Lewis Brantz
Lewis Brantz (c. 1768–1838) was a trader in
Born around 1768 in
Brantz later became a merchant captain, sailing his ships to Europe and the Eastern and Western Indies for 20 years. With
Brantz also charted the waters around Baltimore and wrote a meteorological book based on weather observations between 1817 and 1837. Between 1828 and 1838, he sailed to China, South America, and Mexico, where he lived for several years.[1]
In the mid-1830s, he became president of the Baltimore and Port Deposit Railroad,[3] a company chartered by the state of Maryland to build a railroad that would help link Baltimore with cities to the northeast. In 1838, the B&PD merged with three other railroads to create the first rail link from Philadelphia to Baltimore. (This main line survives today as part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.) Brantz' service as a railroad executive is noted on the 1839 Newkirk Viaduct Monument in Philadelphia.
Brantz died suddenly on Jan. 21, 1838.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d Lowry, Patricia (August 10, 2008). "Young traveler's journal solves art show's Pittsburgh mystery". Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ Jefferson, Thomas (March 11, 1809). "Thomas Jefferson to Mayer & Brantz, 11 March 1809". Founders Online. National Archives. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ Wilson, William Bender (1895). History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company with Plan of Organization, Portraits of Officials and Biographical Sketches. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Company. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
- ^ "1838 (June 2004 Edition)" (PDF). PRR CHRONOLOGY. The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. June 2004. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.