Jonathan Williams (engineer)
| Jonathan Williams | |
|---|---|
Colonel Jonathan Williams, Chief Engineer
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| Born |
May 20, 1751 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | May 16, 1815 (aged 63) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1801 - 1812 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Corps of Engineers |
| Commands held |
Chief of Engineers Superintendent of the United States Military Academy |
Jonathan Williams (May 20, 1751 – May 16, 1815), American businessman, military figure, politician and writer. He became Chief of Engineers of the Army Corps of Engineers, was the first superintendent of United States Military Academy, and was elected to the Fourteenth United States Congress.
Williams was born in Boston, Massachusetts and attended Harvard University.
Williams, a grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin, spent most of the period from 1770 to 1785 in England and France, where he assisted Franklin with business affairs and served as a commercial agent for the U.S. Navy in Nantes. Back in the United States, he joined the American Philosophical Society in 1788 and published articles on scientific subjects.
President John Adams appointed Williams a major in the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers in February 1801. President Thomas Jefferson upon approval made him the Army's Inspector of Fortifications and assigned him to serve as the first superintendent of West Point in December 1801. The following year Jefferson also appointed him to concurrently command the separate Corps of Engineers established by the Military Peace Establishment Act and Congress and signed by Jefferson on March 16, 1802. He vacated (not resigned) his Superintendent position in 1803 but was reappointed in 1805.
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