from business in ISfiJ. Mr. Robert gave large sums to Hamilton college and Auburn theological seminary, but his chief benefactions were to the American college in Constantinople, which was named Robert college in his honor. He <f-,i>- it $290,000 in his lifetime, and left it $125,000 in his will, besides real estate valued at $40,000. His wife, Ann Maria, b. in New York city, 1 Aug., 1802; d. there, 9 April, 1888, was a daughter of William Shaw, a merchant of New York city. She married Mr. Robert in 1829. accompanied him on his Eastern travels, and aided in the organization ami support of numerous orphan asylums, homes for aged colored women, and other religious and jihilanthropical institutions.
ROBERT, Joseph Thomas, clergyman, b. in
Beaufort district, S. C., 28 Nov., 1807; d. in At-
lanta, Ga.. 5 March, 1884. He was graduated at
llrown in Is-jx ami at Smith Carolina medical col-
lege in 1832, after studying two years at Yale. In
1*^4 he was ordained pastor of the Baptist church
in Robertsville. S. C., but he soon removed to Ken-
tncky. After several brief pastorates he became in
1864 professor of languages in Iowa state uni-
versity. and in 1869 he was made president of
Burlington university in the same state. In 1871
he took charge of the Augusta institute for the
training of colored ministers, and when this insti-
tute was removed in 1879 to Atlanta, and incor-
porated with the Atlanta Baptist seminary, he was
made its president. In this service he continued
until his death. The degree of LL. D. was given
him by Denison university in 1869. His son.
Henry Martyn. soldier, b. in Beaufort district,
S. C., 2 May, 1837, was graduated at the U. S. mili-
tary academy in 1857. He received his commis-
sion with the rank of lieutenant in the corps of
engineers, and has ever since remained in that
service. Soon after his graduation he was ap-
pointed assistant professor of natural philosophy
at West Point, but he was subsequently trans-
ferred to the department of practical engineer-
ing. In 1858 he was stationed at Fort Vancouver,
and during the northwest boundary difficulties be-
tween this country ami Great Britain he had charge
of the construction of defences on San Juan island.
A* the beginning of the civil war, though of south-
ern birth and with all his relatives in the south, Col.
IJoluTt unhesitatingly espoused the Union cause.
He served on the staff of Gen. McClellan, and as-
M-ted in building the fortifications around Wash-
ington. He was subsequently employed in similar
services at Philadelphia and New Bedford, Mass.
He was promoted captain in 1863, and at the close
of the war he was placed again at the head of the
department of practical engineering at W T est Point,
where he remained till 1867. In that year he was
made major, and in 1871, with head'quarters at
Portland, he had charge of the fortifications, light-
houses, and harbor and river improvements in
Oregon and Washington territory. He was trans-
ferred in 1873 to Milwaukee, and assigned to a like
duty on Lake Michigan. He was promoted lieu-
tenant-colonel in 1883, and he was later superin-
tendent of river and harbor improvements and de-
fences in the district of Philadelphia. Col. Robert
is the author of " Robert's Rules of Order " (Chicago, 1876) and has supervised the preparation of
" An Index to the Reports of the Chief Engineers
<>l I he U. S. A. on River and Harbor Improve-
ments" (vol. i., to 1879, Washington, 1881; vol. ii.,
to 1887, in preparation).
ROBERTS. Benjamin Stone, soldier, b. in
Manchester, Vt., in 1811 ; d. in Washington, D. C.,
29 Jan., 1875. He was graduated at the U. S.
military academy in 1835, and assigned to the 1st
dragoons, but after several years of frontier service
he resigned on 28 Jan., 1839, and as principal en-
gineer built the Champlain and'Ogdensburg rail-
road. He was assistant geologist of New York in
1841, and in 1842 aided Lieut. George W. Whistler
in constructing the Russian system of railways,
lie then returned to the United States, was ad-
mitted to the bar, and in 1843 began to practise in
lipva. Re became lieutenant-colonel of state mi-
litia in 1844, and on 27 May. 1846, was reappointed
in the U. S. army as a 1st lieutenant of mounted
rifles, becoming captain. 16 Feb., 1847. During
the war with Mexico he M-rved at Vera Cruz, Cerro
Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, where he led an
advance party of stormers and for which he was
brevetted major, and the capture of the city of
Mexico. He then took part in the actions at Mata-
moras and the Galajara pass against guerillas, and
was brevetted lieutenant-colonel. At the close of
the war he received, 15. Jan.. 1849. a sword of honor
from the legislature of Iowa. From this time till
the civil war he served on the southwestern fron-
tier and on bureau duty at Washington, with fre-
quent leaves of absence on account of feeble health.
At the beginning of the civil war he was in New
Mexico, and after his promotion to major, on 13
May, 1861, he was assigned to the command first
of the northern and then of the southern district of
that territory, being engaged in the defence of
Fort Craig against the Texan forces under Gen.
Henry H. Sibley in 1862, the action at Valvercle in
the same year, where he was brevetted colonel for
gallantry, and the combats at Albuquerque and
Peralta. On 1 June, 1861, he was ordered to Wash-
ington, and 16 June, 1862, was commissioned brig-
adier-general of volunteers, and assigned as chief
of cavalry to Gen. John Pope, with whose Army
of Virginia he served during its campaign in 1862,
acting also as inspector -general. In the latter
part of the year he was acting inspector-general of
the northwestern department, and led an expedi-
tion against the Chippewa Indians, and in 1803 he
was in command first of the upper defences of
Washington and then of an independent brigade
in West Virginia and Iowa. In 1864, after leading
a divi<mn of the 19th corps in Louisiana, he was
chief of cavalry of the Gulf department, till he was
ordered, early in 1865. to the charge of a cavalry
division in western Tennessee. At the close of
the war he was brevetted brigadier-general in the
regular army for services at Cedar Mountain, and
major-general of volunteers for that action and
the second battle of Bull Run. He became lieu-
tenant-colonel of the 3d cavalry on 28 July, 18(16,
served on frontier and recruiting service till 1868,
and then as professor of military science at Yale
till his retirement from active service on 15 Dec.,
1870. He was the inventor of the Roberts breech-
loading rifle, to the perfection and introduction of
which he devoted many years of his life. In 1STO
he formed a company for its manufacture, which
finally failed, though Gen. Roberts had secured a
contract in Europe.
ROBERTS. Charles George Douglas, Canadian poet, b. in Douglas, York CM.. New Brunswick. 10 Jan., 1860. He was graduated at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, in 1879, became
principal of the Chatham grammar-school in 1879, and of the York street school in 1882. He assumed the editorship of the Toronto " Week " in December, 1883, and was appointed professor of English and French literature and political economy in the University of King's college. Windsor, Nova Scotia. in ( October, 1885. Those of his poeti-
