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Christopher Colles
Christopher Colles (1739–1816) was an Irish and American engineer and inventor, known for his work on numerous inland improvement projects, among them a water distribution system in New York City, canals to link the Atlantic seaboard to the American interior, and a road atlas of the northeastern United States. Described by his contemporaries and by historians as "ingenious" and "restless," many of his projects proved too ambitious to be realized and few attained real success.〔Hosack, Appendix, Note Q, 281〕〔Koeppel, 37〕 In certain quarters he was described contemptuously as a "visionary projector," yet he was also credited with being the first to conceive a waterway to the West that would ultimately be achieved by the Erie Canal.〔Hosack, 281〕
==Education and early career==
Colles was born in Ireland in 1739. From an early age he excelled in mathematics and mechanics. After the death of his father, Colles was raised by his uncle William Colles, himself a mathematician and engineer, and later tutored by the geographer and traveler Richard Pococke. It was Pococke who helped Colles get his start, securing for him a post as paymaster on the River Nore. Colles later worked on various inland navigation and architectural projects in Limerick, for a time under the Italian architect Davis Ducart. In 1767 Colles did surveys of Limerick which were later collected and published as a map. In 1764 he married Anne Keough of Dublin.〔Ristow, 4-6〕
After the death of his uncle William, Colles emigrated to America, landing in Philadelphia in 1771. There he advertised his services as an engineer and architect, but when no position materialized, Colles turned to public lecturing on science and engineering. His syllabus included, among other topics, lectures and demonstrations on hydraulics, mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, and geography.
Eager to do real engineering, Colles designed and built a steam engine for a local distillery, which he funded from his own pocket. The engine failed after a few trials, due not to its design but to the meager expense Colles was able to allot to its construction. Thinking that a favorable word from the scientific establishment might help him garner funds for a more powerful engine, Colles sought a review from David Rittenhouse and the American Philosophical Society. They noted the engine's shortcomings but praised its engineer: “We are of the opinion that the undertaker is well acquainted with the principles of this particular branch of Mechanics and very capable of carrying it into execution & therefore worthy of Public encouragement.” But no such encouragement came from the society. The society knew Colles and had allowed him access to its facilities for his lectures, but this may have worked against him. He was not invited to become a member as some distrusted him as a “showman,” a slight that deeply disappointed him. In 1774, Colles left Philadelphia for New York, and there he began his career in earnest, conceiving and designing the projects which would ultimately become his biography.〔Ristow, 11-12〕〔Koeppel, 39〕〔Bathe, 119〕
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