Background
Solomon White Roberts was born in August 3, 1811 in Philadelphia, Pa. , the son of Charles and Hannah (White) Roberts.
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Solomon White Roberts
Edit ProfileEducation
Charles Roberts taught in one of the Friends' schools in Philadelphia and there the his son received his early education.
Career
When about sixteen years old he left school and was employed by his uncle, Josiah White, manager of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company's works at Mauch Chunk, Pa. , as an assistant in the building of the first tramway constructed in Pennsylvania, opened for use in the spring of 1827.
Shortly afterward he became rodman with a party of engineers of this same company and was subsequently assistant engineer on a section of the Lehigh Canal being built near Mauch Chunk.
Upon completion of the Lehigh Canal in the autumn of 1829, he entered the service of the state of Pennsylvania in connection with its canal construction on the Conemaugh River, and was stationed at Blairsville, Pa. , as assistant to Sylvester Welch, the principal engineer, until the work was completed in the spring of 1831. He then became a principal assistant engineer on the Portage Railroad over the Alleghanies, another section of the Pennsylvania public works.
he designed and supervised the construction of a masonry viaduct to carry the railroad over the Conemaugh River at Horse Shoe Bend. After the completion of the Portage Railroad he remained as its resident engineer and superintendent of transportation until 1836, when he resigned and went to England to procure and superintend the manufacture of iron rails for the Philadelphia & Reading and other railroads.
In 1842 he became president of the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad Company and in 1843, president of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, holding this office until 1845.
In 1847 he took an active part in securing the charter of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and that same year was elected to the state House of Representatives, where he served during the session of 1848.
During this session much important railroad legislation was passed and his experience in railroad matters enabled him to take a leading part in shaping it.
In 1848 he became the chief engineer of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad then being constructed from Pittsburgh to the Ohio state line and was responsible for the location of the line as far as Crestline, Ohio; he selected both the sites and the names of the towns of Crestline and Alliance.
In 1856 he returned to Philadelphia to accept the position of chief engineer and general superintendent of the North Pennsylvania Railroad, which was completed to Bethlehem, Pa. , in 1857.
He retained this position until 1879, when he retired.
He also wrote "Reminiscences of the First Railroad Over the Allegheny Mountain" (Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol.
II, no. 4, 1878; separately printed, 1879) and a published address, The Destiny of Pittsburgh and the Duty of Her Young Men (1850).
He died while on a visit to Atlantic City, N. J.
Achievements
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Working for Portage Railroad he designed and supervised the construction of a masonry viaduct to carry the railroad over the Conemaugh River at Horse Shoe Bend. He planned the railroad bridge across the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh, connecting the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad with the Pennsylvania Railroad. His personal efforts and success of his explanations of the industial process to Josiah White, and to the Franklin Institute of Pennsylvania, contributed into the creation of anthracite furnace in the Lehigh Valley was built, at Catasauqua, Pa. He contributed several papers to the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society and to scientific journals. He also wrote "Reminiscences of the First Railroad Over the Allegheny Mountain" (Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. II, no. 4, 1878
Religion
He was a member of a number of learned societies and contributed several papers to the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society and to scientific journals.
Membership
He was a member of a number of learned societies
Connections
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Born
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Died
March 22, 1882 (aged 70) -
Nationality
American