- Henry Martyn Robert
Henry Martyn Robert (
May 2 ,1837 –May 11 ,1923 ) was the author ofRobert's Rules of Order , which became the most widely used manual ofparliamentary procedure and remains today the most commonparliamentary authority in theUnited States .Robert was born in Robertville,
South Carolina and raised inOhio , where his father moved the family because of his strong opposition toslavery . Robert's father, Reverend Joseph Thomas Robert, later became the first president ofMorehouse College where there is a dormitory on the campus named after him. Robert was nominated to West Point from Ohio, and graduated fourth in his class in 1857. He became amilitary engineer .Under command of
Silas Casey during thePig War he built the fortifications onSan Juan Island . In theAmerican Civil War , he was assigned to the Corps of Engineers and worked on the defenses ofWashington, D.C. , Philadelphia, and severalNew England ports.Robert served as Engineer of the Army's Division of the Pacific from 1867-1871. He then spent two years improving rivers in
Oregon andWashington and six years developing the harbors of Green Bay and other northernWisconsin andMichigan ports. He subsequently improved the harbors ofOswego, New York , Philadelphia, andLong Island Sound and constructed locks and dams on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. As Southwest Division Engineer from 1897 to 1901, Robert studied how to deepen the Southwest Pass of theMississippi River .Robert was president of the Board of Engineers from 1895 to 1901. He was made
brigadier general onApril 30 ,1901 , and was appointedChief of Engineers . He served untilMay 2 ,1901 , when he retired from the Army. Following his retirement, he chaired a board of engineers that designed theGalveston, Texas seawall following theGalveston Hurricane of 1900 .He died in
Hornell, New York , and is buried atArlington National Cemetery .He is most famous for his "Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies" -- a collection of rules regarding parliamentary procedure, published in 1876. He wrote the manual in response to his poor performance in leading a church meeting at a Baptist Church in
New Bedford ,Massachusetts . He resolved that he would learn about parliamentary procedure before attending another meeting. The rules are loosely based on procedures used in theUnited States House of Representatives , but the rule book was not intended for use in national and state legislatures.Bibliography
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"This article contains
public domain text from"cite web | title=Brigadier General Henry M. Robert
work=Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers | url=http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/coe2.htm#21 | accessmonthday=June 17 | accessyear=2005External links
* [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/print/RR/fro96.html ROBERT, Henry Martyn - The Handbook of Texas Online]
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