Thomas Lincoln Casey Sr. (May 10, 1831 – March 25, 1896) was an American military and civil engineer of the late 19th century. He served as Chief of Engineers for the United States Army Corps of Engineers and oversaw the completion of the Washington Monument. American engineer Richard Weingardt wrote that Casey was the "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ most visible and celebrated builder of public buildings, monuments, and other significant works in the latter part of the 19th century."
Family
Casey was born into a prominent family that lived on Casey Farm in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, for 200 years. This family included an admiral, generals, engineers and scientists. Casey's grandfather Wanton Casey was a member of the Kentish Guards of East Greenwich during the American Revolution. with who he had two sons. He was appointed by then President James K. Polk to West Point, which he attended from July 1, 1848, to July 1, 1852, when he graduated first in his class of forty-three. Other members of his class included Henry Warner Slocum, David S. Stanley, George Lucas Hartsuff, Charles R. Woods, Alexander McDowell McCook, August Kautz, and George Crook. From March 3, 1877, to April 1, 1881, Casey headed the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, District of Columbia, overseeing construction of the Potomac aqueduct (March 3, 1877 to August 12, 1882), the last two-thirds of the State, War, and Navy Building (March 3, 1877 to May 31, 1888), and the completion of the Washington Monument (June 25, 1878, to April 4, 1888).
Thomas Lincoln Casey was buried with his father and other family members at the Casey Farm in Saunderstown, Rhode Island.
Memberships
Casey was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1890, succeeding his father in 1882, and a Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States until his death. He was also a director of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.