John Findley Wallace

A MEMOIR

John Findley Wallace was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, September 10, 1852. His parents were the Rev. David A. Wallace and Martha J. Wallace. When but a child he was taken on the then difficult journey from Fall River to Monmouth, Illinois, where his father had been sent to found a college under the auspices of the United Presbyterian Church.

It was in this environment of college culture-surrounded by the rawness and the bigness of the struggle of the early settler for conquest over the virgin prairie—that the young man received the training which has been manifest throughout his

career.

While ever a leader in the technique of his chosen profession, he was held in affectionate remembrance by the laborer, the mechanic, the foreman or the superintendent, with whom he came in contact as builder or operator. He put into his work a wealth of enthusiasm and energy-often to the discomfort of his subordinate-for his basic motto was to pay no attention to the clock, and the word "cannot" never appealed to him.

His work in American railroading has been fundamental. It was his good fortune to be identified with some of the early railroad enterprises in the Middle West, when it was possible to be in touch with all phases of the industry. Thus he was, alternately surveyor, engineer, constructor and operator on the same railroad, and this at a time when the prime consideration was to make the dollar go as far as possible. It was accomplishments such as his that made possible the development of our Middle West.

In 1869, Mr. Wallace entered the service of the Carthage & Quincy Railroad as rodman. In 1870 he was Assistant Engineer of Surveys of the Quincy, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. From 1871 to 1876 he was Assistant Engineer in United States Engineering Corps at Rock Island, Ill. During that time he was also engaged in private surveys and other important work, one of which was excavation of a channel through the St. Louis chain of rocks by machinery of his own design and construction and by day labor, personally supervised by him. It is interesting to note that a previous attempt had been made to excavate the channel through this particular chain of rocks by the United States Government earlier in the century, but submarine blast

ing carried on at that time was unsuccessful. He also removed the foundation of the original Rock Island bridge, the first bridge constructed across the Mississippi River.

In 1879 Mr. Wallace was appointed Chief Engineer of the Peoria & Farmington Railway, of which he had charge of location, construction and operation from Peoria to Keithsburg. Later this road was consolidated with the Iowa Central, and Mr. Wallace had charge as Master of Trains. At the same time he was Engineer in charge of construction and improvements on this line, one interesting piece of work being the construction of a transfer over the Mississippi River at Keithsburg.

During the fall and winter of 1886 he was Assistant Engineer of surveys and other work on the Union Pacific Railroad in the Rocky Mountains.

His next effort was in the field of bridge engineering, where he made a reputation for himself in technical skill and construction resourcefulness in the construction of the Sibley bridge across the Missouri River, and a bridge across the Mississippi River near Fort Madison. He also had charge of a system of river abutments and improvement work on the Missouri River above the Sibley bridge. Subsequently he was connected with E. L. Corthell in general engineering work, with headquarters at Chicago, his principal work at that time being the construction of the joint entrance of the Santa Fe and Illinois Central into Chicago from the West, together with improvements of the Chicago & Alton terminal entrance. Mr. Wallace also made examinations and plans of various railroad projects and reported on plans and estimates for a bridge at New Orleans over the Mississippi River. Before this work was completed, Chicago was giving thought to the World's Fair. The Illinois Central had a serious problem in how to handle the traffic that would result from the Fair, and Mr. Wallace's suggestion to the management of the Illinois Central resulted in his being retained by that railroad as Chief Engineer to plan and put into execution the suburban service which so successfully handled the World's Fair crowds and has ever since been an important factor of transportation in Chicago. The elevation of tracks in the City of Chicago and the Lake Front improvement were not only under Mr. Wallace's general supervision, but he also assisted in the negotiations with the City which made this work possible. He also constructed extensive terminals in the City of New Orleans, planned and constructed the Stuyvesant Docks at New Orleans and extensive terminals at Harahan Yards, near New Orleans; also the improvement of terminals at East St. Louis, Louisville and Memphis.