Christopher Colles (1739-1816)

He was brought up from 1750 in the household of his uncle William Colles, "a man of great mechanical abilities and abounding in a variety of those eccentric schemes which mark original genius". In 1771, he sailed from Cork to Philadelphia with William's son, John Colles, before they settled in New York. Christopher became an inventor and engineer best known for his water distribution work in New York City and his early plans for what would become the Erie Canal. He also printed the first road map of the United States. He was married twice and had eleven children.