Joseph Cowles Mehaffey

Joseph Cowles Mehaffey (November 20, 1889 – February 18, 1963) was an American military officer and engineer. As a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, he was the consulting engineer on the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.; helped renovate the White House; and served as a supervising engineer for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. He was assigned in 1941 as maintenance engineer of the Panama Canal, and was governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1944 to 1948. He held the rank of major general in the United States Army.

Life and career

Early life Mehaffey was born in November 1889 in Lima, Ohio, to William R. and Mary Brooks (Stahl) Mehaffey. His grandfather was Robert Mehaffey, an Ulster Scot who emigrated from County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1850 or 1851 at the age of 17. Settling in Lima, he established him in the grocery and then banking business, rising to the position of Vice President of the First National Bank of Lima. He later organized the Merchants National Bank and Metropolitan Bank. He was elected to two terms in the Ohio Senate, and owned a large amount of stock in the Allen County Democrat newspaper. Mehaffey's father worked in the Allen County Democrat beginning in 1885, then purchased the paper and merged it with the Daily Times to form the Lima Times Democrat (a newspaper which still exists in 2013). Joseph had an older brother, Robert Chisholm (born July 22, 1884), and an older sister, Eleanor Cowles (born October 10, 1885, and died in 1887). He also had a younger brother, William Kenneth (born August 23, 1889, and died in 1896). Mehaffey's mother died in March 1899, and his father in November 1907 married Mary E. Mount of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada.

Mehaffey was educated in the Lima public schools. As both his grandfather and father were very active in Democratic politics, he won entry to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He entered West Point on June 15, 1907, and graduated 3rd in a class of 82 on June 13, 1911. He was commissioned a 2d Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers. During his tenure there, Mehaffey was promoted to captain on July 1, 1916, and to brevet major on August 5, 1917, almost four months after the American entry into World War I. He returned to Washington, D.C., on October 25, 1917, where he served again in the office of the Chief Engineer. He was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel on June 29, 1918. Just three months later, he was promoted to brevet colonel on October 7, 1918.

World War I service and later career Mehaffey was an assistant on the commission which designed and built the Arlington Memorial Bridge (depicted). On May 15, 1919, Mehaffy was assigned command of Replacement Unit No. 6 at Camp Meade in Maryland. The unit embarked for France on June 11, and from June 19 to August 1 observed operations of the American Expeditionary Forces. He was subsequently assigned Section Engineer at Base Section No. 1 in Saint-Nazaire, France. He only served there briefly, however, and on October 27 was assigned an assistant to the Engineer Purchasing Office in London, England. He was promoted to Engineer Purchasing Officer on January 1, 1920.

In 1923, Mehaffey was appointed professor of practical military engineering at West Point. After teaching there for two years, Mehaffey was appointed assistant to Colonel Clarence O. Sherrill, Director of Public Buildings and Parks for the city of Washington, D.C. Mehaffey led a reorganized Office of Buildings and Parks, which was rapidly expanding as construction continued on Rock Creek Park and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. On July 16, 1925, Mehaffey was appointed assistant to the executive officer of the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, an independent agency of the U.S. federal government established by Congress. In that capacity, he helped oversee the design and early construction of the bridge. He also supervised the 1927 conversion of the attic of the White House into a third floor with bedrooms, bathrooms, and office space. he primarily worked on airport, beach, pier, playground, and school projects in New York City. One of his major construction efforts was building East River Drive.

Mehaffey entered the United States Army War College in September 1938 and graduated in June 1939. In October 1939, the unit was reorganized as the 1st Engineer Battalion. He was promoted to colonel in January 1940. In November 1940, Mehaffey was appointed engineer of the First Army Corps in South Carolina. He served in this position until 1944. During this time, he undertook construction of the Miraflores Locks and the Transithmian Highway. He received the Legion of Merit for his work.

Mahaffey was promoted to brevet brigadier general in June 1942.

On May 15, 1944, Mahaffey was appointed governor of the Panama Canal. He was promoted to major general in June 1944. Although canal traffic plunged in 1942 to levels not seen since 1918, the invasion of France and collapse of Nazi Germany shifted hundreds of thousands of troops to the Pacific theater. During this period, Mehaffey oversaw operation of the canal while record amounts of traffic moved through it. At one point in 1945, more than 100 ships waited at the eastern entrance to the canal. During his tenure, Mehaffey also conducted the Isthmian Canal Studies in 1947. Better known as the "Mahaffey Report", the studies wproposed getting rid of the canal locks and constructing a sea-level canal at a cost of $3.5 billion. No action was taken on the report, but Mahaffey received the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his work as governor.

Joseph Mehaffey never married. He was a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the Society of American Military Engineers, and a member of the Army and Navy Club.