Washington Augustus II in driver's clothes
Washington Augustus Roebling II was an American businessman and early automobile manufacturer who perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic.
Early life and education[]
Washington August Roebling was born in Trenton, New Jersey on March 25, 1881 into the prominent Roebling family of American Industrialists. He was the son of Charles Roebling and Sarah Mahon Ormsby. He was named after his famous uncle Washington Roebling, a Civil War Colonel and supervising engineer for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.
His mother died when he was still a child on January 15, 1887. His father never married again after that.
Friends would call him 'Washy'. Washington II attended the elite Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania where he was an adept football player. After working with his father in the family business, for the John A. Roebling Sons Company, he switched to the Walter Automotive Company as its Secretary. He was a glamorous personality living a transcontinental life.
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 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 the market, and participated in racing.
The 1911 Mercer Raceabout, which took second in the hands of Washington Augustus Roebling II at the 1911 International Light Car Race.
As an amateur, he finished an astounding second at the International Light Car Race for the Savannah Challenge Trophy in November 1911, with the Mercer Raceabout. He had a collision with a palmetto tree at the last lap, damaging his control levers. This must have cost him a victory, since he lost 12 minutes in the collision, and the damage it caused must have had an affect on the speed of the car, which still ran at an impressive average of 61 mph, Washington only finished 8 minutes behind the winner after a race of 277 miles.
Titanic[]
In early 1912, he took a long European road trip with his friend and Trenton native, Stephen Weart Blackwell and Chauffeur 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. Because of illness, Frank Stanley stayed behind in Europe with Roebling’s car. Both Blackwell and Roebling stayed in First Class accommodations, Roebling boarded the ship at Southampton, England, on April 12, 1912, for its Maiden Voyage. He was 31 years old at the time, and stayed in cabin A-24.
When the ship struck and iceberg on April 14, 1912 at 11:40 P.M, the ship started sinking. On April 15, Washington was seen helping the women of the Bonell and Wick families into a lifeboat, 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. The Mercer Motor Company was taken over by outsider investors in 1919, going into receivership in 1925 and folding not long after that.
Sources[]
- https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Roebling-13
- https://www.trentonian.com/2012/04/14/titanic-tragedy-resonates-100-years-later/
- https://www.nj.com/mercer/2012/04/recalling_the_loss_of_two_loca.html
- https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/correcting_the_vanderbilt_cup_race_record_of_washington_roebling_ii
- https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/washington-roebling.html