Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/162

 ROEBLIXG

ROEBLIXG

Gulf division of Roar-Adinirul Talmer's sqund- n.ii at Veiu Cruz, at the time of tlie execution of Maximilian. He took General Santa Anna from an American steamer and sent him out of Mexico, and as negotiator .between General Juarez's forces and the imperial governor of Vera Cruz, received the surrender of that city from General Gomez in ISCT, preserved order, and established a provisional government. After Mexican affairs were settled he was ordered to Washington. D.C., where he received the thanks and congratulations of President Johnson and his cabinet. He was fleet-captain of the frigate Di^hiu-are. Asiatic fleet. Admiral Rowan, 18G7-T1; was promoted captain, April 1. 1872 ; was captain of the Boston navy-yard. 1872-73 ; cruised in the Litncaster, Brazil station, as chief of staff, 1873- 73. and was on duty at the naval station. New London. 1875-7G. He was a member of the board of examiners at the U.S. Naval academy, 1879. and was promoted commodore, Nov. 7, 1879. He served as president of various boards, 1880-83, and as governor of the U.S. Naval asy- lum. Philadelphia, 1883-84 ; was promoted rear- admiral, Nov. 3, 1844, and having reached the age limit was placed on the retired list, Oct. 4, 1885. He is the author of : Xaval Duties and Dis- cipline (1864), and "Modern Culture," essa3-s published in the lYaraZ Magazine. He died in Washington. D.C., Dec. 28. 1901.

ROEBLINQ, John Augustus, civil engineer, was born in Miilluiusen, Prussia, June 12, 1806 ; son of Polycarp and Amelia Roebling. He was graduated from the Royal Polytechnic school, Berlin, C.E., 1826, and was in the government employ, 182G-29, as assistant on the construction of military roads in Westphalia. He emigrated to the United States in 1829, and settled near Pittsburg, Pa., where he engaged in agriculture. He became interested in the development of the Western frontier, giving his attention to the canal improvements and to slack water naviga- tion and railroad enterprises, and surveyed the lines of the Pennsylvania railroad from Harris- burg to Pittsburg. He was married in 1836 to Johanna, daughter of Ernest and Adelheid Hert- ing of Saxonburg, Butler county, Pa. He then became a manufacturer of iron and steel wire, and had charge of the construction of the wood- en aqufduct across tiie Allegheny river at Pitts- burg, 1844-4") ; constructeil the suspension bridge over the Monongahela river at Pittsburg in 1846, and four suspension bridges over the Delaware and Hudson canal in 1848. He removed his wire manufactory to Trenton, N.J., and in 1851 secured the appointment as engineer to build a bridge across the Niagara river to connect the New York Central railroad with the Canadian railway sys- tem. This suspension bridge, the first capable of

bearing the weight of railroad trains, was finish- ed in 1855. The span was 825 feet, and it was supported by four 10-inch wire cables. In 1855 he built a wire cable bridge over the Allegheny river at Pittsburg, and in 1856 contracted for the bridge between Cincinnati and Covington, finishing the work in 1867. On May 23, 1867, he was appointed chief engineer of the construction of the East River bridge between Brooklyn and

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New York ; prepared the plans for the structure, and began tiie work of construction in 1869. While engaged in fixing the location of the Brooklyn tower, a ferry boat entering the slip dislodged the timbers on which he stood, causing them to catch and crush his foot. The injury resulted in lockjaw and caused his death. He is the author of : Long and Sho7-t Span Railway Bridges (1869). He died in Brooklyn, N.Y., July 22, 1869.

ROEBLING, Washington Augustus, civil en- gineer, was born in Saxenburg, Pa.. May 26, 1887 ; son of John Augustus and Johanna (Herting) Roebling. He was graduated from the Rens- selaer Polytechnic institute, Troy, N.Y., C.E., 1857, and engaged in professional work under his father (q. v.). In 1861 he joined the Federal army as a private in the 6th N.Y. artillery. In 1862 he was transferred to Gen. Irvin McDowell's staff as an engineer, and was engaged in the con- struction of a suspension bridge across the Rap- pahannock river ; was transferred to Gen. John Pope's staff, and built the suspension bridge across the Shenandoah river at Harper's Ferry. He served on balloon duty and on engineering duty, 1863-64 ; was promoted major on the staff of General Warren commanding the 5th corps, April 20, 1864, and was brevelted colonel. March 13, 1865. He was married, Jan. 18. 1865, to Emily, daughter of Sylvanus and Phoebe Warren of Cold Spring, N.Y., and she died in Trenton, N.J., March 1, 1903. He resigned his commis- sion in January, 1865, and assisted his father in the construction of the Cincinnati and Covington bridge across the Ohio river. In 1868 he studied pneumatic foundations abroad, and in 1869, upon the death of his father, he was called to the sup- erintendence of the Brooklyn Bridge construction, and to that end settled in Brooklyn, N.Y., and