Julius H. Kroehl

Julius Hermann Kroehl (in German, Kröhl) (1820 – September 9, 1867) was a

His brother Henry (1819–1890) left to the U.S. in 1838. He had established himself as a merchant, with a business in New York City, and later resided in Asbury Park, New Jersey, after 1870. He was a partner with Otto Dill, until he died in 1861. Henry was married to the former Cornelia Rogers Turfler. Their bodies were buried at Green-Wood Cemetery. Passenger lists and passport records suggest that Henry made a few trips to Germany throughout his life. No other siblings have been identified to this article at this time.

William John Kroehl (1816–1879) resided in England from 1836 through the remainder of his life. UK marriage records show a different father; his citizenship petition showed that he came from Memel, and is likely a cousin. He was naturalised a British citizen on 23 January 1849.

Otto Sackersdorff (1820–1879) also resided in New York City. Julius Kroehl thought highly of him as evidenced by his will in bequeathing many of his papers and reference books. Otto served in the United States Coast Survey around 1854, was active in city politics, and served as an officer of the 5th New York State Militia in 1861 for the protection of the nation's capital during its three-month mobilization. He later served as a surveyor for New York City until the end of his life.

Marriage

Julius married Sophia Rosa Lueber on November 25, 1858, at

Kroehl listed himself as a "submarine engineer" on Broad Street in Lower Manhattan during the 1850s. At this time, the term "submarine" referred to anything underwater, and not exclusively to diving vessels. During this time, he was involved in several engineering and technical projects.

Photography

An 1851 article in Scientific American magazine describes the Fair of the American Institute. One exhibit was of colored photographs by Messrs. Kroehl & Vetter, of No. 499 Broad Street. This does not necessarily mean this was Julius Kroehl. However, when Kroehl was ordered to support Union forces during the Vicksburg Campaign of 1863, he was directed to bring with him photographic equipment after spending one month being trained on their use by members of the U.S. Coast Survey in Washington, DC. His personal effects enumerated at the time of his death included photographic supplies. His proficiency in photographic uses in 1851 was possible. No works are known to have survived.^[2]

New York Crystal Palace

From 1852 to 1853, Kroehl was employed as an assistant engineer during the construction of the New York Crystal Palace. Several assistant engineers were employed to oversee the construction of certain parts of this exhibition hall. He was responsible for the construction of the dome, the building's central feature. For three years after, he was noted as the "engineer of the Crystal Palace."

Flange forming machine

Kroehl applied for a patent around March 1854 for a flange forming machine. It is described in Scientific American as

an improvement in machinery for bending flanges on wrought iron beams. There is a pair of horizontal, and a pair of vertical rollers; the former pair has one roller with a face of the full depth of the beam, and the other has its face the depth of the beam minus the thickness of the flanges. The vertical rollers are both alike, and are of a width a little greater than the extreme width of the flanges. They are arranged opposite the space between the horizontal ones, and work in close contact with the sides of the roller. In order to give the flanges and their beams, a taper or an elliptic, or other curved form, the vertical rollers have flanges, whose faces bear on the edges of the flanges of the beam, and cause the said rollers to receive such a movement in the direction of their axes, and apply such a force I that direction as bends the flanges of the beam to the desired form.

Kroehl secured the patent as #12,133 on January 2, 1855.

Mount Morris Fire Watchtower

The City of New York, in order to improve safety during its growth, laid out a series of fire watch towers.

Peter Cooper, as president of the New York and Newfoundland Telegraph Company, hired H&K to blast Merlin Rock, which lies at the western end of the narrows in St. John's Harbor, in June 1855. They were successful in accomplishing the work by August of that year, to the contracted clearance of 27 feet.

Outfitting the Paraguay Expedition of 1858

During the demolition of Diamond Reef, H&K provided underwater explosives to the U.S. Navy for clearing obstructions in the

On 1 July 1859, F.W. Parmenter, a machinist from Troy, New York, contracted with the Navy Department to construct, erect and complete an iron roof for the victualling house at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in the amount of $18,000. Julius H. Kroehl and Sidney D. Roberts served as sureties for the contract. However, monies appropriated for the project were spent elsewhere, so worked dragged through 1861, with work being performed with the assurance that the U.S. Congress will appropriate supplemental funds. But the seizure of Norfolk by Confederate forces in April 1861 forestalled final completion of the project, with an amount owed to Parmenter. In 1874 and 1876, House Committee reports for private relief recommended that the outstanding amounts be paid.

American Civil War

Julius Hermann Kroehl served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

Corps of Pontoniers

In May 1861,

Locomotive No. 160

After the Union Army occupied Alexandria, Virginia in May 1861, military authorities requested the transfer of locomotives to that town in support of the upcoming campaign in northern Virginia. The Pennsylvania Railroad contributed six locomotives. These had to be ferried on a barge from Washington, DC, to Alexandria. In June 1861, Locomotive No. 160 and its tender fell into the Potomac River near Alexandria in 40 feet of water when a sudden squall caused the barge to shift its cargo. In early July 1861, Julius Kroehl, representing his firm of H&K, successfully recovered the locomotive and its tender.

New Orleans

Kroehl's first service for the Union was not as a soldier, but as a civilian contractor. On February 2, 1862, he received a contract to perform

1864 Kroehl became chief engineer and shareholder of the Pacific Pearl Company. He built the Sub Marine Explorer in 1865. He successfully tested his craft in May 1866 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Later, in March 1867, he, with his crew and submarine, shipped out to Panama. He supervised its transport by rail once at Aspinwall (now Colón), and the vessel's reassembly at the Pacific side of the country.

Kroehl died on September 9, 1867, in Panama City, Panama, United States of Colombia, with death being attributed to "fever," and was buried there.^[8] It has been speculated that he died of decompression sickness, during experimental dives with the Sub Marine Explorer. However, the symptoms of decompression sickness do not match that of malaria.^[9] His widow, Sophia, argued that his death was from service-related malaria, citing witnesses who knew him during the Vicksburg campaign as well as medical statements.

Kroehl's body was buried in the Cementerio de Extranjeros (Foreigners' Cemetery), located in the Chorrillo district of

On October 11, 2018, Kroehl's remains were exhumed to confirm his identity and the reason for his death. As a Civil War veteran, his remains are expected to be re-interred in the Corozal American Cemetery, near the Panama Canal.^[10][11]

Widow's pension

Sophia was in a financially desperate situation. With over $40,000 tied up in a submarine that was left on Isla San Telmo, there was essentially no income. Any royalties from patents were expiring. She wrote to Admiral Porter for assistance. He provided her a letter of introduction, which probably resulted in her employment with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. However, attempts to collect on a pension for widows were thwarted by the circumstances of Julius' death.

The

Conclusion

While researching records about Kroehl, statements about him have varied from being "a good officer, and a fine man, and under any circumstances would have sacrificed his life in the cause of his country" (Admiral Porter in widow's pension application) to being a "failure" (Admiral David Farragut). He had been cited in several Northern newspapers from the 1850s until his death.

See also

• German inventors and discoverers

References

Notes

Bibliography

General sources