Washington Augustus Roebling II (March 25, 1881 – April 14, 1912) was an American businessman and early automobile manufacturer who perished in the

sinking of RMS Titanic The sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, ''Titanic'' had an estimated 2,224 peo ...

Early life and education

Born in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid 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 ...

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 ...

. He attended the elite Hill School in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...

where he was an adept football player. After working with his father in the family business, John A. Roebling Sons Company, he began working with the Walter Automotive Company as its Secretary.

Automotive career

In 1909, Washington Roebling II arranged to take over the Walter Automobile Company from William Walter because of its mounting financial issues. The company was moved to an abandoned brewery owned by the Kuser family in Hamilton, New Jersey, outside of Trenton. Washington Roebling II’s father, Ferdinand Roebling was made President, John Louis Kuser, the twin brother of prominent New Jersey businessman

Anthony R. Kuser Anthony Rudolph Kuser (May 12, 1862 – February 8, 1929) was a businessman and philanthropist who donated the land that makes up New Jersey's highest point and had the monument there built as a war memorial. Early life Anthony Rudolph Kuse ...

was made Secretary-Treasurer, and Washington was made General Manager of the new enterprise, Mercer Automobile Company. The company marketed itself to the high end and racing markets. He worked with noted French auto designer Etienne Planche, designing the Roebling-Planche Racing Car which performed well in auto races of the time. Roebling tested all Mercer Models before they entered market, and participated in racing. He finished second at the Savannah Trophy Race for Light Cars in November 1911. Washington A

Titanic

In early 1912, he took a long European road trip with his friend and Trenton native, Stephen Weart Blackwell and Chauffer Frank Stanley in a Mercer Fiat. While touring Italy and France, Blackwell and Roebling meet the Bonnell and Wick families, and decided to join them on their return trip to United States on the new ocean liner

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

. Because of illness, Frank Stanley stayed behind in Europe with Roebling’s car. Both Blackwell and Roebling stayed in first class accommodations, When the ship struck and iceberg and sank on April 14, 1912, Washing was seen helping the Bonell and Wick family women into a lifeboat, and telling them reassuredly “''you will be back with us on the ship soon''”. Blackwell and Roebling’s bodies were never found. Because of a miscommunication his Roebling cousins traveled to Halifax believing him to be among the survivors picked up by the

RMS Carpathia RMS ''Carpathia'' was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson in their shipyard in Wallsend, England. The ''Carpathia'' made her maiden voyage in 1903 from Liverpool to Boston, and continued on ...

. The Mercer Motor Company was taken over by outsider investors in 1919, going into receivership in 1925 and folding not long after.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roebling, Washington A., II 1881 births 1912 deaths Deaths on the RMS Titanic Roebling family The Hill School alumni People from Trenton, New Jersey American automotive pioneers Businesspeople from New Jersey