Charles Haynes Haswell Charles Haynes Haswell ( May 22 , 1809 – May 12 , 1907 ) was a naval engineer , New York City politician and historian . A native resident of New York City , Haswell was author of one of the most broadly circulated engineering manuals of the 19th century , and also published a collection of remembrances of the city drawn from his private journals . He was the first Engineer - in - Chief of the United States Navy . Early life . Charles Haynes Haswell was born May 22 , 1809 , on North Moore Street , New York City , the son of a Dublin - born member of the British foreign service , Charles Haswell , and his wife Dorothea Haynes of a Barbados planter family , her brother Gen . Robert Haynes having been Speaker of the House of Assembly there for over three decades . He attended school at Jamaica Academy on Long Island and received tutelage in the classics in New York City . At the age of 19 , he entered James P . Allaire ’ s engine works , which represented one of the top marine engineering firms of the time . There Haswell rose to become chief draftsman and designer . By 1836 , he was working for the West Point Foundry , and the next year saw his production of the first steam launch or yacht , the " Sweatheart " . Naval career . At this time the United States Navy committed to the construction of several steam vessels , and Haswell , who had watched their earlier experimental steam vessels in New York Harbor , applied to supervise the engineering of " USS Fulton " , under construction . Although at first his role was only quasi - unofficial , there being no rank structure for engineers in the Navy at the time , when he was finally officially nominated and confirmed in 1851 to the rank of Chief Engineer , the appointment was to date from the start of his service in July 1836 . Thus began a Naval career during which he would supervise the design of engines for ten warships . In 1839 , he served on a naval board responsible for the construction of the steam frigates " Missouri " and " Mississippi " , for which he was relieved of his duties to the " Fulton " . After work on the " Michigan " , he became chief engineer on the " Missouri " , but a dispute over a plan to replace its one smokestack with two earned him a two - year suspension , during which time he was involved in the construction of the boilers for the " Allegheny " and several revenue cutters . He was also instrumental in the Navy ' s creation of a corp of engineers , and he was named the first Engineer - in - Chief in October 1844 . He subsequently designed the engines of " Powhatan " and " San Jacinto " . A public dispute over the design of the latter led to his removal as Engineer - in - Chief , and he was instead made chief engineer of the " San Jacinto " , having had responsibility for the design of its propulsion system , advocating his preferred propeller over a sidewheel , but being overruled . One of his innovations while with the navy was the use of zinc lining to the boilers to reduce corrosion . As chief engineer , he is credited with establishing the qualifications for the engineering corps of the Navy . However , by 1850 , his health declined and he was declared unfit for duty , yet word failed to reach the Navy and he was ordered to sea with " San Jacinto " . His ill health continued , and he left the ship in mid - cruise , going ashore in Spain to recover , and then to New York . Still unaware of his true medical state , the Navy considered him to have abandoned his post and removed him from the service in May 1852 . He would briefly return to naval service during the American Civil War , when he served as chief engineer for the Burnside Expedition , and there briefly commanded a small steamer that pulled off the shoaled gunboat " Ranger " from under the guns of Fort Bartow during the shelling of Roanoke Island . Private sector . Following his separation from the Navy in the early 1850s , Haswell returned to New York where he started work in the private sector , designing numerous commercial ships . He served as a consulting engineer for the Board of Health , the Quarantine Commission , the Board of Estimate and Apportionment , and for the Board of Public Improvements , being much sought on questions of the suitability of the uncertain geological structure underlying New York City for establishing firm foundations for the city ’ s growing skyscrapers . Following the city ’ s purchase of Rikers Island , he directed improvements including grading and trimming of the island , personally supervising the work when in his nineties , and also made improvements to Hart Island and Hoffman Island . He applied his marine engineering experience as Surveyor of Steamships for Marine Underwriters of New York , a roll he occupied for four decades , performing similar work for Boston and Philadelphia firms , and for Lloyd ' s . He was sent a $ 1500 diamond ring by the Emperor of Russia for supplying drafts of his design of the engines of the " Powhatan " . He was also a yachting enthusiast , serving as Chairman of the regatta committee and chief measurer for the New York Yacht Club . He was a member of numerous engineering societies , including the American Society of Civil Engineers , and he was also member of the Union Club . In religion , he was a regularly attending member of the Dutch Reformed Church . Politics . From the time of his return to New York following his Naval service , Haswell also became active in politics . In 1855 he was elected to the New York City Common Council , representing the city ’ s 21st Ward , and in his final year , 1859 , he served as president of the council . He served as chairman of a politically stacked grand jury impaneled to investigate voter fraud in the election of 1868 . Like most of the members of this body , he was deeply associated with the Tammany Hall political machine , of which he served as leader or Grand Sachem from 1876 to 1882 . He would serve as a trustee of the $ 3 , and as President of the New York Board of Corrections . A lifelong Democrat , at the time of his death he was the oldest living member of the Tammany organization . Author . Haswell also had a second career as a published author . His most popular work was " The Engineer ' s and Mechanic ' s Pocket Book " , which was first published in 1843 , and by 1907 had gone through 72 editions . It has been described as " Engineering 101 meets " Ripley ' s Believe It or Not " . " Other professional works included : " Mechanic ' s Tables " ( 1856 ) , " Mensuration and Practical Geometry " ( 1858 ) , " Book - keeping " ( 1871 ) , and an unpublished " History of the Steam Boiler and its Appendanges " ( 1887 ) . He is also well known as a chronicler of everyday life in New York City . From the age of 9 , he kept a private journal which would serve as the primary source for his " Reminiscences of the City of New York by an Octogenarian ( 1816 – 1860 ) " , published in 1896 . This somewhat eclectic work proves a unique source for the everyday details of life in New York City for the first half of the century . Family and death . In 1829 , Haswell married Ann Elizabeth Burns , and had six children who survived to adulthood , Sarah Haynes , Edmund Haynes , Frances Roe , Gouverneur Kemble , Charles Haynes and Lillie Bulwer Haswell . Days short of his 98th birthday , Haswell suffered a fall in the dining room of his home . Dislocating his shoulder , he never recovered from the shock and died the next day , May 12 , 1907 . His son , Gouverneur Kemble Haswell , attended the U . S . Naval Academy and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Navy before retiring in 1876 . He was briefly reactivated during the Spanish - American War and was promoted in retirement to Commander .