The Death of W. C. Kingsley

The Builder of the Brooklyn Bridge Crosses the Dark River.

William C. Kingsley is dead. The end came at sixteen minutes past one this morning. It resulted from exhaustion superinduced by a complication of disorders against which the efforts of the physicians were of no avail. Up to five o'clock yesterday afternoon there was no material change in the patient's condition. He rested quietly and partook of nourishment so frequently that his strength seemed to be well sustained, and the attendant physicians were of the opinion that this, with his strong constitution, justified some hopes of his recovery. At five o'clock, however, Mr. Kingsley suddenly developed symptoms of weakness, such as soon became alarming. Doctors Armor and Swalm held a consultation at eight o'clock, when they concluded that the chances were overwhelmingly against the patient. At eleven o'clock it was found necessary to administer morphine, Mr. Kingsley having become delirious and restless. In Spite of the snodyne, however, evidences of continued sinking were apparent. At half-past 12 o'clock the physicians gave up all hope of recovery. the great bridge builder passed away quietly and peacefully. For hours before his demise he gave so sign of recognition to anyone, and indeed was hardly conscious. At his bedside were Mrs. Kingsley, Major Harry S. Kingsley, Mr. Samuel R. Probasco, Dr. Swalm, who had been in constant attendance from the hour when dangerous symptoms were developed, and Colonel H. H. Wheeler. Ten minutes before the end the dying man with a sudden effort grasped the hand of Mr. Wheeler, who sat beside him, as if in token of recognition and a last farewell. He sank back unconscious, never to revive again.

No arrangements regarding the funeral services have as yet been made. It is probable, however, if the present intention of the family are unchanged, that they will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday or Wednesday next, with private interment on the morning following. But two of Mr. Kingsley's four children, Mrs. Samuel H. swan and Major Harry S. Kingsley, are now in Brooklyn. The eldest son, Mr. J. Cooke Kingsley, is a mining engineer in Colorado. Telegrams sent him early this morning brought no response to a late hour, the probabilities being that he is prospecting in some locality remote from communication. The eldest daughter is at Mentone Southern France, an invalid, the indisposition resulting from an attack of Roman fever, sustained ten years ago. A cablegram announcing Mr. Kingsley decease was sent her physician this morning, so that the announcement might be tempered with proper regard for her physical condition.

The Career of William C. Kingsley.

The story of William C. Kingsley's early life, overshadowed by events embraced within the period of his larger activities, although not familiar to the general public, is by no means the least interesting portion of his long, varied and useful career. He was a native of Fort Covington, Franklin County, one of the most fertile and picturesque sections of the Empire State, where he was born in 1833. Living in a community given to agricultural pursuits his parents devoted their energies to the cultivation of the soil. They were plain, sturdy, industrious and energetic people, typical of the rugged, enterprising manhood and noble, virtuous womanhood which for nearly a century have endowed the dwellers in Northern New York with characteristics that have left their impress on the history of the commonwealth and the nation. Mr. Kingsley's boyhood was as uneventful as that of most farmer's sons. In summer he followed the plow, swung the scythe, and assisted at the harvest, and in Winter availed himself of such educational opportunities as were afforded by the district of school and the village academy. Even in his boyhood he ranked high among his fellow, in their studies, their athletic sports and the simple pursuits of rural life. As years passed and he verged on manhood's state, young Kingsley's horizon took on a wider sweep and he manifested a strong disposition to enter upon a professional life. His mind turned to the law and for weeks his thoughts dwelt upon the possibilities of a lawyer's career. While he was contemplating the legal prospect his father endeavored to dissuade him from becoming a member of the bar, contending kindly but firmly that his abilities lay in another direction. Obedient to the parental will the son abandoned for the time being his intention of becoming a lawyer, intending to carry it out at a later day. His restless, adventurous spirit could not, however, be restrained within the narrow limits of a farmer's life and at the age of 18, with no other capital than a clear head, a courageous heart, a pushing disposition and a stalwart and vigorous frame, he prepared to face the world in the battle for supremacy. Before this time two of his elder brothers, of equally enterprising character, had left the parental roof to seek their fortunes, and were engaged in railroad construction in western Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company was then advancing one of its lines through Westmoreland County, in the Keystone State, and the elder Kingsley brothers were among the builders. William C. Kingsley, upon his arrival, received a fraternal welcome and was immediately employed in a clerical capacity. He performed his simple duties to the utmost satisfaction of his employers for several months, when he met with his first serious trouble. Malignant typhoid fever prevailed throughout that region and hundreds were suffering and dying from its ravages. Young Kingsley fell a victim to the malady, and for weeks was confined to his bed. Youth, a magnificent constitution and the advantages of regular habits were on his side, and after a severe struggle he was able to pull through. His enfeebled condition subsequent to his recovery forbade his return to his clerical duties and he looked around for lighter employment.

As a Village Schoolmaster.

There was a vacancy at the moment in the tutorship of the village school at New Alexandria, one of the most beautiful and intelligent settlements in the Westermoreland County. It was an unpretentious school at the time, but has since become famous through the subsequent record of some of its teachers. Mr. Kingsley's immediate predecessor as pedagogue was the Hon. Edgar Cowman, of Greensburg, afterward United States Senator and one of Pennsylvania's most distinguished sons. Another celebrated man who taught there previous to the advent of Mr. Kingsley was the Hon. John T. Geary, who served as a brigadier general in the American army during the war with Mexico, as major general in the Union army during the War of the Rebellion and afterward became Governor of the Keystone State. As a schoolmaster young Kingsley seemed to the pupils and their parents a very successful, and for a while matters progressed most agreeable to all. While discharging the functions or pedagogue the teacher adhered to his original intention of studying law, and it was at a considerably later date that he finally abandoned that purpose. After teaching a few months an exciting and somewhat ludicrous incident occurred which was not without its influence upon his future career. In western Pennsylvania, as well as other county districts, the school children indulged periodically in an ancient and mischievous proactive called 'Barring out the teacher. '
At holiday time, and particularly near Christmas, the pupils always anticipated at the hands of the pedagogue a treat of ginger snaps, candy, lemonade, apples and other delicacies dear to the juvenile heart. If the teacher failed to perform this act of hospitality, the older scholars would precede him to the school house in the morning, or during recess and, when the hour for resuming their studies arrived, lock the door, fasten the windows and refuse him admittance until he opened his purse. On the day before holiday week, of the Christmas vacation, a hundred or more of the young folks shivering in the nipping Winter air, vainly endeavoring to obtain admittance to the rural temple of knowledge. Upward of a dozen of the larger boys-some of them of even or more, stalwart proportions than their instructor-had fastened the door, nailed the windows, set up the standard of defiance and barred the teacher out. Schoolmaster Kingsley summoned the juvenile offenders to surrender. At first his summons was met with jeers, but becoming alarmed the youthful rebels sought to compromise matters. One of the mutineers endeavored to pass a letter, presumably a note of truce, out of a window chink to the now enraged pedagogue. The schoolmaster paid no attention to the communication, threw it aside and never knew its contents. His spirit was thoroughly aroused by the suffering of the younger children, who with himself, had been 'barred out,' and stood with chattering teeth and trembling forms within the scope of an old fashioned blizzard. Finding that the stalwart garrison who held possession of the schoolhouse refused to respond to his summons for admissions the angry schoolmaster stripped a plank from the fence and converted it into a battering ram, with the aid of which he dashed through a window and bolted in to the room. For a moment there was great confusion among the garrison; but at the command of the familiar voice they took their seats, shamefaced, crestfallen and apprehensive of consequences. The locked out children were then admitted and the routine of study and recitation was resumed as if nothing had happened. But the schoolmaster kept his eye on the rebels, and at the conclusion of the morning session he called six or eight of the most prominent of them up before him and dismissed them from the school. The discharge of the offenders, who belonged to the wealthiest and socially the most prominent families in the neighborhood, caused a good deal of discussion and excitement. There was a streak of aristocratic feeling in the village, and it began to show itself against the schoolmaster. To the fuming and stewing of the offended parents the young schoolmaster opposed his own sound common sense and resolute determination to do his duty in the premises. At last the climax of the controversy was reached.

A Picturesque Combat

Among the dismissed pupils was a brawny youth who rejoiced in the cognomen of Jones. Young Jones was the eldest son of colonel Jones, an influential and opulent citizen, famed for his great physical strength, saturated with the conviction that he owned everybody in and about New Alexandria. he was a regular swashbuckler, a fighting colonel, one of the kind who breakfast on brimstone, dine on dynamite and sup on saltpeter. Beside all this the Colonel was a trustee of the school and entertained a notion that it was his especial prerogative to bully the schoolmaster whenever his irritable disposition demanded expression. when the sanguinary Colonel heard that his son had been expelled he lost no time in clapping on his hat and rushing off to the schoolhouse. Into the study room he bolted, vociferously inquiring the meaning of the outrage which he declared had been perpetrated. Perfectly cool and unconcerned Schoolmaster Kingsley informed his irate visitor that young Jones had bee excluded for good and sufficient cause, that he ad undertaken to incite rebellion and demoralize the school and that his conduct had been subversive of all rules for the orderly conduct of an educational institution. The schoolmaster then reminded his visitor that he had not removed his hat, and civilly requested him to take it off and be seated. This would not do for Colonel Jones, who was on the war path, breathing vengeance and slaughter against all the enemies of the Jones family. The Colonel refused to take a seat and began to storm. A trifle impatient, the pedagogue ordered him out of the building. The intruder pointedly and profanely declined to withdraw, whereupon the schoolmaster seized him and tumbled him out into the snow without further ceremony. Colonel Jones picked himself out of a snow bank and returned to the attack. He was a second time ejected. An interesting struggle followed in the schoolhouse yard. The Colonel and the schoolmaster doffing their coats, engaged in a sharp physical encounter, in which the redoubtable Jones was badly worsted. Naturally enough, the combat between the young teacher and one of the first citizens, before the eyes of the astonished pupils, attracted a considerable crowd, who heartily applauded the athletic instructor as he neatly polished off his adversary. Among the most interested spectators of the boat was Colonel John W. Snodgrass, who happened to be driving past at the moment. Colonel Snodgrass was one of the wealthiest and most active men in western Pennsylvania, and owned a single farm of one thousand acres in Westmoreland County alone. He was extensively engaged in railroad enterprises, occupying a high place as a railway builder and contractor. It happened that he was also a trustee of the New Alexandria School, and, in the somewhat heated and acrimonious controversy which followed the 'barring out' episode and the application of the pummeling process to Colonel Jones, he earnestly supported the position taken by the schoolmaster, who, largely through his exertions, was indorsed by the remainder of the community.

Canal and Railroad Building

Young Kingsley's acquaintance with Colonel Snodgrass rapidly ripened into mutual confidence and friendship. In the tall, slender, modest youth who taught the village school the Colonel detected traits which he knew would be useful in his own enterprises, and at the conclusion of the school term he arranged with his protégé to go into the contracting business. Colonel Snodgrass had a large contract on hand to build a canal in Wyoming County, Pa., and engaged Mr. Kingsley to act in the capacity of bookkeeper. The work in question was being carried forward in a wild, mountainous region, and was extremely hazardous. It had been in progress for several years and as many as 1, 500 men were often employed upon it at one time. The laborers were a rough lot and strikes among them frequently occurred on the slightest provocation. Labor was high and scarce, and the workmen were profuse in their demands for higher pay, shorter hours and the privilege of choosing their own foremen. Race differences frequently entered into their difficulties and a continuos war was waged between the Ulster men, the Munster men, the 'Far Downs,' the 'Long tails' and others too numerous for mention. So riotous did the laborers become during their strike that it was found necessary on more than one occasion to call out the local militia to protect the property of the contractor. Authorized to as bookkeeper, young Kingsley arrived at the scene a perfect stranger. He found everything in a chaotic state. Spring had opened and there was every reason for pushing the work ahead without further delay. The superintendent had failed to put an appearance at the time agreed upon, and it was whispered about that he feared to face the disorderly strikers and riotous employees. Colonel Snodgrass was several hundred miles away, and communication with him was at the moment impossible. In the emergency everything depended on the inexperienced bookkeeper. It needed just this sort of a complication to arouse and develop the latter's wonderful capacity as a manager of men, which stood him in such excellent stead later in life. without hesitation he assumed the responsibilities of the occasion. He employed bookkeepers, clerks, timekeepers, foremen and superintendents, organized gangs of men and set them to work. When Colonel Snodgrass reached Wyoming County two months later he was so surprised and pleased with the progress made by his new agent that he offered him $3,000 a year to take charge of another large enterprise in which he was interested. This offer Mr. Kingsley declined, remaining on the canal construction for a year and a half longer, having exclusive charge, and clearing $30,000 for his employer. During his services on this work strikes were of frequent occurrence, but so excellent was the discipline established that the managers were able to protect the work, the property and themselves without military or police aid. Upon the completion of the canal, Mr. Kingsley, under the direction of Colonel Snodgrass, became engaged in other important enterprises among them the construction of a tunnel through the Allegheny Mountains, between Altoona and Johnstown, near the line of the present Pennsylvania Railroad Tunnel. He continued there until the completion of the tunnel, eighteen months later. In this work Mr. Kingsley performed a very important part, and the contract was so successfully performed that his employer, Colonel Snodgrass, invited him into partnership. Mr. Kingsley was at the moment desirous of trying his fortunes in the Western States, and declined the proposition. Going West, he constructed sixty-five miles of railway in Wisconsin and Illinois, and engaged in other constructive works there.

Coming to Brooklyn.

By the time he attained his 24th year Mr. Kingsley had laid, in the large and exacting school of experience, the foundations of his career as a constructor of great corporate and public works. He had developed wonderful capacity as an executive officer and acquired a high reputation for his skill in organization and directing large bodies of men. In the line of his numerous enterprises Brooklyn opened up several favorable opportunities, and in 1857 he came East and took up his residence here. Our splendid system of water works was then under way, and was being advanced as vigorously as possible through the direction of the numicipal authorities. The principal contractors were Mesars. Wells & Company, who sublet a portion of their contract to Mr. Kingsley, and he participated largely in the work of construction. Association with the project brought him into communications with large numbers of Easter capitalists and contractors, who, appreciating the value of his active and ingenious mind, persuaded him to make him home permanently in this city. He continued in the business of contractor and soon began to prosper. About this time a commission was appointed to adopt and construct a plan of sewerage for the City of Brooklyn. That commission consisted of Gamaliel King, William B. Lewis, Daniel Northup and John H. Funk. Mr. Kingsley at this time had formed a partnership with the late Colonel Abner C. Keeney, and the famous firm of Kingsley & Keeney had already begun to achieve a reputation as that of the most successful contractors in this section of the country. They submitted proposals for the work of sewerage construction, and being the lowest bidders were awarded this contract. To Mr. Kingsley and his partner the city owes its splendid system of sewerage. Within three years they constructed over sixty-five miles of sewers in Brooklyn alone, beside continuing their operations in other places, including a great quantity of railroad work and railroad bridge work in this State and Pennsylvania. Other important public works were constructed by Kingsley & Keeney, including the famous improvement at the Wallabout, which was completed in 1866; the Third avenue sewer, the Hudson avenue sewer, the storage reservoir at Hempstead, the great stone wall around Central Park, New York; the wall enclosing Washington Park, Brooklyn, and a vast extent of sewerage in New York City. The Hempstead reservoir was a valuable addition to the water system of this city. For political reason the work was exposed to criticism and attack, and was made the subject of extensive litigation, Mr. Kingsley and his partner gained victory after victory in the courts, and the validity of their contracts and honesty of purpose and conduct were fully vindicated by the Court of Appeals. Mr. Kingsley personally supervised much of the work on the reservoir, and some of the engineers under him afterward served on the bridge.

Mr. Kingsley and the Great Bridge.

It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that the brightest chapter in Mr. Kingsley's history is that containing the record of his connection with the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. The story of is association with that splendid structure is in reality the story of the bridge itself. It was not necessary to await the verdict of posterity upon his part in the consummation of that mighty achievement, for which his fellow citizens accorded him all credit, honor and recognition throughout the closing years of his life. To him more than to any other man was given the praise for spanning the river and uniting with hands of steel the metropolis and its sister municipality. Nearly seventeen years have passed since the first became associated with the enterprise, and he devoted to it the best years, the concentrated energies and the ripest experience of his life, as well as a large portion of his personal fortune. For even a longer period he had contemplated the possibilities of bridging the river, and it is not doubtful that his was the first mind that fully and intelligently grasped the magnitude and import of the stupendous project. One of the earliest discussions of the enterprise was had by Mr. Kingsley and Colonel Julius W. Adams, the well known civil engineer of this city, long before the general proposition Colonel Adams had devoted years, of thoughtful consideration, and had convinced himself that the scheme was thoroughly practicable. The colonel had prepared plans for a suspension bridge, which he submitted to Mr. Kingsley for inspection. With this general proposition for a suspension bridge Mr. Kingsley warmly agreed. The Adams plans, as formulated in 1866, contemplated the location of the New York terminus at a point opposite Chatham square. The structure was to have been of steel, constructed on a plan differing materially from the eventually chosen, but embodying the suspension principle. Mr. Kingsley made a most exhaustive examination of the plans, devoting several months to it. The examination confirmed the impression that the bridge project was a feasible one. Through his instrumentality the matter was laid before some of the most influential citizens of Brooklyn, including the Hon. J. S. T. Stranahan, the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, the State Senator, the late Isaac Van Alldan, the late Thomas Kinsella, Seymour L. Husted and Judge Alexander McCue. Mr. Kingsley exerted himself successfully to impress upon these and other gentlemen the advantages which were bound to follow the bridging of the river. The result of his efforts was the introduction at Albany of the bill of April 16, 1867, under which the New York Bridge Company was incorporated. The bill, which was passed, was based upon the Adams' plan, afterward superseded by that of the Roeblings. The company was private corporation, but by the original and supplementary legislative enactment's it was determined that the city of New York might subscribe $1,500,000 of the total capital, the City of Brooklyn $3,000.000 and the private stockholders $500,000. The political complications and controversies of a peculiarly stormy period rendered the task of obtaining the necessary legislation extremely laborious, and that obstacles were finally overcome was in a large measure attributable to the industry, tack and sagacity of Mr. Kingsley. Subscribing to the Stock

When subscriptions were made to the capital stock of the New York Bridge Company, which was organized a little later, Mr. Kingsley and his partner, Colonel Abner C. Keeney, subscribed for 1,600 shares. Mr. Kingsley's actual financial investment in the stock subscriptions is by no means covered by these figures. After the subscriptions were made several of the subscribers withdrew and failed to keep their pledges. For a short time the enterprise languished in consequence, but Mr. Kingsley came promptly to the rescue, assumed the obligations and oblivious to the raking fire of criticism to which the project was at the time exposed, advanced the money necessary to cover the deficiencies and permit the commencement of the work. He and the firm he represented subscribed over three-fifths of the $500,000 collected in individual subscriptions to the capital stock of the New York Bridge Company. No sooner had the necessary preliminaries been complied with than Mr. Kingsley urged the beginning of actual operations. The selection of a chief engineer was in order, and largely through the exertions of Mr. Kingsley the selection fell upon the late John a Roebling, the celebrated bridge constructor and civil engineer, who resided at the time in Trenton, N. J. Mr. Roebling, at the outset, was reluctant to serve, but after several visits from Mr. Kingsley at his home he consented to assume the responsibilities of the important post. Up to this stage Mr. Kingsley was not officially associated with the work except as director, but he devoted almost his entire time to its advancement, but in the summer of 1869 with the lamentable death of the elder Roebling, caused by an accident on the work, the responsibilities devolving upon him were vastly increased. Entirely without suggestion on his part the directors decided to tender him the office of superintendent of construction. His private business relations were then more extensive than ever before, and he realized that only at considerable sacrifice could he consent to accept the appointment. Preferring, however, to subordinate his individual interests rather than that the project should be subjected to embarrassing delays, he finally consented to act, receiving in compensation a percentage on the cost of the work. In the responsible office of superintendent Mr. Kingsley discharged all his duties with the utmost acceptability, energy and fidelity. Superintendent of Construction.

While he was superintendent were performed the most laborious, hazardous, and trying operations in the entire history of the work, namely, the preparation of the river bed for the reception of caissons, the placing and sinking of the caissons and the construction of the foundations of the enormous granite towers to a point above high water mark. Throughout these years of trial and peril the superintendent moved throughout in perfect concert with Colonel Washington A. Roebling, the chief engineer, and by his example and suggestions inspired a spirit of hopefulness and cordial co-operation among all engaged on the work. By the terms of his agreement with the directors, Mr. Kingsley had engaged to continue his active supervision of the operations until the masonry of the towers had been carried up on both sides of the river to three feet above the surface. When the work reached that stage he resigned the superintendency, but continued as a director and lent every means of assistance at his command to his associates in the furtherance of the wok. Not long after this the New York Bridge Company was dissolved, and the control of the structure was transferred to the cities of Brooklyn and New York. Under the new management Mr. Kingsley was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees. The change from private to public control was acceptable to him rather than otherwise. Under the former system he had been compelled to assume and bear many of the most grievous burdens. The enterprise, in its conduct, had been exposed for months to the hardest and most unreasonable criticism. To a large extent this criticism partook of a political character. Individuals ambitious of political preferment used to the bridge as an instrumentality in the advancement of their aspirations. The controversy raged until quiet citizens were driven well nigh frantic by the hubbub. Through all the tempest of abuse to which the management was exposed Mr. Kingsley, with serene dignity and unyielding resolution, stood between the bridge and its enemies. Others weakened and fell early in the conflict, but he maintained sternly, firmly, and grandly his position until critics and adversaries fled, overwhelmed with shame and confusion. His rare courage and unswerving fidelity, beyond doubt, saved the project at the most critical stage and rendered the completion of the bridge a certainty. As trustee, Mr. Kingsley was, beyond comparison, the most influential member of the Board. He became a member of the reorganized Board of Trustees in 1875, and was re-appointed successively in 1877, 1879, 1881, and 1883. Mr. Kingsley was even more potent in the Board then President Murphy. During his entire service he was a member of the Executive Committee and virtually directed the operations of that body. At no time did he waiver in his confidence in the future of the bridge.