Charles Edward Emery

Charles Edward Emery (b. in Aurora, New York, 29 March 1838; d. 1898) was a civil engineer. He was the son of Moses Little and Minerva (Prentiss) Emery, and a direct descendant of one of the original proprietors of the plantation of Contoocook, Massachusetts. He was educated at the academy in Canandaigua, New York, and early developed a taste for engineering. In July, 1861, he entered the United States Navy as third assistant engineer, and served on the “Richmond” during engagements at Pensacola, Florida, the Mississippi river passes, and finally under David Farragut. In December, 1862, he was promoted to second assistant engineer, and participated in the blockading of Charleston, South Carolina. In December, 1867, he resigned, entered the employ of the Novelty iron works in New York City, and was general superintendent of the first American Institute Fair in its permanent quarters. In 1869, he engaged in business for himself, but soon afterward became consulting engineer of the United States Coast Survey and the United States Revenue Marine, and had charge of the construction of the vessels of the former service until its engineering department was put in the hands of the navy. In connection with chief-engineer Charles H. Loring, he instituted a series of experiments to determine the relative value of compound and non-compound engines, and his results were published in scientific journals at home and abroad. In 1879, he was appointed engineer of the New York Steam Company, and the entire plant of that company was constructed from his designs, and was under his direction. The details were entirely new, as the similar work that had been done previously was on a small scale. He invented for this work expansion-joints made with thin copper corrugated diaphragms supported on backing plates, and a meter for registering steam when moving at a velocity of eighty feet a second and upward, together with numerous devices for overcoming difficulties encountered in the transmission through the streets, generation in the building, and the return of the water of condensation. Emery made several inventions in connection with steam engines, and conducted experiments for the purpose of testing the practicability of lining steam cylinders with non-conducting materials. He was one of the non-resident professors of Cornell university, and his lectures were published in the Scientific American supplements. In 1879, he received the honorary degree of Ph. D. from the University of New York. He wrote technical papers, principally relating to steam engineering, most of which were contributed to the Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, or those of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, of which organizations he was a member.

References

•  "Emery, Charles Edward". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900. 
• “Emery, Charles Edward,” The twentieth century biographical dictionary of notable Americans, v. 3, 1904
• The Institute of Engineering and Technology: Member obituaries E-H (visited November 17, 2009)

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Name	Emery, Charles Edward
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Date of birth	29 March 1838
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Date of death	1898
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