George M. Robeson

George Maxwell Robeson (March 16, 1829 – September 27, 1897) was an American politician and lawyer from New Jersey. A brigadier general in the New Jersey Militia during the American Civil War, he served as Secretary of the Navy, appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant, from 1869 to 1877. A member of the Republican Party, he also served two terms as a U.S. Representative for New Jersey from 1879 to 1883.

Robeson, a native of New Jersey, graduated from Princeton University at the young age of 18. Robeson studied law and passed the bar in 1850. Practicing law, Robeson diligently worked his way through the legal profession and in 1858 he was appointed a public prosecutor for Camden County. During the American Civil War, Robeson associated with the Republican Party and was a member of the New Jersey Sanitary Commission. Appointed Brigadier General by Governor Charles S. Olden, Robeson worked to recruit enlistments to fight for the Union. After the war in 1867, Robeson was appointed New Jersey Attorney General by Gov. Marcus L. Ward. Robeson, as Attorney General, gained national attention after successfully prosecuting Bridget Durgan for the brutal murder of Mrs. Coriell.

Supported by New Jersey Senator A.G. Cattell, Robeson was appointed Secretary of Navy by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869 after Sec. Adolph E. Borie had resigned office. His tenure lasted about seven and a half years, second in length only, to that of Gideon Welles during the 19th century. He was known to be a hot-tempered, industrious administrator and through his departmental leadership was able to contain the established Naval officer hierarchy. Having limited Congressional funding, he supported and developed the early stages of submarine and torpedo technology for the purpose of keeping U.S. harbors safe from foreign attack, and secured $50,000 in Congressional funding for the 1871 Polaris expedition led by Charles Francis Hall. The U.S. Navy, however, was not able to keep pace with the modernization of industrial European navies.

Robeson headed the investigation about the controversial death of Hall after the return of the shipwrecked Polaris crew in 1873. Robeson supported President Grant and the Radical Republican Reconstruction laws that supported the citizenship and voting rights of African American freedmen. Under Robeson, the U.S. Navy constructed the United States' first two propelled torpedo warships. In 1874, Robeson responded to the naval threat imposed by Spain during the Virginius Affair; having implemented U.S. Naval resurgence, however, Congress refused to pay for the completion of the five new ships. Robeson served briefly as both Secretary of Navy and as ad interim Secretary of War after Secretary of War William W. Belknap abruptly resigned in 1876. Robeson was the subject of two Congressional investigations in 1876 and 1878 on profiting and bribery charges from shipbuilding contracts but was exonerated for lack of material evidence.

Elected in 1878, Representative for New Jersey, Robeson served as minority leader of the Republican Party. Robeson's grandfather was George C. Maxwell and he was the nephew of John Patterson Bryan Maxwell, both having represented New Jersey in the House of Representatives. Defeated from office by Democrat Thomas M. Ferrell in a bitter highly contested 1882 election campaign, Robeson was left $60,000 in debt and forced to sell his Washington D.C. property. As a result of his financial troubles, his wife and family abandoned him while traveling abroad. Robeson moved to Trenton, resumed his law practice, and lived a modest lifestyle until his death in 1897. Although Robeson showed decisive action during the Virginius Affair while Secretary of the Navy, his reputation was marred by allegations of corruption during his tenure.

George M. Robeson was born on March 16, 1829, in Oxford Furnace, New Jersey, near Belvidere in Warren County. Robeson's family was of Scottish origin and he was a descendant of Andrew Robeson, the surveyor-general of New Jersey in 1668. His father was Philadelphia Judge William Penn Robeson and his mother was the daughter of U.S. Congressman George C. Maxwell, who served in the 12th U.S. Congress from 1811 to 1813 representing Hunterdon, New Jersey. His brother William P. Robeson Jr. was a brevetted Brigadier general in the Union Army. Robeson was the nephew of U.S. Congressman John Patterson Bryan Maxwell.

Robeson gained a scholarly reputation by having graduated from Princeton University at the young age of 18 in 1847. Upon graduation, he studied law in Newark in Chief Justice Hornblower's law office. He graduated and was admitted to the bar in 1850. He was admitted as a legal counselor in 1854. He initially set up his law practice in Newark, but then moved his practice to Jersey City. In 1858, he was appointed public prosecutor for Camden County.

During the Civil War, Robeson was appointed a brigadier general in the New Jersey Militia by the Governor of New Jersey. Robeson did not serve in active duty during the war.