Frank Morgan Cortelyou (1886-1976) Papers (KC0042)

Frank Morgan Cortelyou was born in Longwoods, Talbot County, Maryland, on October 29, 1886, the fourth son of Luther and Gertrude Farmer (Stelle) Cortelyou.  In 1889, the family moved to Muscotah, Kansas, where Frank was raised and attended school.

In 1908, Cortelyou graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence with a B.S. degree in civil engineering.  He began work that year as a draftsman for Waddell and Harrington Engineers in Kansas City, Missouri.  Cortelyou remained with that firm for eight years, after which he worked twelve years for the engineering firm of Harrington, Howard, and Ash, also of Kansas City, Missouri.  Cortelyou married Mary Aileen Burney in 1914.  In 1928 Cortelyou co-founded the firm of Harrington and Cortelyou, with which he was associated until his retirement in 1968.

Cortelyou specialized in the engineering of railroad and highway bridges.  Among other projects, he was resident engineer in charge of construction for the bridge over the Arkansas River at Van Buren, Arkansas; the bridge over the Columbia River at Portland, Oregon; the bridge over the lower arm of the San Francisco Bay; and the bridge over the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Cortelyou was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity and the Sigma Xi and the Tau Beta Pi honorary societies.  He was a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and president of the Kansas City chapter of that organization in 1941.  Frank Morgan Cortelyou died in Columbia, Missouri at age 89 on May 2, 1976.

The collection contains personal, family, and business papers of Frank M. Cortelyou.  Included are financial notes and records, some correspondence, photographs, and field notes.  The main focus of the papers is photographs and other documentation of various construction projects for which Cortelyou served as engineer.  Also included are news clippings related to the Cortelyou family, photographs, and some miscellaneous items including a dance card dated 1865.  1855-1976.

40 folders.

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updated: Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City
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