Background
Isaac Roberdeau, the eldest of nine children of Daniel Roberdeau and his first wife, Mary Bostwick, was born on September 11, 1763 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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An oration, upon the death of General Washington: pronounced before the officers of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division of the Militia of New-Jersey, ... twenty second of February, eighteen hundred.
( Title: An oration, upon the death of General Washington...)
Title: An oration, upon the death of General Washington : pronounced before the officers of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division of the Militia of New-Jersey, at Johnsonbury, Sussex County, on the twenty second of February, eighteen hundred. Author: Isaac Roberdeau Publisher: Gale, Sabin Americana Description: Based on Joseph Sabin's famed bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana, Sabin Americana, 1500--1926 contains a collection of books, pamphlets, serials and other works about the Americas, from the time of their discovery to the early 1900s. Sabin Americana is rich in original accounts of discovery and exploration, pioneering and westward expansion, the U.S. Civil War and other military actions, Native Americans, slavery and abolition, religious history and more. Sabin Americana offers an up-close perspective on life in the western hemisphere, encompassing the arrival of the Europeans on the shores of North America in the late 15th century to the first decades of the 20th century. Covering a span of over 400 years in North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, this collection highlights the society, politics, religious beliefs, culture, contemporary opinions and momentous events of the time. It provides access to documents from an assortment of genres, sermons, political tracts, newspapers, books, pamphlets, maps, legislation, literature and more. Now for the first time, these high-quality digital scans of original works are available via print-on-demand, making them readily accessible to libraries, students, independent scholars, and readers of all ages. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ SourceLibrary: Huntington Library DocumentID: SABCP02887100 CollectionID: CTRG99-B519 PublicationDate: 18000101 SourceBibCitation: Selected Americana from Sabin's Dictionary of books relating to America Notes: "Published at their request." Collation: 30 p
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Isaac Roberdeau
Edit ProfileEducation
After an early education in Philadelphia he visited the West Indies with his father in 1783 and then went to London to study engineering, returning to the United States in 1787.
Career
His French ancestry, as well as his technical ability, commended him to the notice of Pierre Charles L'Enfant when the topographical force was assembled to lay out the new city of Washington.
Roberdeau was employed there in 1791 and 1792, gaining much experience and some notoriety. He was put in charge of the party of workmen who, under L'Enfant's orders, destroyed the masonry of the uncompleted Carroll house - an action which was a principal cause of President Washington's dismissal of L'Enfant.
He was also involved in other difficulties with the commissioners resulting from a conflict between their views and L'Enfant's, but through no fault of his own. He loyally carried out the orders of his temperamental chief, as he was bound to do so long as he retained his employment. After L'Enfant's dismissal at Washington, Roberdeau worked with him at Paterson, New Jersey, when the former was creating a new industrial city under the direction of Alexander Hamilton. He took up the practice of his profession in his native state, where he remained for the next twenty years.
His real ambition was for service in the army, but he was unable to secure appointment until the war with Great Britain broke out and Congress made provision for a force of topographical engineers. He was appointed a major in the new organization on April 29, 1813, and assigned to duty at Fort Mifflin, near Philadelphia. He was employed on fortification work at various places during the war, and was discharged through the abolition of his corps on June 15, 1815.
The War Department, however, was unwilling to dispense with the topographical engineers, and pending legislation Roberdeau was "provisionally retained" as a civilian and charged with the survey of the northern boundary, which he carried westward as far as Sault Sainte Marie.
He was reinstated to his former rank in the army on May 2, 1816, and stationed at West Point, the headquarters of his corps, until 1818, when the topographical bureau was moved to Washington with Roberdeau as its chief. He spent the rest of his life in the capital, a prominent figure in society "as well known here then as the President". He entertained many notable guests at his home in Georgetown, among them, Lafayette. Roberdeau was given brevet rank as lieutenant-colonel in 1823.
He was tall and of a distinguished military bearing, resembling the Duke of Wellington so strongly that he was mistaken for him when traveling in England.
Achievements
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His most important work was the beginning of a canal to connect the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna rivers. He was the author of Observations on the Survey of the Seacoast of the United States (1827), of "Mathematics and Treatise on Canals" (Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress), and of An Oration Upon the Death of General Washington, delivered at Trenton, New Jersey, on Feburary 22, 1800, and published the same year. His manuscript memorandum on the family's ancestry is in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, which also has a miniature portrait of him and some of the family silver.
Works
book
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An oration, upon the death of General Washington: pronounced before the officers of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division of the Militia of New-Jersey, ... twenty second of February, eighteen hundred.
( Title: An oration, upon the death of General Washington...)
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An oration, upon the death of General Washington: pronounced before the officers of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division of the Militia of New-Jersey, ... twenty second of February, eighteen hundred.
Connections
On November 7, 1792, he married the granddaughter of Samuel Blair and William Shippen. He and his wife had three daughters.
