Early Years
Engineering and the Crozet Tunnel
Although the Board of Public Works had existed for seven years, by the time of Crozet's appointment its program of supporting private internal improvement projects had yet to reap many economic benefits for the state. The directors immediately charged their new principal engineer with the tasks of aiding in surveying small-scale projects and examining the feasibility of a statewide route linking the Ohio River and Tidewater Virginia. During the summer of 1825 Crozet undertook a detailed survey of western Virginia, and over the next few years he strongly urged the General Assembly to authorize construction of a transportation system comparable to New York's Erie Canal. At first he recommended extending the existing water route along the James River across the state to the Kanawha River, but he soon began advocating a railroad as the most efficient and cost-effective means of linking the Ohio River with the Chesapeake Bay.
Crozet found, however, that sectional interests rendered members of the General Assembly unsympathetic to a centralized statewide plan of internal improvements. The shortsighted goals of local politicians consistently frustrated the forward-looking engineer, who believed that such improvements would make Virginia the most important state in the country. In 1831 the assembly cut the principal engineer's salary and refused to act on his plans for a state-funded railroad in western Virginia. In response to these difficulties, made worse by the death of his elder daughter the year before, Crozet resigned.
From 1837 to 1845 Crozet served as the first president of the board of directors of the Virginia Military Institute, which opened in Lexington in 1839. Using his own formal military training he helped install a curriculum patterned after his experiences at the École Polytechnique and at the U.S. Military Academy. He worked from 1845 to 1849 as principal of the financially plagued Richmond Academy. In 1848 Crozet published An Arithmetic for Colleges and Schools, which appeared in two subsequent editions. He also wrote another textbook, First Lessons in Arithmetic: Being an Introduction to the Complete Treatise for Schools and Colleges (1857).
Later Years
Major Works
- A Treatise on Descriptive Geometry: For the Use of the Cadets of the United States Military Academy (1821)
- Outline of the Improvements in the State of Virginia (1848)
- An Arithmetic for Colleges and Schools (1848)
- First Lessons in Arithmetic: Being an Introduction to the Complete Treatise for Schools and Colleges (1857)
Time Line
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December 31, 1789 - Claudius Crozet is born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, France.
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1800 - Claudius Crozet moves to Paris with his father and two of his siblings.
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1805–1807 - Claudius Crozet attends the École Polytechnique, where he receives a technical education and military training.
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1807–1809 - Claudius Crozet enters the artillery school at Metz.
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July 22, 1812 - Claudius Crozet is promoted to captain during Napoléon I's invasion of Russia.
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September 7, 1812 - Claudius Crozet is taken prisoner at the Battle of Borodino, in Russia.
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1814 - Taken prisoner by the Russians at the Battle of Borodino in 1812, Claudius Crozet is returned to service in the French army.
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April 1816 - Claudius Crozet resigns his commission in the French army.
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June 7, 1816 - Claudius Crozet and Agathe DeCamp are married in Paris.
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Autumn 1816 - Claudius Crozet begins teaching at the U.S. Military Academy, at West Point, New York.
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June 2, 1823 - Claudius Crozet becomes principal engineer for the Virginia Board of Public Works.
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Summer 1825 - Claudius Crozet undertakes a detailed survey of western Virginia.
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1831 - Claudius Crozet resigns as principal engineer for the Virginia Board of Public Works after the General Assembly cuts his salary and refuses to act on his plans for a state-funded railroad in western Virginia.
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1832–1834 - Claudius Crozet serves as state engineer of Louisiana.
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1834–1836 - Claudius Crozet serves as president of Jefferson College, a preparatory school in Saint James Parish, Louisiana.
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1836 - Claudius Crozet becomes a civil engineer with the city of New Orleans, but stays in the job only briefly.
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1837–1845 - Claudius Crozet serves as the first president of the board of directors of the Virginia Military Institute.
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April 5, 1837 - Claudius Crozet for the second time becomes the principal engineer of the Virginia Board of Public Works.
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March 1843 - The General Assembly eliminates the office of principal engineer of the Virginia Board of Public Works.
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1845–1849 - Claudius Crozet works as the principal of the Richmond Academy.
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1849 - Claudius Crozet is named chief engineer for the Blue Ridge Railroad Company (later part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company).
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1857–July 1859 - Claudius Crozet serves as the principal assistant engineer in charge of building an aqueduct to secure a fresh water supply for Washington, D.C.
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April 1858 - The Crozet Tunnel, located at Rockfish Gap, in Nelson County, opens.
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1860 - Claudius Crozet becomes the chief engineer of the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad.
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March 14, 1861 - Agathe DeCamp Crozet, the wife of Claudius Crozet, dies.
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January 29, 1864 - Claudius Crozet dies at his son-in-law's home in Chesterfield County. He is buried first in Richmond and then at the Virginia Military Institute.
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Categories
- Transportation
- Antebellum Period (1820–1860)
References
Further Reading
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Adams, S. P., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Claudius Crozet (1789–1864). (2017, May 15). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Crozet_Claudius_1789-1864.
- MLA Citation:
Adams, Sean Patrick and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "Claudius Crozet (1789–1864)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 15 May. 2017. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: April 7, 2017 | Last modified: May 15, 2017
Contributed by Sean Patrick Adams and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.