300 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. Xo.453. 



JOHN ELFRETR WATKIXS. 



The sudden death in New York city on 

 August 11 of Dr. J. Elfreth Watkins, for 

 many years Curator of Mechanical Tech- 

 nology in the U. S. National Museum, is a 

 severe loss to that institution and, indeed, 

 to the world at large, for his great knowl- 

 edge of the early history of the beginnings 

 of mechanics, especially in our own coun- 

 try, had made him an accepted authority 

 on such subjects. 



Dr.. Watkins was born. in Ben Lomond, 

 Va., on May 17, 1852, and was a son of Dr. 

 Francis B. Watkins and Mary Elfreth. 

 On his father's side he was descended from 

 Thomas Watkins, who during the War of 

 the Revolution contributed his influence 

 and money towards the raising of a troop 

 of cavalry of which his son became captain. 

 On his mother 's side he was descended from 

 Timothy Matlack, 'the fighting Quaker,' 

 who was a member of the Committee on 

 Safety in Pennsylvania, and after partici- 

 pating actively in the War of the Revolu- 

 tion, was a delegate to the Continental 

 Congress during the years 1780 to 1787; 

 also on his mother's side he was descended 

 from John Elfreth, who served in the Phil- 

 adelphia City Troops in 1814. 



Young Watkins received his academic 

 education at Tremont Seminary in Norris- 

 town. Pa., and then entered Lafayette 

 College, Pa., where he was graduated in the 

 scientific course in 1871, taking the degrees 

 of C.E. and M.S. For a year after gradu- 

 ation he served the Delaware & Hudson 

 Canal Co. as mining engineer, and then 

 entered the employ of the Pennsylvania 

 Railroad as assistant engineer of construc- 

 tion, being stationed at Meadows Shops, 

 N. J., where he remained until 1873, when 

 he was disabled for further field work by 

 an imfortunate accident that resulted in 

 the amputation of his right leg. On his 

 recovery he was assigned to the Amboy 

 division of the Pennsylvania road, and 



served in various capacities during the ten 

 years that followed. In 1883 he was ap- 

 pointed chief clerk of the Camden & 

 Atlantic Railroad, and a year later was 

 assigned to a similar office on the Amboy 

 division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 

 which place he then held until 1886. 



The history of the beginnings of mechan- 

 ical arts in the United States, especially in 

 connection with the development of trans- 

 portation, attracted his attention and he 

 became a close student of that subject. He 

 soon met the late Dr. G. Brown Goode, a 

 Virginian like himself, and at Goode 's sug- 

 gestion he received an appointment in the 

 National Museum as Honorary Curator of 

 Transportation, which place he accepted in 

 1884, and at once began the work of oi'gan- 

 izing that division which now contains some 

 of the most valuable exhibits of the mu- 

 seum. 



Two years later he severed his connection 

 entirely with the Pennsylvania road, in 

 order to devote his entire time to the mu- 

 seum, and continued as curator until 1892. 

 The knowledge which he had acquired with 

 special reference to the early history of the 

 Pennsylvania Railroad led to an invitation 

 which he could not refuse, to return to the 

 service of that corporation, and to organize 

 the exhibits made by them at the World's 

 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. These 

 exhibits were of unusual interest, including 

 the original locomotive, 'John Bull,' and 

 many other historic objects, and of them 

 he prepared a catalogue, which foi-med a 

 volume of almost two hundred pages, which 

 was published by the Pennsylvania Rail- 

 road in 1893. 



At the close of the World 's Fair in Chi- 

 cago, the Field Columbian Museum was 

 organized, and it was at once apparent that 

 the proper man for the directorship of the 

 Department of Industrial Arts was Dr. 

 Watkins, and he was immediately called to 

 that place, where he remained for one year 



