David Bates Douglass
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David Bates Douglass LL.D. |
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| Born | March 21, 1790 Pompton Township, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | October 21, 1849 (aged 59) Geneva, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Occupation | Professor of Civil Engineering |
| Known for | Professor at USMA, designed Green-Wood Cemetery |
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David Bates Douglass (March 21, 1790 – October 21, 1849) was a civil and military engineer, who worked on a broad set of projects throughout his career. For fifteen years he was a professor at the United States Military Academy, and after his resignation from the army he worked as a consulting engineer while holding academic appointments at various colleges and universities. He was the third president of Kenyon College (1841-1845), and when he died in 1849 he was the chair of the Mathematics Department at Hobart College.
Douglass was born to Nathaniel and Sarah Douglass in Pompton Township, New Jersey, an iron mining region. His mother's brother was the notable civil engineer, David Stanhope Bates. Although his early education was ordinary, being primarily taught by his mother, he developed a passion for technology under the influence of observation of the local industry. He graduated from Yale College in 1813. Shortly after graduation, he entered service in the War of 1812 and received a commission as Second Lieutenant in command of a corps of miners and sappers. He distinguished himself in the war, participating in the Battle of Lundy's Lane, and receiving a citation and field promotion to First Lieutenant for gallantry at the Siege of Fort Erie.
From 1815 until 1831, Douglass was a professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. During this time, he also worked on a variety of other government-sponsored as well as private projects. He consulted on the western section of the Erie Canal, at the request of Governor DeWitt Clinton.
In 1815 he married Ann Ellicott, the daughter of Andrew Ellicott, Professor of Mathematics at the academy.
In 1820, he was a member of the Lewis Cass expedition to explore the south shore of Lake Superior. His orders read:
You are assigned to accompany a party to be employed in exploring the Southern Coasts and Shores of Lake Superior in the course of the ensuing summer under the direction of Governor Cass of Michigan Territory.... You will join him at Detroit by the first of May at the farthest and when your services will be no longer required by him you will return to West Point, N.Y. and report by letter thence to this Department.
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