George L. Vose

George Leonard Vose (19 April 1831 – 30 March 1910) was an American civil engineer and Professor of Civil Engineering at Bowdoin College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, known as educator in the field of railroads, and from his "Manual for railroad engineers and engineering students" (1873).

Early life and career

George Leonard Vose was born in Augusta, Maine, on April 13, 1831, to Richard Hampton Vose, a politician and Governor of the State of Maine and Harriet Greene Chandler Vose. Vose was educated at home in Salem, Massachusetts. From 1849 to 1850 he studied at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard College.

After Harvard, Vose started his career as an assistant engineer on the Kennebec and Portland Railroad, and until 1859 was engaged on various railroads. From 1859 to 1863, he was associate editor of The American Railway Times in Boston, and then for three years, he resided in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1866, he moved to Paris, Maine, and was occupied with railroad projects in Maine and New Hampshire. Vose was a professor of civil engineering in Bowdoin College from 1872 until 1881 and Hayward Professor of Civil and Topographical Engineering as well as department head for civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1881 until 1887.

In 1854, Vose married Abba Valentine Thompson Vose (1843–1870) and they had four children, Harriet Lenora Vose (1856–1886), Mabel Vose (1859–1888), Elizabeth Chandler Vose Torrey (1863–1901) and Richard Hampton Vose (1866–1957). In 1872, Vose married Charlotte Buxton Andrews (1843–1889).