John Ericsson (1803-1889)

Swedish engineer who emigrated to the United States of America.

1803-07-31: Born at Långbanshyttan, Färnebo socken, Värmland, Sweden,
1817: Participated in the building of the Göta Kanal at the age of 14 years.
1829: A locomotive of his design, The Novelty, participated in a competition with Stephenson's Rocket.
1836: Patented a double rotation propeller.
1836: Married Miss Amalia Byam, age 19.
1848: Became an American citizen.
1850: Foreign member in the Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien.
1861 August: The American Congress made allowances for the building of ironclad warships and one ship of the Monitor type designed by Ericsson was ordered.
1862 March: The Monitor was ready for sea.
1863: Swedish member in the Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien.
1863: Member in the Krigsvetenskapsakademien.
1889 March 8: Deceased.
1890 September 16: The corpse was brought to Stockholm onboard the American cruiser Baltimore.

Bibliography

anonymous: John Ericsson.
Printing equipment, 1971.
Besse, Sumner B.: C.S. Ironclad Virginia and U.S. Ironclad Monitor. With data and references for scale models.
The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, VA, 1978. 8vo, 47 pp, ill., 1 fold. plate & 24 pp, ill., 2 fold. plates. The Mariners' Museum Publication No. 36 originally published in 1937 and 1936 as No. 4 och No. 2.
Bushnell, C.S.: The Story of the Monitor, The Original United States Warship Monitor.
New Haven, 1899.
Church, William Conant: The life of John Ericsson.
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1891 [1890?].
Cox, J. Lee Jr. & Jehle, Michael A.: Ironclad Intruder: U.S.S. Monitor. A collection of essays on the history, symbolism and archaeological importance of the U.S.S. Monitor, published in conjunction with the exhibition, "Ironclad Intruder: U.S.S. Monitor" March 25 - October 31, 1988.
Philadelphia Maritime Museum, Philadelphia, PA, 1988. 4to, (2), 61 pp, ill. ISBN 0-913346-15-2.
Hammar, Hugo: John Ericssons Monitor och drabbningen på Hampton Roads.
Hugo Gebers, Stockholm, 1937. +8vo, 63 pp, 8 plate.
Ericsson, John: Contributors to the Centennial Exhibition.
Kungl. Tekniska Högskolan, Stockholm, 1976/1876 (facsimile). 4to, (4), frontispiece, 56 pp, 10 plates.
Lindwall, G.: Ingeniören wid Beach Street, 1937.
Säve, Teofron: John Ericsson. Lefnadsteckning.
Beijers bokförlagsaktiebolag, Stockholm, 1906. 8vo, 208 pp, 1 plate.
White, R.: Yankee from Sweden.
1960.
Ålund, O.W.: John Ericsson, några minnesblad, 1890.

Updated 1996-02-24 by Lars Bruzelius

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