The Great Bridge (78 page)

McLaughlin the first to be called “Boss”: Syrett,
The City of Brooklyn,
p. 71.

“very earnest in manner”: Stiles,
A History of the City of Brooklyn,
p. 269.

“It was not a change for the better”:
Eagle,
December 2, 1882.

“Mr. Murphy only failed as a politician”: Stiles,
The Civil, Political, Professional and Ecclesiastical History of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn,
Vol. I, p. 364.

WAR’s private remarks on the role played by Julius Adams: Personal notebook, entry dated January 6, 1880. RPI.

HCM named president:
New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, 1867-1884,
p. 319.

The name Roebling “invaluable”: Kingsley, in a speech given on the opening of the bridge, May 24, 1883.

“Confidence on the part of the public”:
New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings,
p. 320.

6 The Proper Person to See

“Who owns the City of New York today?”: Quoted in Syrett,
The City of Brooklyn, 1865-1898,
p. 19.

Tweed’s prior interest in the Brooklyn ferry lines: Lynch,
“Boss” Tweed,
pp. 70-75.

New York in 1869: Still,
Mirror for Gotham;
McCabe,
Lights and Shadows of New York Life; Smith, Sunshine and Shadow in New York; Harper’s Weekly
for 1869; Crapsey,
The Nether Side of New York.

“…a rich field for clever money lovers”: Olof Olson to his brother, September 11, 1869, quoted in
Land That Our Fathers Plowed,
David Greenberg, ed., University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

William M. Tweed and his cohorts: Werner,
Tammany Hall;
Lynch,
“Boss” Tweed;
Callow,
The Tweed Ring; Harper’s Weekly;
Bryce,
The American Commonwealth,
Vol. II; McCabe,
Lights and Shadows of New York Life;
Smith,
Sunshine and Shadow in New York; Dictionary of American Biography.

“I don’t care a straw for your newspaper articles”: Callow,
The Tweed Ring,
p. 254.

“Tweed had an abounding vitality”: Bryce,
The American Commonwealth,
Vol. II, p. 383.

Tweed and the first session of the Executive Committee:
New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings, 1867-1884,
p. 526.

Tweed’s testimony: As recorded before a committee of the Common Council of the City of New York, September 18, 1877; quoted also in
Testimony in the Miller Suit to Remove the East River Bridge,
“Exhibit A,” pp. 58-63.

“a strong combination made against the measure”: Kingsley to JAR, April 16, 1868. RUL.

Chambers Street courthouse: The best account of this incredible story is in Callow,
The Tweed Ring,
the chapter titled “The House That Tweed Built,” pp. 198-206, which also appeared in
American Heritage,
October 1965.

Bridge Company stockholders as of autumn 1869:
New York and Brooklyn Bridge Proceedings,
“Exhibit C,” Part I, p. 167.

“…therefore he was the proper person to see”:
Eagle,
September 19, 1877.

Beach tunnel:
Scientific American,
February 19, 1870; “Alfred Ely Beach and His Wonderful Pneumatic Underground Railway” by Robert Daley,
American Heritage,
June 1961.

Black Friday: Swanberg,
Jim Fisk: The Career of an Improbable Rascal,
pp. 149-153.

Cardiff Giant:
Harper’s Weekly,
October 1869; Franco, “The Cardiff Giant: A Hundred-Year-Old Hoax.” The Giant itself is still drawing crowds at the Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, New York. Once having seen the Giant, most twentieth-century onlookers find it hard to believe anyone ever took it seriously.

“all were disgusted”: Adams,
The Education of Henry Adams,
p. 273.

7 The Chief Engineer

Assistant engineers: Various memoirs published by the ASCE;
National Cyclopedia of American Biography;
biographical sketches in the
Eagle,
May 24, 1883; odd notes made by WAR, RPI.

Claims of Samuel Barnes B. Nolan:
Scientific American,
August 7, 1869.

“the details not having been considered”: New York
Tribune,
May 23, 1883.

“very versatile attainments”: From an unpublished biographical sketch of WAR by EWR. RPI.

“rather indifferent to matters of courtesy”: EWR to JAR, January 6, 1868. RUL.

“History teaches us that no man can be great unless a certain amount of vanity enters into his composition”: WAR considered his brother Ferdinand the perfect example of such vanity. The quote is from WAR’s draft of an obituary for Ferdinand, April 15, 1917, RUL; also quoted somewhat differently in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 307.

“a peculiarity of the Roebling mind”: WAR to JAR II, May 24, 1896. RUL.

“It might be argued if a man inherits everything”: WAR’s obituary for his brother Charles, October 1918, RUL; also in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
pp. 324-325.

WAR’s passport: RUL.

“Roebling is a character”:
Lyman, Meade’s Headquarters,
p. 240; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 195.

“reverently chose…the name that most inspired him”: Steinman,
The Builders of the Bridge,
p. 41.

WAR named for Washington Gill: WAR to JAR II, July 4, 1904. RUL.

Baptized by postmaster Shilly: WAR,
Early History of Saxonburg,
p. 12.

“well-built, sturdy, quiet boy”: JAR to his brother Christel, undated. RUL.

“…a black bear walked down Main Street”: WAR,
Early History of Saxonburg,
p. 9.

Saxonburg social life:
Ibid.,
p. 17.

Ferdinand Baehr and Waterloo stories:
Ibid.,
p. 18.

WAR’s love of Saxonburg and disappointing return visit: WAR to JAR II, January 5, 1926. RUL.

“Being the ‘Roebling boy’”: WAR,
Early History of Saxonburg,
p. 20.

Story of Massy Harbison: “The Touching Narrative of Massy Harbison,” from
Our Western Border,
Charles McKnight, Philadelphia, 1875, pp. 685-695.

Pigeons, thunderstorms, and the great comet of 1843: WAR,
Early History of Saxonburg,
p. 21.

“In regard to the mustache you covet so”: Laura Roebling to WAR, December 7, 1856. RUL.

Courses at RPI: Greene,
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;
also Steinman,
The Builders of the Bridge,
pp. 196-197.

“Under such a curriculum the average college boy of today”: Steinman,
The Builders of the Bridge,
p. 197.

“that terrible treadmill of forcing an avalanche of figures…unusable knowledge that I could only memorize, not really digest”: Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
pp. 173-174.

“My candle is certainly bewitched…no woman had sense enough to understand his love”: WAR to EWR, about April 14, 1864. RUL.

“Our temperaments are so very different”: RUL.

Letter written Thanksgiving Day:
Ibid.

“left the school as mental wrecks”: Quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 174.

“Pittsburgh is getting along quite smart”: WAR to Charles Swan, April 11, 1859, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 182.

Penn Street boardinghouse: WAR to Charles Swan, May 2, 1858. RUL.

“There is a perfect mania here for improvements”: WAR to Charles Swan, April 11, 1859, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 182.

“dark, cloudy, smoky afternoons”: WAR to Charles Swan, November 13, 1858, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 179.

“This is my first letter to you in 1860”: WAR to Charles Swan, January 23, 1860, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
pp. 184-185.

“My enlistment was rather sudden”: WAR to James Rusling, February 18, 1916. RUL.

“Loafing in the camp”: Undated letter. RUL.

“This is a mean little town”: WAR to Elvira Roebling, July 19, 1861. RUL.

“This artillery business”: WAR to Charles Swan, July 31, 1861. RUL.

“could make a violin talk”: Letter of condolence written to the second Mrs. WAR by George R. Brown, president of the Eastchester Savings Bank, Mount Vernon, New York, August 2, 1926. RUL.

“My father being too old to rough it”: WAR to James Rusling, February 18, 1916. RUL.

Swims the Shenandoah with tape in his mouth: WAR to Ferdinand, June 8, 1892. RUL.

Surprised Jeb Stuart at his breakfast: WAR to JAR, August 24, 1862. RUL.

Describes bridge: WAR to Charles Swan, August 3, 1862. RUL.

Fate of Harpers Ferry bridge: WAR to James Rusling, February 18, 1916. RUL.

Incident with the statue of Washington’s mother: Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
pp. 193-194.

With Hooker at Chancellorsville: WAR to James Rusling, February 18, 1916. RUL.

Reconnaissance from a balloon:
Ibid.;
also Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 191.

Trip home for maps: WAR to Oliver W. Norton, July 13, 1915. RUL.

WAR’s account of his day on Little Round Top: Letter to a Colonel Smith of New York, July 5, 1913. RUL.

“Roebling was on my staff”: Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
p. 193.

“I was the first man on Little Round Top”: WAR to James Rusling, February 18, 1916. RUL.

WAR and Warren before the Battle of the Crater:
Ibid.

“…I was in the Civil War for four years and saw Lincoln on two occasions”: WAR to I. E. Boos, June 19, 1921, RUL; also quoted in Schuyler,
The Roeblings,
pp. 196—197.

“They must put fresh steam on the man factories…the rest think it is about played out to stand up and get shot”: WAR to EWR, June 23, 1864. RUL.

“…the conduct of the Southern people”: WAR to EWR, July 7, 1864. RUL.

Description of meeting Emily: WAR to Elvira Roebling, February 26, 1863. RUL.

JAR’s letter on the engagement: JAR to WAR, March 30, 1864. RUL.

“I like her very much”: JAR to WAR, November 17, 1864. RUL.

“I dare say you could not sleep”: WAR to EWR, August 14, 1864. RUL.

“This day might be signalized”: WAR to EWR, November 16, 1864. RUL.

“The town is horribly dull”: WAR to EWR, August 6, 1864. RUL.

“I have now more lasting memories”: WAR to EWR, September 10, 1864. RUL.