoration without giving offence. He is 
 said, however, to have generally contrived to hide it 
 beneath his coat in such a manner that few ever 
 saw it. 
 
 Technically, Major Whistler was consulting engi- 
 neer, Col. Melnikoff being constructing engineer for 
 the northern half of the road, and Col. Krofft for the 
 southern half; but, as a matter of fact, by far the larger 
 part of the labor of planning the construction in detail 
 of both railroad and equipment fell upon Major 
 Whistler. There was also a permanent commission, 
 having the general charge of the construction of the 
 road, of which the president was Gen. Destrem, one 
 of the four French military engineers whom Napoleon, 
 at the request of the Emperor Alexander, sent to 
 Russia for the service of that country.
 
 36 
 
 The year 1848 was a very trying one to Major 
 Whistler. He had already on several occasions over- 
 tasked his strength, and had been obliged to rest. 
 This year the Asiatic cholera made its appearance. He 
 sent his family abroad, but remained himself alone in 
 his house. He would on no account at this time leave 
 his post, nor omit his periodical inspections along the 
 line of the road, where the epidemic was raging. In 
 November he had an attack of cholera, and while he 
 recovered from it he was left very weak. He remained, 
 however, upon the work through the winter, though 
 suffering much from a complication of diseases. As 
 spring advanced he became much worse ; and upon 
 the gth of April, 1849, ne passed quietly away, the 
 immediate cause of his death being a trouble with 
 the heart. 
 
 Funeral services were held in the Anglican (Episco- 
 pal) Church in St. Petersburg. His body was soon 
 afterwards carried to Boston, and deposited beneath 
 St. Paul's Church ; but the final interment took place 
 at Stonington. The kindness and attention of the 
 Emperor, and of all with whom Major Whistler had 
 been associated, knew no bounds. Every thing was 
 done to comfort and aid his wife ; and when she left 
 St. Petersburg, the Emperor sent her in his private 
 barge to the mouth of the Baltic. 
 
 " It was not only," says one who knew him well
 
 37 
 
 during his long residence abroad, "through his skill, 
 ability, and experience as an engineer, that Major 
 Whistler was particularly qualified for and eminently 
 successful in the important task he performed so 
 well in Russia ; his military training and bearing, his 
 polished manners, good humor, sense of honor, knowl- 
 edge of a language (French) in which he could con- 
 verse with officers of the government ; his resolution 
 in adhering to what he thought was right, and in 
 meeting difficulties only to surmount them ; with 
 other admirable personal qualities, made him soon, 
 and during his whole residence in Russia, much liked 
 and trusted by all persons by whom he was known, 
 from the Emperor down to the peasant. Such is the 
 reputation he left behind him, and which is given to 
 him in Russia to this day." 
 
 In 1849 the firm of Winans, Harrison, & Eastwick 
 had already furnished the road with 162 locomotives, 
 72 passenger and 2,580 freight cars. They had also 
 arranged to instruct a suitable number of Russian 
 mechanics to take charge of the machinery when com- 
 pleted. The road was finished its entire length in 
 1850, being opened for passenger and freight traffic 
 on the 25th of September of that year, in two divis- 
 ions, experimentally, and finally opened for through 
 business on Nov. i, 1851. In all of its construction 
 and equipment it was essentially American of the
 
 38 
 
 best kind, every thing being made under a carefully 
 devised system, by which the greatest economy in 
 maintenance and in management should be possible. 
 The use of standard patterns, uniformity of design, 
 and duplication of parts, was applied not only to the 
 rolling-stock, but to the railroad as well, wherever it 
 was possible. Indeed, the whole undertaking, in all 
 its parts, bore the impress of one master mind. 
 
 On the death of Major Whistler, the government 
 with jealous care prevented any changes whatever 
 being made in his plans, including those which had 
 not been carried out, as well as those already in 
 process of execution. An American engineer, Major 
 T. S. Brown, was invited to Russia to succeed Major 
 Whistler as consulting engineer. The services of 
 the Messrs. Winans, also, were so satisfactory to the 
 government, that a new contract was afterwards made, 
 upon the completion of the road, for the maintenance 
 and the future construction of rolling-stock. 
 
 While the great railroad was the principal work of 
 Major Whistler in Russia, he was also consulted in 
 regard to all the important engineering undertakings 
 of the period. The fortifications at Cronstadt, the 
 Naval Arsenal and Docks at the same place, the plans 
 for improving the Dovina at Archangel, the great iron 
 roof of the Riding House at St. Petersburg, and the 
 iron bridge over the Neva, all received his attention.
 
 39 
 
 The government was accustomed to rely upon his 
 judgment in all cases requiring the exercise of the 
 highest combination of science and practical skill ; and 
 here, with a happy tact peculiarly his own, he secured 
 the warm friendship of men whose professional acts 
 he found himself called upon in the exercise of his 
 high trust, in many cases, to condemn. The Russians 
 are proverbially jealous of strangers ; and no higher 
 evidence of their appreciation of the sterling honesty 
 of Major Whistler, and of his sound, discriminating 
 judgment, could be afforded than the fact that all his 
 recommendations on the great questions of internal 
 improvements, opposed as many of them were to the 
 principles which had previously obtained, and which 
 were sanctioned by usage, were yet carried out by the 
 government to the smallest details. 
 
 While in Russia, Major Whistler was sometimes 
 placed in positions most trying to him. It is said 
 that some of the corps of native engineers, many of 
 whom were nobles, while compelled to look up to 
 him officially were inclined to look down upon him 
 socially, and exercised their supposed privileges in 
 this respect so as to annoy him exceedingly ; for he 
 had not known in his own country what it was to be 
 the social inferior of any one. The Emperor, hearing 
 of this annoyance, determined to stop it : so, taking 
 advantage of a day when he knew the engineer corps
 
 40 
 
 would visit a celebrated gallery of art, he entered it 
 while they were there, and, without at first noticing 
 any one else, looked around for Major Whistler, and 
 seeing him, went directly towards him, took his arm, 
 and walked slowly with him entirely around the gal- 
 lery. After this the conduct of the nobles was all that 
 could be desired. 
 
 Major Whistler's salary, while in Russia, was twelve 
 thousand dollars a year, a sum no more than necessary 
 for living in a style befitting his position. He had 
 abundant opportunity for making money, but this his 
 nice sense of honor forbade. It is even stated that 
 he would never allow any invention to be used on the 
 road, which could by any possibility be of any profit 
 to himself or to any of his friends. He was continu- 
 ally besieged by American inventors, but in vain. 
 The honor of the profession he regarded as a sacred 
 trust. He served the Emperor with the fidelity that 
 characterized all his actions. His unswerving devo- 
 tion to his duty was fully appreacited ; and it is said 
 that no American in Russia, except John Quincy 
 Adams, was ever held in so high estimation. 
 
 Major Whistler married for his first wife Mary, 
 daughter of Dr. Foster Swift of the United-States 
 Army, and of Deborah, daughter of Capt. Thomas 
 Delano of Nantucket. By her he had three children : 
 Deborah, his only daughter, who married Seymour
 
 Hayden of London, a surgeon, but later and better 
 known for his skill in etching ; George William, who 
 became an engineer and railway manager, and who 
 went to Russia, and finally died at Brighton in Eng- 
 land, Dec. 24, 1869; Joseph Swift, born at New 
 London, Aug. 12, 1825, and who died at Stonington, 
 Jan. i, 1840. His first wife died Dec. 9, 1827, at the 
 early age of twenty-three years, and is buried in 
 Greenwood Cemetery, in the shade of the monument 
 erected to the memory of her husband by the loving 
 hands of his professional brethren. For his second 
 wife, Major Whistler married Anna Matilda, daughter 
 of Dr. Charles Donald McNeill of Wilmington, N.C., 
 and sister of his friend and associate William Gibbs 
 McNeill. By her he had five sons : James Abbot 
 McNeill, the noted artist, and William Gibbs McNeill, 
 a well-known physician, both now living in London ; 
 Kirk Boott, born in Stonington, July 16, 1838, and who 
 died in Springfield, July 10, 1842 ; Charles Donald, 
 born in Springfield, Aug. 27, 1841, and who died in 
 Russia, Sept. 24, 1843 ! an d John Bouttattz, who was 
 born and who died at St. Petersburg, having lived but 
 little more than a year. His second wife, who outlived 
 him, returned to America, and remained here during 
 the education of her children, after which she moved 
 to England, where she died, Jan. 31, 1881, at the age 
 of seventy-six years, being buried at Hastings.
 
 42 
 
 At a meeting held in the office of the Panama 
 Railroad Company in New York, Aug. 27, 1849, f r 
 the purpose of suggesting measures expressive of 
 their respect for the memory of Major Whistler, Wil- 
 liam H. Sidell being chairman, and A. W. Craven 
 secretary, it was resolved that a monument in Green- 
 wood Cemetery would be a suitable mode of express- 
 ing the feelings of the profession in this respect, and 
 that an association be formed to collect funds, and to 
 take all necessary steps to carry out the work. At 
 this meeting Capt. William H. Swift was appointed 
 president, Major T. S. Brown treasurer, and A. W. 
 Craven secretary ; and Messrs. Horatio Allen, W. C. 
 Young, J. W. Adams, and A. W. Craven were ap- 
 pointed a committee to procure designs and estimates, 
 and to select a suitable piece of ground at Greenwood 
 Cemetery. The design was made by Mr. Adams, and 
 the ground was given by Mr. Kirkwood. The monu- 
 ment is a beautiful structure of red sandstone, about 
 fifteen feet high, and stands in " Twilight Dell." 
 Upon the several faces are the following inscrip- 
 tions :
 
 43 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 GEORGE ^ASHINGTON WHISTLER, 
 
 CIVIL ENGINEER. 
 
 BORN AT FORT WAYNE, IND., MAY, 1800. 
 
 DIED AT ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, 
 
 APRIL, 1849. 
 
 EDUCATED AT THE U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY. 
 HE RETIRED FROM THE ARMY IN 1833, AND 
 BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH WILLIAM GIBBS 
 McNEILL. THEY WERE IN THEIR TIME 
 ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE AT THE HEAD OF 
 THEIR PROFESSION IN THIS COUNTRY. 
 
 HE WAS DISTINGUISHED FOR THEORETICAL 
 AND PRACTICAL ABILITY, COUPLED WITH 
 SOUND JUDGMENT AND GREAT INTEGRITY. 
 IN 1842 HE WAS INVITED TO RUSSIA BY THE 
 EMPEROR NICHOLAS, AND DIED THERE WHILE 
 CONSTRUCTING THE ST. PETERSBURG AND 
 MOSCOW RAILROAD. 
 
 THIS CENOTAPH IS A MEMORIAL OF THE 
 ESTEEM AND AFFECTION OF HIS FRIENDS 
 AND COMPANIONS.
 
 44 
 
 While the monument thus raised to the memory 
 of the great engineer stands in that most delightful 
 of the cities of the dead, his worn-out body rests in 
 the quaint old town of Stonington. It was here that 
 his several children had been buried ; and he had fre- 
 quently expressed a desire, that when he should die 
 he might be placed by their side. A deputation of 
 engineers, who had been in their early years associ- 
 ated with him, attended the simple service which was 
 held over his grave ; and all felt, as they turned away, 
 that they had bid farewell to such a man as the world 
 has not often seen. 
 
 In person, Major Whistler was of medium size and 
 well made. His face showed the finest type of manly 
 beauty, combined with a delicacy almost feminine. 
 In private life he was greatly prized for his natural 
 qualities of heart and mind, his regard for the feeling 
 of others, and his unvarying kindness, especially to- 
 wards his inferiors and his young assistants. His 
 duties and his travels in this and in other coun- 
 tries brought him in contact with men of every rank ; 
 and it is safe to say, that, the more competent those 
 who knew him were to judge, the more highly was 
 he valued by them. A close observer, with a keen 
 sense of humor and unfailing tact, fond of personal 
 anecdote, and with a mind stored with recollections 
 from association with every grade of society, he was
 
 45 
 
 a most engaging companion. The charm of his man- 
 ner w>as not conventional, nor due to intercourse with 
 refined society, but came from a sense of delicacy and 
 refinement of feeling which was innate, and which 
 showed itself in him under all circumstances. He 
 was, in the widest and best sense of the word, a gen- 
 tleman ; and he was a gentleman outwardly, because 
 he was a gentleman at heart. 
 
 As an engineer, Whistler's works speak for him. 
 He was eminently a practical man, remarkable for 
 steadiness of judgment and for sound business sense. 
 Whatever he did was so well done, that he was natur- 
 ally followed as a model by those who were seeking 
 a high standard. Others may have excelled in ex- 
 traordinary boldness, or in some remarkable specialty ; 
 but in all that rounds out the perfect engineer, 
 whether natural characteristics, professional training, 
 or the well-digested results of long and valuable 
 experience, we look in vain for his superior; and 
 those who knew him best will hesitate to acknowledge 
 his equal.
 
 
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