27 Facts About Moncure Robinson

Moncure Robinson was an American civil engineer and railroad executive.

Moncure Robinson was one of the leading engineers for railroad survey and construction projects from the 1820s to the 1840s.

Moncure Robinson was a principal stockholder and director of several rail and water transport companies including the Baltimore Steam Packet Company and the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad.

Moncure Robinson was born on February 2,1802, in Richmond, Virginia, to Agnes Conway Moncure and John Robinson.

Moncure Robinson attended the Gerardine School in Richmond, and graduated from College of William and Mary at the age of 16.

From 1825 to 1827, Robinson traveled to Europe to study civil engineering with private tutors and public lectures.

Moncure Robinson studied mechanical engineering at the Sorbonne in Paris and traveled to England to observe the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway led by George Stephenson.

On returning to Virginia, Moncure Robinson worked as an engineer's assistant with the James River Company, apprenticing on survey work for canals in his native state.

Three years later, the Virginia Board of Public Works hired Moncure Robinson to assist in locating an extension for the James River Canal.

Moncure Robinson traveled to New York to view the construction of the Erie Canal, over a less hilly route than contemplated in Virginia.

Moncure Robinson's best known early work was the survey and design of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, the 36 mile combination of ten inclines and level railroad over the Allegheny Mountains, Hollidaysburg to Johnstown, which connected the state's canal on the east side with another state-subsidized canal in the Ohio River drainage on the west.

Moncure Robinson surveyed lines in the Mahanoy and Shamokin coal lands, eventually acquiring a part of the lands.

Moncure Robinson built the Chesterfield Railroad, a thirteen-mile coal road with incline, the first railroad in Virginia, completed in 1831.

Moncure Robinson directed construction of other short lines around Richmond such as the Petersburg Railroad, the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad.

In 1833, at age 31, Moncure Robinson became head engineer for the Winchester and Potomac Railroad.

In 1836, Moncure Robinson was a consulting engineer for the construction of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad.

In 1840, Moncure Robinson declined an offer from the Czar of Russia to direct an ambitious railroad building program, but did recommend the firm of Eastwick and Harrison, who built the first railroad line in Russia.

In 1839, with Benjamin Latrobe, John Jervis, J Edgar Thomson, Claudius Crozet, Horatio Allen, Henry Campbell, Moncure Robinson helped organize the American Society of Civil Engineers in Philadelphia.

Moncure Robinson built the bridge across the James River between Manchester and Richmond, Virginia for the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad which was completed in 1838.

Moncure Robinson's brother Conway Robinson was a politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Moncure Robinson died on November 10,1891, in Philadelphia and was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Moncure Robinson had survived his brother Conway Robinson by seven years.

Moncure Robinson's widow survived him by four years; their son and railroadman John M Robinson reconciled with his father in their last years but only survived him by two years.

Eulogists remembered that as a young man, Moncure Robinson had been one of the new Republic's first railroad civil engineers.

Moncure Robinson wrote his will on September 11,1873, and left an endowment for preservation of the Aquia Episcopal Church, Aquia, Virginia.

Moncure Robinson became the leading railroad engineer in the United States, attained an international reputation for engineering excellence and executive talent, and during his retirement continued to consult on various railroad projects.

Moncure Robinson influenced Frederick List, called the "Father of German Railroads" and Michel Chevalier, the Minister of Public Works under Louis Philippe and the most eminent engineer in France.