Capt. Thomas Philotheos Chiffelle (1816-1891), a native of Charleston, South Carolina, was graduated from West Point in 1836, 45th in his class. (Cullum, George W., Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, Cambridge, 1901.) He served as assistant engineer on the Maryland Cross-Cut Canal in 1836-37, on the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad in 1837-38 and on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from 1838-41. He was Engineer of the Baltimore Water Works 1843-46 and in 1852. He served as surveyor for the Street Commissioners of Baltimore from 1847-51 and was elected Baltimore City Surveyor in 1851 and 1853. He, along with Alex I. Bouldin, was commissioned by the State Legislature to investigate and report on the status of the Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad in 1850. William H. Reasin (an architect) advertised in 1849 that he and Chiffelle were partners. Together they designed the Baltimore Cemetery on Sinclair Lane.
For reasons that remain unclear, he left Baltimore in 1854 and served as sutler to the 9th U.S. Infantry 1854-57. In 1857 he returned to Maryland and served in the Army Corps of Engineers at Ft. Madison (Annapolis) 1857-60 and at Ft. Carroll 1858.
In 1860 he served as a clerk in the Census Bureau, Washington, D.C. Later he served as a sutler at Ft. Dallas, Oregon (1861-62), returning to Catonsville to serve as the principal of a military school in 1862-63.
In 1867 he began work in the Army Quartermaster Generals office, Washington, D.C. and held that position until his death on April 27, 1891. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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