De Brahm, William Gerard (20 August 1718–03 July 1799?), surveyor-cartographer and military engineer, was born in Koblenz, Germany, the son of Johann Phillip von Brahm, court musician to the elector of Triers, and Johannetta Simonet. A member of the lesser nobility, De Brahm secured a broad education that included exposure to the burgeoning experimental sciences of his day. After attaining the rank of captain engineer in Charles VII’s imperial army, De Brahm married and renounced the Roman Catholic faith. Forced to resign his army commission because of his renunciation, he and his bride, Wilhelmina de Ger, found themselves nearly destitute....
Article
De Brahm, William Gerard (20 August 1718–03 July 1799?), surveyor-cartographer and military engineer
Louis De Vorsey , Jr.
Article
De Witt, Simeon (1756-1834), cartographer, surveyor, and land developer
Silvio A. Bedini
De Witt, Simeon (25 December 1756–03 December 1834), cartographer, surveyor, and land developer, was born in Wawarsing, Ulster County, New York, the son of Andries De Witt, a physician, and Jannetje Vernooy. His early education was typical of what a scattered agricultural community could provide in that period. Later he received classical instruction from the local minister, and then, on the eve of the American Revolution, he enrolled at Queen’s College (later Rutgers University) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was granted a B.A. degree in 1776 and an M.A. degree in 1788....
Article
Emory, William Hemsley (1811-1887), soldier, surveyor, and cartographer
Norman J. W. Thrower
Emory, William Hemsley (07 September 1811–01 December 1887), soldier, surveyor, and cartographer, was born on the family plantation, “Poplar Grove,” in Queen Annes County, Maryland, the son of Thomas Emory and Anna Maria Hemsley. In July 1826 William Emory enrolled in the United States Military Academy, where his classmates, to whom he was known as Bold Emory, included ...
Article
Hutchins, Thomas (1730?–28 April 1789), cartographer and surveyor
James X. Corgan
Hutchins, Thomas (1730?–28 April 1789), cartographer and surveyor, was born on the New Jersey frontier. Orphaned before the age of sixteen, by the end of the French and Indian War, in 1756, he was an ensign with Pennsylvania troops. In 1760, after several years of frontier service, he took leave to become an Indian agent. His most publicized assignment was a diplomatic mission to tribes of the Northwest. Hutchins prepared well-written narratives of his travels and generally included maps with surveyed areas. In some instances he was the first person to attempt a map of a large region. His maps and reports led to an offer of a regular British army commission, without purchase fees. Hutchins accepted and gradually became North America’s premier frontier surveyor and mapper. In 1764, 1766, and 1768 he accompanied parties exploring the vast region of the eastern Mississippi River Valley from Minnesota to New Orleans. Other assignments also contributed to his geographic expertise. In 1763, for example, he traveled through the southern colonies as an army recruiter....
