Captain
John Jacob Gilbert
died at his residence in the Iroquois Apartments,
Washington, D.C., at 11 a.m. on October 7. Born on September
4, 1845, at Lewinsville, Fairfax County, Virginia, he attended
school near there until 1860, when he entered Wilton Academy,
leaving there in 1863 for Williams College, Massachusetts. Captain
Gilbert was appointed in the Coast and Geodetic Survey on June
1, 1864, during the tenure of office of Professor A. D. Bache,
having served under 10 heads of this bureau upon his retirement
to inactive duty April 1, 1921. During his service of exactly
56 years and 10 months, he was active in surveys made in the
Pacific Northwest and as Commander of the PATHFINDER on surveys
in Alaska and in the Philippines. He served with distinction
as chief of the division of hydrographic operations, including
its vessels.
His genial disposition endeared him to all. The unparalleled
record for continuous surveying operations in one locality was
held by Captain Gilbert, who after about 22 years of work in
the Georgia Strait, Washington, had won for himself the distinction
of having made not only the pioneer, but the unchallenged, development
of that region and of the waters south of it. His original records
are as current now as then, except for water-front revisions
resulting from the natural consequence of industrial growth.
Although some of the modern-day methods and instruments were
lacking, he was yet able to produce substantially as accurate
and thorough results as are possible today.
C&GS BULLETIN, No. 174, 11/30/1929
