Class of 1848

William Petit Trowbridge: Born May 25, 1828, Strawberry Hill (Oakland Co.), MI.​a

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1844, to July 1, 1848, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut., Corps of Engineers, July 1, 1848.

Served: at the Military Academy Observatory, in making Astronomical Observations, 1848‑50; at West Point, N. Y., attached to Company

(Second Lieut., Corps of Engineers, Nov. 30, 1849)

of Sappers, Miners, and Pontoniers, 1850‑51; on Coast Survey, Apr., 1851, to Dec. 1, 1856, being engaged in the Primary Triangulation of the Coast of Maine, and Surveys of Appomattox and James Rivers, Va., 1851‑53, — and Survey of Pacific Coast, including Astronomical, Tidal,

(First Lieut., Corps of Engineers, Dec. 18, 1854)

and Magnetic Observations, 1853‑56.

Resigned, Dec. 1, 1856.

Civil History. — Professor of Mathematics, University of Michigan, 1856‑57. Degree of A. M. conferred by University of Rochester, N. Y., 1856. Scientific Secretary of the Superintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey, 1857‑61, and on Hydrographic Survey of a part of Narragansett Bay, R. I., 1861.

Military History. — Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑65: in charge of the Engineer Agency, at New York city, for supplying materials for fortifications, etc., and constructing and shipping engineer equipage for armies in the field, 1861‑65; and Superintending Engineer of the construction of Fort at Willett's Point, N. Y., of repairs of Ft. Schuyler, N. Y., and in charge of works on Governor's Island, New York Harbor, 1862‑65.

Civil History. — Vice-President of Novelty Iron Works, New York city, 1865‑70. Professor of Dynamic Engineering in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College, Ct., 1870‑77; and of Engineering in the School of Mines in Columbia College, New York, since Aug. 15, 1877. Brig.‑General, Staff — Adjutant-General of the State of Connecticut, 1872‑76. Commissioner of the State of Connecticut, for building new Capitol at Hartford, Ct., 1873 to 1878; and of the City of New Haven, Ct., to establish harbor lines, since 1872, — and, 1870‑76, to building a bridge across Quinnipiac River. Author of "Heat as a Source of Power," 1874. Degree of A. M. conferred by Rochester University, N. Y., 1856, — and by Yale College, Ct., 1870; of Ph. D., by Princeton College, N. J., 1880; and of LL. D. by Trinity College, Ct., 1883, — and by Michigan University, 1887. Chief Special Agent, of the Tenth U. S. Census, for collecting statistics relating to "Power and Machinery employed in Manufactures."

Buried, Evergreen Cemetery, New Haven, CT.