Joseph P. Davis (1837-1917) Papers,
1861-1903 (1862-1865 bulk).

Biographical Note

Joseph P. Davis was born in Northboro, Massachusetts and received his preparatory education in Boston. Davis entered the Rensselaer Institute in 1853 at the age of sixteen. He completed the three year course in civil engineering at Rensselaer and graduated in 1856. Davis was immediately employed by the Brooklyn Water Works as a rodman and was later promoted to transitman in charge of construction of the Mount Prospect and Ridgewood reservoirs.

Davis was appointed as a topographical engineer by the Director of Public Works in Peru. He sailed for Lima, Peru aboard the Northern Light on July 11, 1861. He arrived in Lima, Peru on the second of August and appeared before President Ramón Castilla. Davis was involved in a wide variety of civil engineering projects including a water supply at Chorrillos, bridges at Piura and Lunahuaná, and alterations to the port of Cerro Azul. Davis inspected village churches in Piura and made recommendations for repairs. The churches were considered public buildings and therefore the government's responsibility to maintain. Davis also made designs and estimates for the construction of a prison and a slaughter house and new rooms at the college of Saint Niguel.

Davis' most intensive work was the survey of guano deposits on islands off the coast of Peru. Davis was also asked to provide value estimates for an inventory of equipment used in guano excavation at the Chincha Islands. Davis was given orders in June 1864, to examine bridges at Puno. He designed a stone bridge over the Ilave River, a cable bridge over the Putina River and a bridge over the Ramis River in Huancané. He also examined bridges at Azangará and Lampa on his way to Cuzco. E. G. Squier, a well known antiquarian, joined Davis and his companions in Puno and traveled with them to Cuzco. Davis stayed in Peru until an impending revolution caused the Director of Public Works to grant him a six month leave of absence in May 1865. He was invited to return to Peru to work as a first class engineer in 1872, but he declined.

Davis was the chief engineer for city water works in and around Boston during the 1870s and eventually became the Boston city engineer. He began work as a consulting engineer for the American Bell and Telegraph Company in 1880 and was appointed chief engineer of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1891. Davis designed underground conduits for telephone wires in densely populated areas and directed the installation of these lines in the City of New York. Davis resigned from AT&T in 1905 due to poor health. He died March 31, 1917 and was buried in Northboro, Massachusetts.

Scope and Content

The Joseph P. Davis Papers document the professional activities of Joseph P. Davis, civil engineer and graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Class of 1856. The bulk of the collection comprises journals and correspondence regarding Davis' work for the Department of Public Works in Peru, 1861-1865. The collection is divided into two series: Series I. Correspondence is comprised of letters, orders and reports regarding engineering projects and expeditions. Most of the correspondence is between Joseph Davis and Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan, Director of Public Works for the government of Peru. Paz Soldan's letters are in Spanish. Biographical sketches of Joseph P. Davis included in the collection have been placed at the beginning of this series. Series II. Journals is comprised of journals that record Davis' journey to Peru, two expeditions to survey guano beds off the coast of Peru and notes on a variety of engineering projects including water systems, bridges, sewer systems, structural analyses and railroads. The journals contain detailed reports and in many cases detailed drawings of Davis' projects. An additional journal records a trip to Europe during the winter of 1877-1878 to inspect sewer systems on behalf of the City of Boston. An addendum to this series consists of typed transcripts of Davis' journals. In addition to transcriptions of extant journals, a journal transcription recording Davis' trip to Cuzco in 1864 is included. The disposition of the original journal and the identity of the transcriber are unknown.

Series List

Series I. Correspondence, 1861-1873

Series II. Journals, 1861-1904, n.d.

Inventory