Thomas Paschall Roberts

by
Melissa Marcks, class of 2005

Thomas Paschall Roberts, known to his friends as Colonel⁽¹⁾, never achieved the kind of prominence which would warrant him recognition in our day, but nonetheless, during the years of his life Roberts was quite an accomplished civil engineer. His life was filled with extensive accomplishments in his career, as well as a deep involvement in his own personal interests and the community around him. In addition to all that he accomplished publicly, Roberts also managed to find the time to produce a rather sizable family. So let us take a look into the life of the man, who, as his daughter Juliette later wrote, was the “son of a very distinguished father W. Milnor Roberts, and…attained almost as prominent a place in the sphere of Engineering (Civil).” ⁽²⁾

Early Life and Education

Thomas Paschall Roberts was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on April 21, 1843 to William Milnor Roberts and Anna Gibson Roberts.⁽³⁾ Not only was Roberts’ father, W. Milnor Roberts, a prominent civil engineer of his time, but his grandfather, John Bannister Gibson, was the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.⁽⁴⁾ In 1854, Roberts’ family moved to Pittsburgh, and proceeded to live in a number of other locations over the next few years, before returning to Carlisle.⁽⁵⁾ After their return, Roberts began attending classes at Farmers’ High School in 1859, which was later called State College, and is now known as Penn State University. ⁽⁶⁾ Though he left Farmers’ High School in 1861 to attend Dickinson College, at the 50th anniversary of the class of 1862, the school gave Roberts the honorary degree of Civil Engineer.⁽⁷⁾ Roberts only studied at Dickinson College for two years, which he also left in 1863.⁽⁸⁾ While attending Dickinson, however, he was elected President of the Union Philosophical Society. ⁽⁹⁾

Career

                When Roberts left Dickinson College in 1863, he traveled down to Brazil to join his father as an engineer working on the Dom Pedro II railroad.⁽¹⁰⁾ Roberts remained in Brazil and continued to work on the Dom Pedro   II well into 1865. When he returned to the States that fall, he began working on surveys for a planned railroad in Northwestern Pennsylvania, to be funded by English capitalists.⁽¹¹⁾ Then in the fall of the following year Roberts was named principal assistant engineer under his father on the improvement of the Ohio River. Roberts’ held this position into 1870, at which time “illness compelled him to relinquish it.”⁽¹²⁾
                Despite this “illness,” of which no other explanation is given, Roberts’ assumed the position of assistant engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad’s Montana division in October of 1870. In this position Roberts’ did extensive work in the West. The initial assessment for what was to become the route which the Northern Pacific took through the Rocky Mountains was his work.⁽¹³⁾ Then in 1872, the United States Government sponsored Roberts’ with a group of seven men on an expedition with the Northern Pacific Railroad down the Missouri River. On their journey down the Missouri from Three Forks to Fort Benton Roberts’ was to survey the river’s potential for commercial use with light-draft steamboats, and to map a possible route around the Great Falls for a proposed narrow-gauge railroad.⁽¹⁴⁾ Roberts’ named several of the Missouri River falls on this expedition, including Black Eagle Falls and Rainbow Falls.⁽¹⁵⁾ In 1874 the War Department printed Roberts’ report and maps from this expedition.⁽¹⁶⁾
                The years between 1870 and 1884 were extremely busy ones for Roberts. He was continuously involved in work in a number of States with numerous railway and waterway surveys including work for: the Montana Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Cincinnati & Northern Railroad to Michigan, the West Wisconsin Railroad, the Western Maryland Railroad into Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh & Atlantic Railroad, the Louisville & Nashville system in Kentucky, and work on a narrow-gauge railroad running from Pittsburgh to Washington, P.A.⁽¹⁷⁾
                In 1875 the United States Government placed Roberts in charge of surveying the upper Monongahela River in West Virginia. Then from 1876 to 1878 Roberts held the position of chief engineer for the Pittsburgh Southern Railroad, and then for the construction of a number of railroads in the South. He worked on these projects until 1884, when he returned to work for the Monongahela Navigation Company as its chief engineer.⁽¹⁸⁾ Roberts continued to work for the Monongahela Navigation Company, maintaining on site control of the river improvements, until 1912, once again entering the service of the United States Engineer Department in 1897 when the United States Government purchased the company. After 1912, Roberts returned to Pittsburgh and acted as a consulting engineer at the United States Engineer Office there until his retirement on August 20, 1922.⁽¹⁹⁾
                During these years, Roberts was also involved with the work on a proposed canal between Lake Erie and the Ohio River near Pittsburgh. His interest on the project dates from 1889, and in 1890 he was given the position of chief engineer of the Ship Canal Commission of Pennsylvania by Governor Beaver. After extensive work on the location, Roberts was appointed chairman by the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce to an engineering committee assigned to undertake a complete survey and present a report on the feasibility of the proposal; which Roberts did upon completion of his work.⁽²⁰⁾
                Though no dates are given for this information, Roberts was apparently also offered the presidency of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal Company, as well as the position of chief engineer of the Nicaragua Canal Commission. He declined both positions.⁽²¹⁾

Interests & Character

Given his intense involvement in so many projects, it would be quite easy to imagine that Roberts’ life consisted of nothing but his work, but despite his commitment to his career, he still managed to devote much of his attention to his personal interests. His contributions to the community were quite significant. In addition to serving as its president in 1891, Roberts was also one of the organizers of the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania in 1880. He helped organize the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh Academy of Science and Arts. An “active and influential” member of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, serving as both director and vice-president, Roberts also acted as life manager of the Pittsburgh Exposition Society. Among such noted scientists as Professor John A. Brashear, Professor Keeler, Professor Fessenden, and Professor Langley, Roberts was a member of the “informal club designated the Monday Club” which met from time to time to discuss scientific matter.⁽²²⁾
A well-liked man noted for his “love of matters scientific,” Roberts was an active member of the community and continually acted with the best interests of the community at the heart. His involvement and dedication to helping his fellow man “won him the lasting friendship of many.” A “prolific, competent and interesting writer,” Roberts shared his interests with others by publishing numerous articles in newspapers and magazines. In addition to his scientific contributions, Roberts also wrote the Memoirs of John Bannister Gibson, his grandfather, which was published in 1890.⁽²³⁾

Family

Still harder to fathom than Roberts participation in the community is how he managed to have a family given his involvement in so many time consuming projects, but manage it he did, and to the tune of seven children. In 1866, after having returned to Carlisle with his family some seven years prior, Roberts returned to Pittsburgh to make the city his permanent home. Then on June 8, 1870, he was married to Miss Juliette Emma Christy, daughter of James M. Christy, attorney-at-law, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Their children were: Eleanor Christy, married to W.H. Baltzell, chief engineer of the Canadian Steel Corporation; Miss Annie Gibson; Juliette Paschall, married to Major General William L. Silbert, U.S. Army; Laura Milnor; Thomas P., Jr., attorney-at-law; J. Milnor, civil engineer; and Mary Brunot, married to Major Francis K. Newcomer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Juliette Roberts died in 1907.⁽²⁴⁾Thomas Paschall Roberts passed away on February 25, 1924 at his home at 561 North Craig Street, Pittsburgh just two months shy of his 81st birthday.⁽²⁵⁾