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From
the introduction by Frank Abial Flower to Herman Haupt's
Reminiscences:
GENERAL HERMAN HAUPT.
GENERAL HAUPT, now in his 85th year and
the active head of an important manufacturing enterprise in the United
States, is one of the most interesting, as he certainly is one of the
most remarkable, figures in our history.
Few men have participated in so much that
has contributed to the growth and grandeur of our country, yet how
little the world knows of his career, how reluctant the trumpeters have
been to herald his achievements !
A designer and builder of roads and
bridges; a constructor of railroads and tunnels; a professor and author;
an inventor and master mechanic; a military strategist and civil
counsellor; a railway manager and canal engineer; a manufacturer and
organizer of great enterprises; a military and civil engineer, still
up-to-date and a leader of progress, he links the old with the new, the
slow and sleepy past with the swift and dashing present in a way that is
entirely exceptional.
He was born in Philadelphia on March 26,
1817. His father, Jacob Haupt, died in 1828, leaving a widow and six
children.
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