John D. Van Buren, Jr.

John Dash Van Buren, Jr. (August 8, 1838 in New York City – March 11, 1918 in New Brighton, Staten Island, New York City) was an American civil engineer, naval engineer, lawyer and politician from New York. He was New York State Engineer and Surveyor from 1876 to 1877.

Life

He was the son of Assemblyman John D. Van Buren (1811–1885) and Elvira Lynch (Aymar) Van Buren (1817–1898). He studied at Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, and graduated C.E. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1860.

From 1860 to 1861, he was Assistant Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct Department of New York City. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, he joined the Engineering Corps of the U.S. Navy and was on duty in the Gulf of Mexico, the Bureau of Steam Engineering and the Peninsula Campaign. Afterwards, he was for four years an Assistant Professor of Natural Philosophy and Engineering at the United States Naval Academy.

In 1868, he resigned his commission of First Assistant Engineer, with the rank of lieutenant, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1869, and practiced for a short time in New York City. Then he returned to engineering, and entered the service of the City of New York as Assistant Engineer in the Bureau of Sewers, and later as Assistant Engineer in the Department of Docks under General George B. McClellan, his commanding officer of the Peninsula Campaign who had been appointed Chief Engineer of the Department of Docks in 1870.

In 1875, he married Elizabeth Ludlow Jones, and their son was Maurice Pelham Van Buren (1894–1979).

In 1875, Van Buren was a member of the Tilden Commission to investigate the State canals. He was State Engineer and Surveyor from 1876 to 1877, elected in November 1875 on the Democratic ticket. Afterwards he resumed his private practice.

He died on March 11, 1918 in New Brighton, Staten Island.^[1][2]

Legacy

He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and of the American Society of Naval Engineers. Besides papers in theJournal of the Franklin Institute and the Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, he has published Investigation of Formulas for Iron Parts of Steam Machinery (New York, 1869).

References

1. "John D. Van Buren Dead". New York Times. March 12, 1918. Retrieved 2012-10-10. John Dash Van Buren ...
2. In the New York Times obituary he is erroneously reported as "appointed state engineer", the office having been by election.

Further reading

• The Dem. nominations, in NYT on September 18, 1875