John A. Bensel

John Anderson Bensel (August 16, 1863 – June 19, 1922) was an American civil engineer and politician from New York. He was President of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1910. He was New York State Engineer and Surveyor from 1911 to 1914. He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1884, and became an assistant engineer with the Aqueduct Commission. Then he worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and from 1889 to 1895 was in charge of constructions on New York City's North River waterfront.

In 1896, he married Ella Louise Day. The same year he became Consulting Engineer of the Philadelphia Water Department. In 1898, he became Chief Engineer of the New York City Dock Department, and in 1906 was appointed a Dock Commissioner.

From 1908 to 1910, he was President of the New York City Board of Water Supply. He was New York State Engineer and Surveyor from 1911 to 1914, elected on the Democratic ticket in 1910 and 1912, but defeated for re-election in 1914.

In 1914, he was investigated during Charles S. Whitman's graft investigation, but was cleared of all suspicions by his successor Frank M. Williams after the latter inspected the department's accounts in 1915.

As a major, he commanded the 125th Battalion of Engineers of the United States Army during World War I. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Legacy

Bensel's New Jersey mansion, which was built in 1905 and was named "Queen Anne Farm", is now Cross Estate Gardens and part of the Morristown National Historic Park. The surrounding grounds are open to visitors and contain a five-story stone water tower and a large Silver Maple tree planted by Bensel in 1906.