Correspondence,, 1865-1926

Summary: Letters received by Washington A. Roebling mainly from family members, as well as copies or drafts of letters sent by him to others. A significant portion of later letters received by Washington A. include notes and/or drafts of reply letters written by Washington A. Virtually all of the letters sent, with only one or two exceptions, are draft letters or copies rather than the actual posted letter.

The letters are mostly personal in nature, with limited discussions of Washington A.'s involvement with the wire rope business in Trenton, and his work as an engineer on various bridge projects. Early correspondence (before 1861) includes letters received by Washington A. while a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic from his sister Laura, brother Ferdinand and father, John A. Roebling. They also include letters from his mother, Johanna Herting Roebling and her sister Marie which are in German. Of interest are letters from Washington A. 's wife Emily Warren Roebling, his son John. A. Roebling II, and the wire rope factory manager Charles Swan. Letters received from John A. Roebling during the period 1865-1869 largely concern the two men's work on finishing the Covington and Cincinnati Bridge, as well as prospects for the Brooklyn Bridge.

Washington A. kept virtually no personal letters dating from his service in the Civil War (1861-December 1864). Existing correspondence is limited to a few letters received early in 1861, a single letter from Ferdinand, and several received from John A. late in the war.

Other correspondence related to the Civil War includes letters from W. P. Hopkins of Lawrence, Massachusetts (December 1893-February 1894), referring to Fort Sedgwick. A related map of the fort, sent by Hopkins, is included in the Civil War Map subseries in this collection. Correspondence from E.B. Cope, a Civil War comrade of Washington A., beginning in this same period discusses the creation of the Gettysburg Battlefield National Park (Cope was named Chief Engineer).

Later correspondence, especially circa 1910-1920, includes a number of interesting exchanges between Washington A. and historians of the Civil War. These include letters to and from John Bigelow (The Battle of Chancellorsville), Gamaliel Bradford (on Joseph Hooker), Atlantic Monthly writer Morris Schaff (on the Battle of the Wilderness) and J.E. Boos (enquiries about Abraham Lincoln). Most of this correspondence is in the "letters received" group, but a small number of letters are also housed with "letters sent".

Series also includes a letters from Josephine Roebling Jarvis (dated February 12, 1921), discussing the terms of Edmund Roebling's will, and various correspondence from 1922-1923 related to this topic.

Two maps enclosed with letters have been moved to the oversize section.