Jonathan Knight (railroader)
| Jonathan Knight | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 20th district |
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In office March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857 |
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| Preceded by | John L. Dawson |
| Succeeded by | William Montgomery |
| Member of the Pennsylvania Senate | |
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In office 1822-1828 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 22, 1787 Bucks County, Pennsylvania |
| Died | November 22, 1858 (aged 71) East Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Opposition |
| Occupation | Civil engineer |
Jonathan Knight (November 22, 1787 – November 22, 1858) was an Opposition Party member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. He was also a civil engineer, active in designing railroads.
Jonathan Knight was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He moved with his parents to East Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, in 1801. He attended the common schools and became a civil engineer. He was appointed by the state in 1816 to make and report on a map of Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was elected county commissioner and served three years.
Knight assisted in the preliminary surveys of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the National Road between Cumberland, Maryland, and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1822 to 1828. In 1828 he entered the service of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) to help create an engineering staff for the new company. Later that year the B&O sent him to England to study railroad engineering. Upon his return in 1830, he was appointed Chief Engineer of the B&O and served until 1842. He led the design work of the B&O Main Line from Baltimore, Maryland to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the oldest common carrier rail line in the United States. He also led the engineering work on the B&O Washington Branch between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
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