engineering

John M. Fessenden

John M. Fessenden is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John M. Fessenden rather than just read about it. In short: John Milton Fessenden (1804—1883) was a prominent American civil engineer in the 19th century. Early life and career John Milton Fessenden was born in Warren, Rhode Island, December 23, 1802, and died in Washington, D.C., on February 8, 1883, to John Fessenden (born 1770) and Abigail Miller Child (born 1783).

Key takeaways

John M. Fessenden belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John M. Fessenden to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John M. Fessenden from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John Milton Fessenden (1804—1883) was a prominent American civil engineer in the 19th century.

Early life and career John Milton Fessenden was born in Warren, Rhode Island, December 23, 1802, and died in Washington, D.C., on February 8, 1883, to John Fessenden (born 1770) and Abigail Miller Child (born 1783). His grandfather, also John Fessenden, was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress during the American revolution and then after the successful introduction of a state constitution, state senator for seven years after the war. Fessenden was appointed to the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1824. In his second year at the academy a remarkable event occurred in his life; the cadet corps marched from West Point to ex-president John Adams' home in Peacefield, near Boston in the summer of 1821 to honor the ailing Adams. Upon graduation, Fessenden was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Artillery serving first as a topography engineer on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (1824‑26) and then at the Kanawha, James, and Roanoke Rivers in 1827, and then on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1827‑28. While Fessenden went to Europe for the 1828‑29 period, he spent the remainder of his enlistment in garrison at West Point, N.Y., 1829, and then at Fort Jay, N.Y., until he resigned his commission in 1831.

Marriage and family Fessenden's first wife was Mary Pierce Bumstead, daughter of John and Frances Gore Bumstead of Boston, and they married on May 21, 1834, and produced several children although she died in 1856. Fessenden's second wife was Sarah Ann Murphy, daughter of Dr Robert Murphy of Westmoreland Virginia, on June 25, 1868.

Civil engineer While Fessenden was chief engineer of the Boston and Worcester Railroad for the 1831‑36 period, later in that same time, he was engineer of record for the initial survey of the Western Railroad corporation (Mass.). Later he consulted with the Boston and Newburyport Railroad, Mass., in 1836‑42; and then the Salisbury and Portsmouth Railroad, N.H., in 1839‑43.

Works Fessenden, J.M. (1836). Report on the surveys and definite location of the Eastern Rail Road. Boston: Eastern Railroad Company – via HathiTrust.

Political career After his work on engineering for railroads, Fessenden was appointed Railroad Commissioner of the State of Massachusetts for the period of 1845‑47. During this same period he received and honorary degree from Harvard in 1846 and went on to be part of the board of visitors for Lawrence school at Harvard for almost twenty years. Fessenden was appointed by President Millard Fillmore to serve as U.S. Consul at Dresden, Saxony, in 1850‑51 and spent four years there.

American Civil War During the American Civil War Fessenden held the rank of colonel for the Independent Corps of Cadets of Boston. This militia unit was not called up to fight in the Civil War, but trained young men for various regiments for Massachusetts.

Postbellum After the war, Fessenden was appointed a member of Board of Visitors to the Military Academy.

Death Fessenden died February 8, 1883, in Washington, D.C., and was buried at Princeton Cemetery in Princeton, New Jersey.

References

External links Very extensive biographical sketch of Fessenden's career based upon George W. Cullum's Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, since its establishment in 1802.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John M. Fessenden

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John M. Fessenden claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John M. Fessenden before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John M. Fessenden ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John M. Fessenden

In research: John M. Fessenden appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John M. Fessenden in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John M. Fessenden is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1804 births, 1883 deaths, 19th-century American civil engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John M. Fessenden outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study John M. Fessenden in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John M. Fessenden means in your own words.
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Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is John M. Fessenden in simple terms?

John Milton Fessenden (1804—1883) was a prominent American civil engineer in the 19th century. Early life and career John Milton Fessenden was born in Warren, Rhode Island, December 23, 1802, and died in Washington, D.C., on February 8, 1883, to John Fessenden (born 1770) and Abigail Miller Child (…

Why does John M. Fessenden matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John M. Fessenden?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John M. Fessenden.