Robert was born on December 13, 1800 on his father's farm at Portsmouth, R. I. He was the youngest son of Peleg and Ruth (Lawton) Thurston. He was a descendant in the sixth generation from Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, and in the fifth, from Edward Thurston who was living in that colony as early as 1647.
After obtaining a good schooling, he began learning the trade of machinist in the local shop of Pelham & Walcott, having shown since his early boyhood an unusual mechanical talent. In the course of his apprenticeship, about 1821, he attracted the attention of John Babcock, Sr. , who was engaged in experimental work on steam boilers.
John Babcock, Sr. persuaded young Thurston to assist him, and together the two built an experimental steam engine and a "safety tubular boiler" of Babcock's invention, and placed them in a small boat designed for use at Slade's Ferry near Fall River. This apparatus gave such a satisfactory performance that the partners undertook the design and construction of two large steamboats and between 1826 and 1828 completed the Babcock and the Rushlight for use on the Providence-New York run. The machinery for the former was of their own construction, while that for the latter was built by James P. Allaire.
After the death of Babcock in 1827, Thurston was employed for a time by the Fall River Iron Company and assisted in the construction of the Annawan mill. His thoughts, however, were wholly taken up with steam-engine building and in 1830 he went to Providence where, in partnership with John Babcock, Jr. , he formed the Providence Steam Engine Company for the manufacture of steam engines and power machinery of all kinds. This is said to have been the first establishment for the manufacture of steam engines in New England and the third in the United States. The undertaking was successful from the start, primarily because of the intelligence and practical experience of the partners.
In 1838 Babcock retired and the firm became Robert L. Thurston & Company, the business of which Thurston continued to direct alone. Early in the forties, a boiler explosion destroyed several of his factory buildings and several months later came a fire which completely destroyed the plant. Between these two disasters, in 1845, he reorganized the company as Thurston, Green & Company, and soon after the fire rebuilt the plant.
One of the first acts of the new company was to purchase the invention of Frederick E. Sickels of the "drop cut-off" for steam engines, which they incorporated in their engines; they were the first manufacturers in either Europe or America to build a standard form of expansion steam engine. Thurston, however, continued to be unfortunate in monetary matters and in 1854 the company was reorganized again as Thurston, Gardner & Company and began the manufacture of the steam engine invented by Noble T. Greene which long remained a favorite form in the field of automatic cut-off steam engines. Thurston brought suit against George H. Corliss for infringement of the Sickels patent and after a long drawn-out trial won a decision, but on appeal the United States Supreme Court decided in favor of Corliss. Although the cost of this lawsuit was extremely heavy, Thurston carried on, but the heavy losses which his company incurred at the beginning of the Civil War, coupled with his advancing age, caused him to retire in 1863 from active participation in the business.
He died on January 13, 1874.
He was twice married: first, in 1827, to Eliza Stratton of Portsmouth, who died July 10, 1828. On January 5, 1839, he married Harriet Taylor, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Bailey) Taylor of Little Compton, R. I, who with three children survived him. His elder son, Robert Henry Thurston, won great distinction in the profession of mechanical engineering.
