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Emily Warren Roebling 1843 ~ 1903
Emily Warren Roebling
No American woman is entitled to a higher place in the role of
honor than Emily Warren as a sister, daughter, wife, mother and
gifted woman. At a very early age the noble traits of her
character were manifested by her efforts to be helpful in the
home of her childhood, especially in her devotion to her
brother, Governor Kemble Warren, which continued during his
eventful life.
She was born September 23, 1843, at Cold Spring on the Hudson
and was one of the eleven children of Sylvanus Warren. Her
girlhood was not unlike that of many of the girls of that day.
She was educated at the then noted Convent of the Visitation,
Georgetown, D. C, where she graduated. The Civil War having
broken out in the meantime and her brother Governor, having
risen to the distinction of major-general, and he being in
command of the Fifth Army Corps of the army of the Potomac, then
in Virginia, Emily was impatient, after her graduation, to visit
him in camp. Obtaining permission, she hastened to present
herself at headquarters and one can readily imagine the
sensation which the appearance of this beautiful accomplished,
enthusiastic, patriotic young woman created. She immediately
interested herself in the work offered about her; she cheered
the despondent, wrote letters for the sick and carried sunshine
into the hospitals and camps.
Colonel Washington A. Roebling, the skilled young engineer, was
then a member of General Warren's staff, and when she returned
home she was engaged to be married to this rising young
engineer. They were married January 18, 1865, and after the
close of the war. Colonel Roebling took his bride to Mulhausen,
Thuringen, Germany, his birthplace. Here he was to study
European construction and submarine foundations as his father,
Colonel John A. Roebling, was at that time working out the
problems connected with the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.
While at Mulhausen, the only son of Colonel and Mrs. Roebling,
John A. Roebling, was born. On their return to this country,
Colonel Roebling associated himself with his father in this
great engineering work, and in 1869 his father was killed while
making the first survey for this work.
Then the responsibility of carrying out the plan for this
gigantic undertaking fell upon Colonel Roebling and he, through
his constant and untiring devotion, ultimately sank tinder the
strain, and became a bed-ridden invalid. At this critical
moment, Emily Warren Roebling proved her rare ability, dauntless
courage, keen sagacity and true wifely devotion. It was she who
stood between her husband and failure. With matchless diplomacy
she smoothed out all friction between the municipal authorities,
rival engineers, and ambitious men, in addition to ministering
to her husband's comfort and relieving his suffering. She filled
his mind with hope and kept him hourly informed of the progress
of the work, gained by sitting near his bedside, telescope in
hand, faithfully reporting to him every step in the progress of
the work. So correct were her observations, from their home on
Brooklin Heights that he was able to write out instructions and
plan for the work of the assisting engineers and laboring force.
Armed with these drawings, the faithful wife could be seen daily
wending her way to the engineers and workmen, explaining to them
explicitly and intelligently Colonel Roebling's directions. Few
women have ever had higher tribute paid them than was given to
Mrs. Roebling; when Honorable Abram S. Hewitt, the orator of the
day, on the occasion of the opening of the bridge, in eloquent
terms connected the name of Mrs. Roebling with that of Colonel
Roebling as deserving equal share in his unparalleled
achievement.
That the name of her revered brother, Governor Kemble Warren,
should not be forgotten, she caused to be erected a magnificent
bronze statue to his memory on Little Round Top, on the
Battlefield of Gettysburg. After Colonel and Mrs. Roebling's
removal to Trenton, New Jersey, where she spent the last years
of her life, she busied herself in assisting Colonel Roebling in
arranging a wonderful collection of books, curios, gems and
mineralogical specimens and in interesting herself in social,
political, philanthropic and patriotic work. She traveled
extensively and was presented, in 1896, to Queen Victoria in
London and subsequently, at court, in Russia. On her return from
this trip, which she made in company with Mrs. John A. Logan,
she gave a most interesting illustrated lecture on, "What an
American Woman Saw at the Coronation of Nicholas the Second."
The proceeds of this she gave to charity.
In 1898 she was among the most active members of the Relief
Society which did such noble work during the Spanish War, giving
her money, time and strength to the hospital work of this
association. She was a graduate from the Law School of the New
York University in 1899, the subject of her graduating essay
being ''The Wife's Disabilities." She was chosen as the essayist
of her class and had previously won the prize for the best essay
written by any member of her class. She was active in the work
of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at one time
vice-president-general of that organization, and one of the most
important and able members of this great woman's organization.
She represented the women of New Jersey on the Board of Lady
Managers at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. Mrs.
Roebling was the first vice-president of the Society of Colonial
Dames, and a member of the Colonial Daughters of the seventeenth
century, Holland Dames of America, the Huguenot Society,
honorary official of the George Washington Memorial Association,
a member of the Woman's Branch of the New Jersey Historical
Society, the New York Historical Society, the Virginia Society
for the Preservation of Historical objects and places, the
Revolutionary Memorial Society of New Jersey, the Woman's Law
Class of the New York University, an officer of the New York
State Federation of Clubs and at one time president of the
Georgetown Visitation Academy Alumnae Association. Her literary
attainments were of the highest order. Her articles which
appeared in the Brooklyn papers in 1882 and 1883, in defense of
Colonel Roebling's methods in the construction of the Brooklyn
Bridge, were so able that they completely routed his enemies,
men who had conspired to defraud him of the glory she had helped
him to win in the successful completion of that structure.
Her biography of Colonel Roebling, contributions to the press on
philanthropy and economic questions, "The Journal of Reverend
Silas Constant," her able defense of her brother. General
Warren; reports and lectures written by her, all prove the
delicacy of her taste, purity of her mind, earnestness of
thought, indefatigable energy, inborn patriotism and unwavering
loyalty to her husband and family. Her judgment of men and
measures was singularly unerring for a woman; her ambitions were
laudable and did credit to her intelligence and noble character.
Her death in 193 was an irreparable loss to her family, the
community, the poor and society. In her brief life she
accomplished more than has been done by many men.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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