An Irish and American engineer and inventor, known for his work on numerous inland improvement projects, among them a water distribution system in New York City, canals to link the Atlantic seaboard to the American interior, and a road atlas of the northeastern United States. Many of his projects proved too ambitious to be realised and few attained real success. He was credited with being one of the first to conceive a waterway to the West that would ultimately be achieved by the Erie Canal.
