John Martineau and Eliza Mears: One of the Leading Engineers of his Time

John Martineau and Eliza Mears

John Martineau was of Huguenot descent, his ancestors fled from France to America in the Seventeenth Century in order to gain religious freedom.John went to England when he was nineteen to study medicine, but after returning to New York, took up the profession of civil engineer and became noted in that field. He was a successful engineer who accumulated a fortune in building bridges and waterworks, for large cities and railroads. He suffered significant financial losses in the Panic of 1837 losing over $70,000.The first wife of John Martineau was from England. She was the grand daughter of the Earl of Stanhope. They had four children, his wife and two children died about 1822 in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1824 he married a girl seventeen years of age, Eliza Mears of Baltimore, Maryland. Four years later a son was born who was named James Henry.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

One of the Leading Engineers of his Time

John Martineau worked on the Erie Canal , Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. He was a close associate of the pre eminent Engineer of the time, Benjamin Wright, and served on the board with Wright during construction of the Erie Canal.

This painting shows the "Seneca Chief," the flagship of a flotilla making the maiden voyage down the Erie Canal. The 363-mile-long, $7 million canal opened the shortest thoroughfare between the Atlantic Coast's factories and the natural bounty of the Great Lakes, helping to position New York City as America's leading metropolis.
The Canal did not greatly affect business for stagecoach companies, which were faster, and not limited by road capacity or ice, but it did bankrupt the Conestoga wagon freight carriers. By 1841, however, the railroads had put stagecoach companies out of business. The Erie Canal still operates today

John Martineau and Eliza Mears