John Augustus Roebling II (November 21, 1867 – February 2, 1952) was an American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and philanthropist. Following his father's death, he became the largest individual shareholder in the family business, John A. Roebling's Sons.

Early life and education

Roebling was born to

Washington Roebling Washington Augustus Roebling (May 26, 1837 – July 21, 1926) was an American civil engineer who supervised the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, designed by his father John A. Roebling. He served in the Union Army during the American Civ ...

and

Emily Warren Roebling Emily Warren Roebling (September 23, 1843 – February 28, 1903) was an engineer known for her contributions over a period of more than 10 years to the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband Washington Roebling developed caiss ...

on November 21, 1867, in

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a town in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's Central Germany (geography)#Geographical centre, geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen ...

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

where his father had been sent to study the use of caissons that were to be used in the construction of the foundations of the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...

. He was named for his grandfather, the original designer of the bridge. Raised in the Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, neighborhood, where his parents were supervising the construction of the bridge, Roebling attended Collegiate School and Brooklyn Boy's Preparatory School. After the bridge was completed, he moved with his family to

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, where he attended

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

, earning an undergraduate degree in civil engineering in 1888 before a master's degree in chemistry.Lohrer, Fred E
"John A. Roebling, II (1867-1952), Builder of the Red Hill Estate (1929-1941), Lake Placid, Florida"
, Archbold Biological Station, October 2, 2006, last updated July 17, 2017. Accessed October 24, 2018.

Career

He started work as a chemist for the family business, but was forced to decrease his work due to a lingering heart condition that had affected him since his youth.Staff
"John A. Roebling, Engineer, 84, Dies; Son of Builder and Grandson of Designer of Brooklyn Bridge Aided Smithsonian Institution"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', February 3, 1952. Accessed October 25, 2018. Following his marriage to Margaret Shippen McIlvane in 1889, they moved to

Oracle, Arizona Oracle is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. The population was 3,686 at the 2010 Census, falling to 3,051 at the 2020 Census. Oracle State Park is adjacent. The Arizona Trail passes through the Park a ...

, and later

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, where the weather was more conducive to her lung ailment. He moved to

Bernardsville, New Jersey Bernardsville (Melisurgo, Len NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 23, 2017. Accessed December 1, 2024. "Same goes with the neighboring borough of Bernardsville. (It should be pronounced BERN-ards-vil.)") is the northernmost borough in Somerset C ...

, in 1904 and acquired the Boulderwood estate after Asheville voted in favor of

alcohol prohibition Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

. He continued to work independently on chemistry research and became the owner of 18.4% of the family business, John A. Roebling's Sons, after his father's death in 1926. He acquired of land in

Lake Placid, Florida Lake Placid is a town in Highlands County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Sebring, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,360, up from 2,223 at the 2010 census. The town has two nickname ...

, in the late 1920s, which became the site of the Red Hill Estate, constructed on Red Hill, which rose . A storehouse, constructed to store supplies, was used by his son, Donald Roebling, to develop and test his amtrac, which was planned to help rescue people during hurricanes, but became the basis of the amphibious

Landing Vehicle Tracked The Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked (LVT or AMTRAC) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and Amphibious vehicle, amphibious landing craft, introduced by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. (The USN and USMC use ''L'' to designate ...

used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Philanthropy

Boulderwood is part of the Olcott Avenue Historic District, and Roebling was credited with creating work for needy locals during the Great Depression. In July 1941, the estate was given to

Richard Archbold Richard Archbold (April 9, 1907 – August 1, 1976) was an American zoologist and philanthropist. He was independently wealthy, being the grandson of the capitalist John Dustin Archbold. He was educated at private schools and later attended class ...

, a zoologist who used the site to create the Archbold Biological Station. A collection of 16,000 mineral samples, among them many type specimens, along with an endowment of $150,000, was contributed by Roebling to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. The collection was described in the organization's annual report as including "practically every known mineral species".''Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1927''

. Accessed October 25, 2018. "The Roebling mineralogical collection was presented to the Smithsonian by Mr John A Roebling of Bernardsville NJ in memory of his father, Col. Washington A. Roebling, who died in July, 1926, willing the mineral collection to his son. The Roebling collection contains over 16,000 specimens, including practically every known mineral species. Mr. Roebling also accompanied his gift with an endowment fund of $150,000 for its development."

Death

Roebling died at his Boulderwood estate in Bernardsville on February 2, 1952. He was survived by his son Donald, and by his second wife, Helen Price, whom he had married in 1931.

References

{{Authority control Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. Roebling II, John A. John A. Roebling II, John A.