House. She is the granddaughter of Major Andrew J. Donelson, Minister to Prussia in 1846, and Mrs. Emily A. Donelson, who presided over the White House during the administrations of Andrew Jackson, her uncle. She was for some years the recording secretary-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and is to-day a clerk in one of the departments of the United States Government
EMILY WARREN ROEBLING.
No American woman is entitled to a higher place in the role of honor than Emily Warren as a sister, daughter, wife, mother and gifted woman. At a very early age the noble traits of her character were manifested by her efforts to be helpful in the home of her childhood, especially in her devotion to her brother, Gouverneur Kemble Warren, which continued during his eventful life.
She was born September 23, 1843, at Cold Spring on the Hudson and was one of the eleven children of Sylvanus Warren. Her girlhood was not unlike that of many of the girls of that day. She was educated at the then noted Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C, where she graduated. The Civil War having broken out in the meantime and her brother, Gouverneur, having risen to the distinction of major-general, and he being in command of the Fifth Army Corps of the army of the Potomac, then in Virginia, Emily was impatient, after her graduation, to visit him in camp. Obtaining permission, she hastened to present herself at headquarters and one can readily imagine the sensation which the appearance of this beautiful, accomplished, enthusiastic, patriotic young woman created. She immediately interested herself in the work offered about her; she cheered the despondent, wrote letters for the sick and carried sunshine into the hospitals and camps. Colonel Washington A. Roebling, the skilled young engineer, was then a member of General Warren's staff, and when she returned home she was engaged to be married to this rising young engineer. They were married January 18, 1865, and after the close of the war, Colonel Roebling took his bride to Mulhausen, Thuringen, Germany, his birthplace. Here he was to study European construction and submarine foundations as his father, Colonel John A. Roebling, was at that time working out the problems connected with the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. While at Mulhausen, the only son of Colonel and Mrs. Roebling, John A. Roebling, was born. On their return to this country, Colonel Roebling associated himself with his father in this great engineering work, and in 1869 his father was killed while making the first survey for this work. Then the responsibility of carrying out the plan for this gigantic undertaking fell upon Colonel Roebling and he, through his constant and untiring devotion, ultimately sank under the strain, and became a bed-ridden invalid. At this critical moment, Emily Warren Roebling proved her rare ability, dauntless courage, keen sagacity and true wifely devotion. It was she who stood between her husband and failure. With matchless diplomacy she smoothed out all friction between the municipal authorities, rival engineers, and ambitious men, in addition to ministering to her husband's comfort and relieving his suffering. She filled his mind with hope and kept him hourly informed of the progress of the work, gained by sitting near his bedside, telescope in hand, faithfully reporting to him every step in the progress
