Andrew Derrom
| Andrew Derrom | |
|---|---|
Colonel Andrew Derrom
|
|
| Born |
November 30, 1817 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Died | July 15, 1892 (aged 74) Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States |
| Place of burial | Cedar Lawn Cemetery |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch | Army of the Potomac |
| Years of service | 1862–1863 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands held | 25th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment |
| Battles/wars | |
Andrew Derrom (November 30, 1817 – July 15, 1892) was an English-American civil engineer, industrialist, inventor, and military officer.
Derrom was the second of six children born to Richard Derrom, a member of the British army originally from Manchester, England, and Mary (Winders) Derrom, originally from Leeds. He accompanied his father when Richard was stationed to Malta, Corfu, and Cephalonia. In Cephalonia, Derrom began his schooling with both private instructors and religious missionaries in Greece. He also met Lord Byron, who at the time was outfitting a fleet on Cephalonia to participate in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire.
When the Greek war began in earnest in 1824, Derrom was sent to Plymouth to begin formal schooling, eventually moving to grammar schools in Glasgow and Derry, Ireland, where his father had been stationed as a member of the civil service, followed by mathematics studies in Deal, England.
Derrom immigrated to the United States in 1836 at the age of 18, eventually settling in Paterson, New Jersey where he worked as a civil engineer, surveyor, and builder. By 1844, Derrom had opened his own construction business, employing up to 400 workers. His business grew over the next fifteen years into one of the largest building firms in the state.
When the Civil War began in 1861, Derrom became a supporter of the Union cause. When President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to the Union Army in 1862, Derrom conducted a volunteer drive in Paterson and filled the city's volunteer quota in three days. Derrom originally hoped that a regiment of Passaic County volunteers would be led by a citizen from the county, but when that failed, Derrom lobbied Charles Smith Olden, the governor of New Jersey, to form a regiment of five companies from Paterson with five companies from southern New Jersey. Olden agreed, and when the 25th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment was formed, Derrom was elected colonel of the regiment.
...
Wikipedia