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Joseph Smith Harris (April 29, 1836 – June 1, 1910) was an American surveyor, civil engineer, and...

Joseph Smith Harris (April 29, 1836 – June 1, 1910) was an American surveyor, civil engineer, and railroad executive. Largely self-taught, he worked on several projects for the U.S. government, including the Coast Survey of the Mississippi Sound in 1854-56 and the Northwest Boundary Survey of 1857-61. He worked his way through a considerable number of adventures to become President of the Reading Railroad, which he brought back from its 1893 bankruptcy. Joseph Smith Harris was born on the family farm in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania; the house has burned down, but the barn and springhouse still stand on what is now the Chester Valley Golf Club. His father, Stephen Harris (September 4, 1798 – November 18, 1851), was the local physician; his mother was Marianne Smith (April 2, 1805 – March 12, 1890). Stephen Harris' brothers (Joseph's uncles) included Thomas Harris and John Harris, who became career military officers. Joseph's paternal grandfather, William Harris (1757 – 1812), had been an army officer in the American Revolution and thereafter, and his great-grandfather (on his mother's side) was Persifor Frazer, a figure in the Revolution who had some