- Additional Authors
- Description
- .3 linear foot (1 box).
- 1 microfilm reel.
- Summary
- Collection consists entirely of correspondence of Swift and members of his family.
- Subject
- Access (note)
- Additional Formats (note)
- Biography (note)
- Joseph Gardner Swift (1783-1865) was a civil engineer and officer in the U.S. Army.
- Processing Action (note)
- Call Number
- MssCol 2935
- OCLC
- NYPW94-A293
- Author
Swift, J. G. (Joseph Gardner), 1783-1865.
- Title
Joseph G. Swift correspondence, 1809-1862, bulk (1820s-1850s).
- Restricted Access
Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.
- Additional Formats
Entire collection available on microfilm; New York Public Library; *ZL-299
- Biography
Joseph Gardner Swift (1783-1865) was a civil engineer and officer in the U.S. Army. He was one of two students of the first graduating class in 1802 of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. By the age of twenty-eight he was a colonel and Chief Engineer of the Army. His projects included the completion of Fort Clinton (New York City) and during the War of 1812 the fortifications of western Long Island harbors and New York City. He resigned his commission in 1818 and served as Surveyor of the Port of New York until 1826, then as chief engineer for several railroads, and in 1829 he directed harbor improvements on the Great Lakes. Swift also was involved in a variety of business activities and was a friend and mentor to younger engineers including George Washington Whistler and William Gibbs McNeill (both of them were his brothers-in-law).
- Finding Aids
Collection guide available in repository and on internet.
- Connect to:
- Occupation
Civil engineers.
- Added Author
Kemble, Gouverneur, 1786-1875.
Swift, W. H. (William Henry), 1800-1879.
Whistler, Anna Mathilda McNeill, 1804-1881.
Whistler, George W. (George Washington), 1800-1849.
- Research Call Number
MssCol 2935