Daily AncestorCivil engineer
A civil engineer planned, designed and oversaw the building of roads, railroads, bridges, canals, harbors, dams and water and sewer systems.
The term was coined by John Smeaton in 1750 to set engineers on civil works apart from military engineers. It does not mean a man who ran an engine; that kind of engineer drove a locomotive or tended a stationary engine.
The 1900 census instructions name "civil engineer or surveyor" as a profession separate from mechanical or mining engineer.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1900 census
Lucius Whitcombe, 37, Civil engineer, Vt.
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Civil engineer." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/civil-engineer. Last checked 2026-10-12.