COLONEL FREDERICK JAMES AMWEG

San Francisco County

Biographies

COLONEL FREDERICK JAMES AMWEG

AMWEG, COLONEL FREDERICK JAMES, Advisory Engineer and Manager of Building Operations, San Francisco, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the son of Captain John M. Amweg and Margaret H. (Fenn) Amweg. His father was a Captain of Company I, One Hundred and Twenty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War, and his ancestors were of old Revolutionary stock, for his is the great-grandson of Theophilus Fenn, a gallant officer of the American forces in Canada under General Wolfe, and is also a lineal descendant of Hon. Theodore Sedgwick, an American Federalist, politician and jurist, who served in the Revolutionary war, was a Delegate to the Continental Congress from Massachusetts from 1788 to 1796, United States Senator, 1796 to 1799; a member of Congress, 1799 to 1801, and Judge of Massachusetts Supreme Court from 1802 to 1813. He is also a nephew to General John Sedgwick, who lost his life at Spottsylvania Courthouse during the Civil war.

On October 10, 1883, Colonel Amweg was married in Philadelphia to Miss Blanche E. Parsons, and is the father of two children, Blanche Ethel and Frederick J, Amweg, Jr.

Colonel Amweg was educated both in private and public schools of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1873 he was graduated from the Lancaster High school and in 1876 took the degree of Civil engineer from the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania. He had early determined to become an engineer and architect, and concentrated on technical studies to this end.

Throughout the record of his professional career one can almost hear the clank of the surveyor’s chain and the echo of the builder’s hammer. His life is a story of activity and achievement in building operations that touches a large part of America and her possessions.

Soon after his final graduation he joined the engineering staff of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and served thereon for nine years, toward the end of which period he acted as assistant engineer of bridges and buildings, and was in charge of the inspection over the entire system.

He was also employed by the City of Philadelphia to design a cantilever bridge over the Schuylkill River, on the line of Market street, and to superintend the construction of this important municipal work.

From 1887 to 1899 Colonel Amweg conducted an engineering and contracting business in the East and had the active supervision of operations involving a great variety of structures, both public and private, and many millions of dollars.

Among these some of the most noteworthy are; The Annex to the Boys’ High School, the Drexel Building and a number of large schoolhouses, all these in Philadelphia; the handsome residence of Edward H. Williams, Rosemont, and that of Robert Pitcairn, Pittsburg; the Wernersville Asylum, Wernersville; the Baldwin Hotel, Beach Haven, New Jersey; the Academy of Music and the Terry Building, Roanoke, Virginia, and the Union Passenger Station, Kenova, Virginia.

During this period he was also chief engineer of the City Avenue and Germantown Bridge Company and superintended the erection of the City Avenue Bridge over the Schuylkill River and of the new Radford Bridge, at Radford, Virginia.

In 1899 Colonel Amweg was called to Honolulu to take charge, as chief engineer of the building and installing of an electric railroad, including car barns, power-house and power plant, at a total cost of more than a million and a half dollars. But while in the islands he did not permit the building business to languish through lack of energy. His activities ranged from schools and warehouses to office buildings and wharves.

A few of his important constructions there are the Brewer Warehouse, the Convent Building, the Lewers & Cooke and the two Mendoca buildings, the Sachs, the Stangenwald, the Normal and Royal Schools and the Hilo wharf at Hilo. After completing the above works he went to San Francisco, in October, 1903, and engaged in the private practice of his profession.

Evidently the climate of California had no deterrent effect upon Colonel Amweg’s constructive propensities. They have materialized here in the same range and variety that have marked them elsewhere.

Among the notable expressions of his ability we find these buildings; The Brandenstein, the Butler, the California Wine Association, the Dorn & Dorn Hotel, the Woodward Investment Company, the Berkeley Station (Southern Pacific Railroad), the hospital of the Southern Pacific, the San Mateo Courthouse, the Kern County Courthouse and the reconstruction work of the United Railroads of San Francisco.

Despite all this absorbing activity he has found time to act as consulting engineer for arbitration committees and to become a member of the following organizations: The Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Sons of the American Revolution; Corinthian Lodge of Masons, of Pennsylvania; Oriental Chapter, 183, Pennsylvania; Golden Gate Commandery, Knights Templar, of California; Aloha Temple, Mystic Shrine, Honolulu; Philadelphia Lodge of Perfection (fourteenth degree), De Joinville Council (sixteenth degree), Kilting Chapter, Rose Croix (eighteenth degree), all Pennsylvania; Lodge No. 616, B. P. O. E., Honolulu; American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He is also Chief of Engineers of the National Guard of California, with the rank of Colonel.

Transcribed by Pat Seabolt.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 889, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.

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