WILSON, John Allston, civil engineer, born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, 24 April, 1837. He was graduated at the Rensselaer polytechnic institute in 1856, and in 1857-'8 served as topographer on surveys in Central America for the Honduras interoceanic railway. In 1858 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania railroad as assistant engineer, and in 1861-'4 he was principal assistant engineer in charge of construction, after which he was chief engineer for the Pennsylvania railroad company on their main line or on affiliated roads until 1875. Meanwhile, in 1863, he served as aide on the staff of General Darius N. Couch (then in command of the Department of the Susquehanna), and had charge of the construction of fortifications at Harrisburg and vicinity. In 1875 he was engaged as consulting engineer on the construction of the buildings for the World's fair in Philadelphia, and since January, 1876, he has been a partner in the firm of Wilson Brothers and Company, civil engineers and architects. Mr. Wilson has been chief engineer for various railroads in Pennsylvania and New York; also has been connected with lumber-manufacturing and coal-mining interests in Pennsylvania. A large number of railway structures, in-eluding bridges, have been built by him, especially along the lines of the roads with which he has been connected. He is a member of the Franklin institute, the American institute of mining engineers, the American society of civil engineers, and other technical societies.---His brother, Joseph Miller, civil engineer, born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, 20 June, 1838, was graduated at the Rensselaer polytechnic institute in 1858, and studied chemistry, he entered the service of the Pennsylvania railroad in March, 1860, as assistant engineer, and in 1867 was given jurisdiction as engineer of bridges and building over all lines that were controlled by the Pennsylvania company from New York on the east to Pittsburg on the west, and from Canandaigua, New York, on the north to Quantieo, Virginia, on the south. This office he resigned in 1886. In 1874-'6 he was joint engineer and architect with Henry Pettit for the main exhibition building and machinery hall of the World's fair in Philadelphia, and in January, 1876, in association with his brother, he organized the firm of Wilson Brothers and Company, with which he is still connected. Among the important structures that he has built are the Susquehanna bridge at Harrisburg, the Schuylkill river bridge of the Filbert street line in Philadelphia, and bridges at Trenton, and New Brunswick, New Jersey Mr. Wilson designed the Drexel bank and the Drexel building in Philadelphia, the St. Francis de Sales industrial school in Eddington, Pennsylvania, and other buildings. He received medals and awards for his plans of bridges and buildings at the World's fair in 1876, and the degree of A. M. was conferred on him by the University of Pennsylvania in 1877. He is a member of the London institution of civil engineers, of the American society of civil engineers, and other societies, and was president of the Franklin institute in 1887-'8, and of the Engineers' club of Philadelphia in 1888. In addition to various technical papers in scientific journals, he wrote the mechanical, scientific, and historical parts of the "Illustrated Catalogue of the International Exhibition of 1876" (Philadelphia, 1876-'8).