Stevens Institute of Technology - Link Yearbook (Hoboken, NJ)

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CnarLres Wittman MacCorp. HARLES WILLIAM MacCORD was born on the 18th of March, 1836, in the township of Northeast, Dutchess County, New York. He is of Scottish origin, being a lineal descend- ant of Hamish MacCord (called Sir James by the English), a Highland chieftain, who fell at the pass of Killiecrankie in 16809. The fact that he taught himself to read without his parents’ knowledge does not imply the neglect of his early education, which was at first superintended entirely by his father, the Rev- erend W. J. MacCord, whose residence was, at that time, in a very retired locality, far from neighbors and remote from any school. Having, therefore, no playmates, his chief recreation was found in busying himself with a few tools, with which he constructed rude models of mech- anism, some of his own invention. A wooden clock, given him by a neighbor, afforded much material in the construction of these machines. In 1847 he became a student in the Armenia Seminary, then a prosperous school with excel- lent instructors. Here he prepared for college, and after teaching a few months, he went to Princeton in January, 1852, and was graduated in 1854; receiving the degree of A. M., in course, in 1857. From the same institution he also received the degree of Sc.D. in 1881, clearly in recognition of subsequent work, for during his college course he was noted chiefly for his skill in the game hand-ball; fortunately, foot-ball had not yet been made part of the curriculum. Then, like the average college graduate—fitted for nothing else and hardly for this—he engaged in teaching: first, near Schenectady in one of the large educational establishments in that part of the State, and afterward in a private family. During these two years, while engaged in teaching, he had, by his own exertion, acquired the art of mechanical drawing. In 1858 he came to New York, and was appointed assistant draughtsman at the DeLamater Iron Works. Here his work attracted the attention of Capt. John Ericsson, and he was detailed to do some work under Ericsson’s personal direction. This was executed so much to the satisfaction of the famous engineer that he engaged Mr. MacCord as his chief draughtsman. Mr. MacCord was Ericsson’s draughtsman for nine years. During this period he was employed upon a great variety of work; assisting Ericsson in the designing of several forms of hot-air engines, of torpedoes, gun-carriages, steam-engines for a number of vessels, and appara- tus for Ericsson’s experiments in physics; also, during his connection with Ericsson the plans for 7

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DIME AKCIE, y 3 (Nh (yy, ff ‘i “QMETIME during the history of man, some wisdom- NU 4 a . sh laden mortal rose up in the greatness of his knowledge and charity, and opened the portals which led to his priceless store of learning, by writing a book. He probably didn’t hustle much for advertisments, nor was he closely pursued by the agents of rival publishing houses, all of which being irrelevant to the subject need not be further focussed by this soul-stirring analysis. To adopt the arbitrary methods of assumption so dear to the hearts of expounders of mathematical lore, we will assume that, as his style merrily dragged the juice of the oak gall over the crisp papyrus, he occasionally chuckled inwardly, and said, ‘‘ Verily has no man yet done such a stunt as this,” or words to that effect. Giving ear to his speech it occurred to this benefactor that his actions in writing a book being somewhat irregu- lar, the public might demand an explanation; so he formulated a proper exposition of the facts of the case, prefixed it to the great work, and within a month his creation was in every prominent library of the civilized world. Since that dawn of literary progress, and presumably in conform- ity with the precedent established by this ancient scribe, it has been quite the proper thing for authors of books, both great and small, to preface their subject matter with a short discussion tending to palliate the crime of afflicting humanity with their journalistic offspring. The Board of Tur Link of 1894, in presenting this artistic and literary treasure to the students and friends of the Institute, have no apologies to make, no excuses to offer. We regret that many will be guilty of heartless criticism, but the absurdity of such a course will be at once apparent to the well-balanced majority, and it is confidently expected that public approval will silence all ridicule long before the first edition is disposed of. We sincerely hope that our radical departure, in bringing the book out while the events chronicled are still fresh in your retentive memories, may not lessen its value as an ancient history out of proportion to the gain derived from ‘‘up to date= features, Other regrets and hopes crowd upon us, but why harrow you with tales of our suffering when you are longing to plunge into the precious stores beyond. 6

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every detail of many turreted iron-clad vessels were made in the Captain’s office. The first of these was the famous MONITOR. In relation to her, my friend MacCord is justly proud to say that —- He is the man, Who owns the hand, That held the pen, That drew the lines, Upon the sheets, That guided the men, Who built the boat, That John planned. Inasmuch as Ericsson was a most accomplished draughtsman and extremely critical in regard to all work done for him it is not surprising, under such severe censorship, that his assistant acquired skill as a draughtsman and a knowledge of machine-designs. In 1868 Mr. MacCord came to Hoboken as chief draughtsman in the construction of the Stevens Battery, upon which work was in progress, under the superintendence of Gen. George B. McClellan. In this work he was occupied for two years. He then acted in the same capacity in the Department of Docks in New York, of which Gen. McClellan was Chief Engineer. On the opening of the Stevens Institute of Technology, in 1871, he was offered, and he accepted, the Chair of Mechanical Drawing, which he has since then occupied. For this position in a school of mechanical engineering he was well fitted. Having the advantage of an extensive practical experience, he evolved from this experience a course of instruction which he has endeavored to make beneficial to the student of mechanical engineering. Professor MacCord has not, however, been content with the planning and bringing into practical working a course of instruction. Throughout the years of his duties as professor he has worked to add to the knowledge pertaining to the subject of his professorship. In other words, he is a professor in the sense in which that title should be understood. He is the author of the following works and papers: ‘‘A Treatise on the Slide Valve and Eccentric; ‘‘Lessons in Mechanical Drawing;” “ Kinematics and Practical Mechanism;” ‘Practical Hints for Draughtsmen,” and ‘‘ Progressive Exercises in Mechanical Drawing.” He has published over sixty papers on mechanical subjects, most of them containing the results of original investigations. Of these, we mention the following: ‘‘Simultaneous Dead Points;” ‘‘ Mechanical Equiva- lents;” ‘‘Composite Gearing, Combining the Involute and Epicycloidal Systems;”’ ‘« Geometric Determination of the Radius of Curvature of Many of the Higher Plane Curves;” also a series of papers describing ‘‘ Instruments for Drawing Curves;” these contain original devices for drawing 8