Background
George Brooke Roberts was born 15. 01. 1833 on his father's farm, "Pencoed, " near Bala, Montgomery County, Pa. , the son of Isaac Warner and Rosalinda Evans (Brooke) Roberts.
Businessman railroad executive charity supporter
George Brooke Roberts was born 15. 01. 1833 on his father's farm, "Pencoed, " near Bala, Montgomery County, Pa. , the son of Isaac Warner and Rosalinda Evans (Brooke) Roberts.
He received his early education in the schools near his home and then attended the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, where he was graduated in 1849.
In 1851 Roberts entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad as a rodman on the mountain division. In 1852, he became assistant engineer on the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, forerunner of the Philadelphia & Erie, and for the next ten years he was in the employ of various railroad companies engaged in construction work.
In 1862 he became assistant to the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, J. Edgar Thomson, being in full charge of the building of the company's lines. He served also as a director after May 3, 1869, and in that year was promoted to the fourth, soon afterward to the second, vice-presidency. In 1874, when Thomas A. Scott [q. v. ] became president of the company, Roberts succeeded him in the position of first vice-president. He now assisted the president in all business pertaining to leased or controlled roads and had charge of all engineering matters relating to the construction, extension, and improvement of the company's lines, as well as a general supervision of its accounts.
On June 1, 1880, he was elected president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to succeed Scott, and served in that capacity until his death.
Roberts frequently served as chairman of the board of presidents of the Trunk Line Association, in which position he did much to solve the problems growing out of the incessant competition then existing between rival railway interests. He was always ready to aid any movement looking to the bettering of the condition of the company's employees and in this connection encouraged the formation and development of the railroad departments of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was a devout Episcopalian and a liberal giver to charitable and public objects, serving as a director of the Free Public Library of Philadelphia and vice-president of the Fairmount Park Art Association.
During his administration as a president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, much additional trackage and a number of new feeder lines were constructed, equipment and terminals were improved, grades were reduced, and many grade crossings eliminated. A number of roads west of Pittsburgh were leased and reorganized as part of the Pennsylvania system; the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad was taken over to afford a connection with the S.
He was a devout Episcopalian and a liberal giver to charitable and public objects, serving as a director of the Free Public Library of Philadelphia and vice-president of the Fairmount Park Art Association.
Chairman of the board of presidents of the Trunk Line Association.
He was twice married: in 1868 to Sarah Lapsley Brinton, and in 1874 to Miriam P. Williams. As a result of both marriages he had two daughters and four sons.
