In Memoriam - Thomas Mutter Cleeman

IN MEMORIAM. THOMAS MUTTER CLEEMAN was born in Philadelphia, July 31st, 1843, and was the son of Gustavus B. C. Cleeman, a resident of Philadelphia for many years, himself the son of a clergyman of the parish of Pemigle, near Riga in Livonia, one of the German provinces of Russia. The family was of German origin, of which a member had gone to Russia from the town of Guben, Prussia, in 1725, in which neighborhood the family had existed from a remote period. His mother was Miss Claramond Colquhoun, of Petersburg, Va., whose ancestry was English and Scotch. She was descended from some of the prominent early settlers of Virginia, among them Francis Mason, who came to the colony in 1613, whose son, Colonel James Mason, was a member of the Governor's Council and of the House of Burgesses for Surry county, and Lieut.-Colonel Walter Aston (of the Aston family, of Staffordshire, England), who settled in Virginia in 1627, and was also a member of the House of Burgesses, representing Shirley Hundred. Another ancestor, Randall Holt, came to Virginia in 1621 and was the owner of Hog Island, opposite Jamestown, Va., which remained in the hands of the family till the close of the civil war in 1864. Late ancestors were of the family of Cocke and of Peter. Thomas M. Cleeman was educated at private schools till the age of 15 years, when he entered the freshman class of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating B. A. in 1862. He was distinguished in college by a special aptitude for mathematics. Having determined upon the career of civil engineer, he passed a year at the Polytechnic College in Philadelphia, and two years at the Renssellaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., from which he received the degree ( 151 ) 152 In Memoriam. of C. E. in 1865. His standing at this school was so good that he was at once offered a college professorship, which, however, he declined. He almost immediately entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and became the assistant to the Chief Engineer, Mr. Hazel Wilson. He remained in this employ till 1872, when, receiving a very tempting offer from Peru, South America, he went to that country and took part in the building of the famous Oroya Railway, which crosses the Andes at the height of 16,000 feet. After a year thus spent he traveled quite extensively in Europe, after which he returned to Philadelphia. While associated with Messrs. Joseph M. Wilson and Henry Pettit in 1875 he laid out the Main Building of the Centennial Exposition, but before this great structure was completed went again to South America. This absence was not a long one, and on his return he engaged in professional work of various kinds, being connected for a time with the Water Department of Philadelphia. In 1880 he wrote a book, entitled "The Railroad Engineer's Practice." This, though a small volume, had "a complete description of the duties of the young engineer in preliminary and location surveys, and in construction." The book was "intended to fill a want that the writer himself acutely felt in beginning his professional career. There were many points of practice of which he could only get information by observation and experience, involving a loss of time which might have been saved to him could he have referred to some book which would have told him how certain problems had been solved by other engineers, and which would have prepared him the better to observe the methods pursued by those with whom he was thrown in executing their work." Three editions of this little work, which grew larger with each edition, were published in four years ; a fourth edition was printed in 1892, to serve as a text-book to a course of lectures which he delivered that year at the Renssellaer In Memoriam. 153 Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Cleeman also at times contributed original articles and reviews to professional magazines. He was fond of genealogical researches, for which he was well fitted by his mathematical mind, his patience, his accuracy, and his conscientiousness. He had made a special study of the families in the counties of Virginia along the lower James River, especially the county of Surry, to which his earliest American ancestors belonged. An interesting incident in these researches was the discovery of the settlement in Surry of a John Washington, the ancestor of a family distinct, in this country at least, from that of the John Washington from whom the descent of the first President is drawn by historians. This is of importance as clearing up some confusion which existed regarding the genealogy of the "Father of his Country." It probably happened that one of General Washington's ancestors in the male line (Westmoreland branch) married into the Washington family of Surry. Washington would, therefore, have been a descendant of both families, and confusion would arise from the attempt to trace the descent of certain of his ancestors of the name of Washington to the same origin, when they really came of a different stock. Washington is said to have believed himself to be descended from the Yorkshire Washingtons, from whom the Surry branch sprung, and it is possible be was really related to them on the female side. Mr. Cleeman communicated this discovery to the New England Genealogical Magazine (Vol. XLIV., page 307). He contributed at times other notes on genealogical subjects to various Virginia publications, but no extensive articles, though he accumulated a good deal of manuscript. In May of this year (1893) he sailed for South America for the third time, this time going to the city of Guayaquil, in Ecuador, of which he agreed to become for six months the municipal engineer. His principal work was to be the discovery and rectification of defects in the system of water 154 In Memoriam. supply of that city ; this was a gravity system, pipes to convey the water having been laid at a point at some distance on the other side of the river from that on which Guayaquil is situated, and across the bed of the river to the city. The works were unsatisfactory because the expected quantity of water failed to flow into the reservoir at Guayaquil. Mr. Cleeman succeeded in furnishing the full supply of water to the city, and, this accomplished, the contractors of the work were discharged, the plant accepted by the city and placed under the care of the proper municipal department. Unfortunately a short time after this happy result a slight earthquake, quite common in those countries, occurred, and the water was again discharged in but a limited quantity. The superintendent of the works, an inexperienced man, appealed to Mr. Cleeman for help. It was thought that the difficulty arose from the displacement of the pipe and the opening of its joints in that part which was laid across the bed of the river. The stream is a mile wide, deep, and with so strong a current that the examination of the pipes could be made only at short periods each day, about the slack of the tide. It is surmised that the continual exposure of Mr. Cleeman, day after day, in an open boat while superintending the work of the diver, resulted in the fatal attack of malarial fever which terminated all too soon his beautiful and useful life. This sad event occurred at Guayaquil on the 16th of November, 1893. Mr. Cleeman was a valued member of the following societies : American Philosophical Society ; American Society of Civil Engineers ; Engineers' Club of Philadelphia ; Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; Alumni Society Renssellaer Polytechnic Institute ; Alumni Society University of Pennsylvania.