Alexander Lyman Holley

How are you related to Alexander Lyman Holley?

Connect to the World Family Tree to find out

Alexander Lyman Holley's Geni Profile

Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love

  • Build your family tree online
  • Share photos and videos
  • Smart Matching™ technology
  • Free!

Alexander Lyman Holley

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Goshen, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States
Death: January 29, 1882 (49)
Brooklyn, Kings County, NY, United States
Place of Burial: Green-Wood Cemetery, Kings, New York, United States
Immediate Family:

Son of Alexander Hamilton Holley and Jane M. Lyman
Husband of Mary Hale Bunker
Father of Lucy Slade Brooks; Alice Holley; Alexander Hamilton Holley and Gertrude Meredith Randall
Half brother of John Milton Holley; John Coffing Holley; George Washington Holley; Milton Holley; Maria Coffing Rudd and 1 other

Occupation: Mechanical Engineer, Engineer
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About Alexander Lyman Holley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lyman_Holley

Alexander Lyman Holley (20 July 1832 – 29 January 1882) was a mechanical engineer and was considered the foremost steel and plant engineer and designer of his time, especially in regard to applying research to modern steel manufacturing processes. He received 15 patents, 10 for improvements in the Bessemer process, which he purchased the rights to in 1863 and brought to the United States. He soon designed and built Bessemer plants in Troy, New York, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He planned or was consulted on a dozen others.

He chaired the first meeting of the founders of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in the offices of the American Machinist on 16 February 1880, and is credited for establishing the intellectual boundaries of the mechanical engineering profession and ASME. He was born in Lakeville, Connecticut and attended Brown University. He died in Brooklyn, New York.

During his early 20s, Holley was a close friend of Zerah Colburn, the well-known locomotive engineer and journalist/publisher. In 1857, the two visited Britain and France and compiled a report for the presidents of American railroads, The Permanent Way. In 1860, the two traveled together on the maiden voyage of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Eastern. Holley's most famous book, Armor, followed a visit he made to Britain in 1863 when he again met Zerah Colburn. He received many honors, including being made an honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1892; and in 1890 a monument was unveiled in Washington Square Park, New York bearing a bust of him.

view all

Alexander Lyman Holley's Timeline

1832
July 20, 1832
Goshen, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States
1833
May 5, 1833
Goshen, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States
1862
October 28, 1862
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, United States
1863
December 15, 1863
New York, New York, United States
1866
1866
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, United States
1869
January 20, 1869
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, United States
1882
January 29, 1882
Age 49
Brooklyn, Kings County, NY, United States
January 29, 1882
Age 49
Green-Wood Cemetery, Kings, New York, United States