- Moncure Robinson
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Moncure Robinson (1802- November 10, 1891) was a European-trained civil engineer and U.S. railroad building pioneer. He built the Chesterfield Railroad, the first in Virginia completed in 1831. He built the bridge across the James River between Manchester and Richmond, Virginia for the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad which was completed in 1838. He constructed the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad which featured a spectacular stone bridge and a tunnel 1,932 feet long. Moncure Robinson was one of the early presidents of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad in the 19th century. In his will of September 11, 1873, he left an endowment for preservation of the Aquia Episcopal Church, Aquia, Virginia. His personal papers[1][2] and the papers of the Robinson family[3] are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William and Mary.
Contents
Education
He attended the College of William and Mary from 1815 to 1817, then studied drafting in New York and returned to Virginia to work as an engineer's assistant with the James River Company. He studied civil engineering at the Sorbonne from 1825 to 1827. He studied canal, harbor, bridge and railroad engineering in England, the Netherlands, France and Italy.
Family
Born in Richmond, Virginia, (Feb 2, 1802 – November 10, 1891). His parents were John Robinson (February 13, 1773 – April 26, 1850), clerk of the court in Richmond, and Agnes Conway Moncure (1780 – November 15, 1862). His brothers were Cary, Edwin, Conway (September 15, 1805 – January 30, 1884), Eustace and Moore Robinson, sisters Octavia (1813? – 1880?) and Cornelia. Sons were John Moncure and Edmund Randolph Robinson. He was married to Charlotte Randolph Taylor (1815 – ?) on February 2, 1835. He lived at times in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Richmond, Virginia.
References
- ^ "Moncure Robinson Papers". Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary. http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=7139. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ "George Michener Hart Collection on Moncure Robinson". Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary. http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=9503. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ "Robinson Family Papers". Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary. http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=7140. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
External links
Categories:- 1802 births
- 1891 deaths
- 19th-century American railroad executives
- People from Richmond, Virginia
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