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Since James P. Robertson was
not in the Confederate Army there is no biography of him in the National
Archives; below is my biography of the
man.
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James was first identified with
railroads when he served as an Assistant Engineer, laying out the
1st Division of the North Carolina Railroad in 1851. Later, he was
the Superintendent (and probably Engineer) of the Western RR up to
his move to be Superintendent of the Wilmington & Manchester RR
from 1856 into 1862. He resigned his Wilmington & Manchester RR
position in late 1862 because of poor health. Since this was during
the Yellow Fever epidemic that year, he probably was one of those
who suffered from the disease. To recover his health, he left
Wilmington and resumed the position of Superintendent of the Western
RR. By January of 1864, with his health recovered, he was looking
for more active employment and was recommended by his Wilmington
& Manchester RR President, Thomas Walker, to Major Sims for duty
in the Railroad Bureau. He was appointed an Agent in the Bureau and
made responsible for Government Transportation on the railroads in
North Carolina, starting July 2, 1864. A receipt for his pay shows
that he was in that position on October 1st. No later records have
been found for him.
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In the 1860 Census, James was
living in Wilmington with his wife, Emily Evans (married 1852).
James was born in 1827 in Virginia and his wife was born in 1833 in
North Carolina. They had no Real Property, but $25,000 Personal
Property (probably mostly slaves).
They were still in the area in the 1900
census. They had at least 6
children. |
| October 1, 1861 |
Made his Annual Report as Superintendent to the
President of the Wilmington & Manchester RR
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| October 6, 1861 |
Ordered car wheels from Tredegar
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| October 25, 1861 |
Purchased a lot of rails from Tredegar
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| October 30, 1861 |
Changes his road's schedule
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| November 8, 1861 |
His success as Wilmington & Manchester RR
Superintendent is praised in the Wilmington Journal
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| January 8, 1864 |
Recommended to Major Sims as an agent in his
Bureau
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| March 12, 1864 |
Appointed an Agent in the Rail Road Bureau
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| March 21, 1864 |
Reported to Sims regarding RRs working together
and building cars
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| May 5, 1864 |
Reports to QMG on work done by North Carolina RR
in April
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| May 12, 1864 |
QMG received a contract made by Robertson with
Manassas Gap RR
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| July 21, 1864 |
Paid for traveling over North Carolina railroads
under his charge, as RR Bureau Agent
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| August 14, 1864 |
Asks QMG for commission to go to Europe and
contract for the building of locomotives
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