Frederick Mears
| Frederick Mears | |
|---|---|
Fredrick Mears circa 1919.
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| Born |
Frederick Mears May 25, 1878 Omaha Barracks Hospital,Nebraska |
| Died |
January 11, 1939 King Washington |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Civil Engineer |
| Known for | Railroads, bridges |
| Spouse(s) | Jennie “Jane” Wainwright |
| Children | Frederick Mears III |
| Parent(s) | Lt. Col Frederick Mears Sr. |
| Relatives | Major Edward C. Mears |
Colonel Frederick Mears (May 5, 1878 – January 11, 1939) was the son of a career army officer. Older brother Major Edward C. Mears also of the US army. Mears was principal engineer of the Alaska Railroad. Mears took advanced engineering courses at the Infantry and Cavalry School, located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and became a cavalry officer in the US Army.
In May 1906, Mears went to work relocating portions of the Panama Railroad. In 1907, Mears received a promotion to first lieutenant. That same year he married Jennifer (also known as Jennie, Jane, or Johnnie) Wainwright at Fort Clark, Texas. having been next in authority to General Goethals in the work of constructing the canal. Together they went back to Panama and started their family.
In April 1914, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Mears to the Alaska Engineering Commission. With Mears’s help Ship Creek’s tent city was moved and transformed in the town of Anchorage with 4000 permanent residents.
When World War I broke out and Mears left Alaska and returned to Leavenworth to where he organized and took command of the United States Army Thirty-first Railway Engineers regiment. He then went on to France to build the railroad system for the Allied forces. After Word War I, Colonel Mears and his family returned to Alaska; he was appointed Chief Engineer to help complete the railroad.
On July 7, 1923 Colonel Mears resigned from the Army and the Alaska Engineering Commission and, with his family, left Anchorage for Seattle to start with the Great Northern Railroad. In civilian life Frederick Mears continued his association with the Great Northern Railroad. His crowning achievement as an engineer and project manager was the Great Northern Railroad Cascade Tunnel under Stevens Pass in Washington State. The 7.9 mile long tunnel was completed in 36 months and the dedication on January 12, 1929 , was a nation wide radio media event.The event was broadcast over a coast-to-coast network of NBC stations – a radio network established on December 28, just two weeks prior to the Cascade Tunnel broadcast. Colonel Mears died on 1939 January 11 at the age of 60 at King Washington from pneumonia.
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Wikipedia