| Show CONDUCTED HIS LAT LAST TRAIN death of the oldest conductor in the world sr mr the veteran a aasne ano 4 l away at america n FO fork rk an ali 0 of ills HI eaf career salt lake april lowith 20 with the death of edward robinson who passed away at american fork friday night there pasted passed into eternity the man who enjoyed the distinction of being the firt railway conductor in the world and it at the time of 0 his death was the zest oldest living employee 0 of any railway it was edward robinson who as an employee of 0 the liverpool manchester railroad was the first to put railway trains in successful ul operation m who ho was called upon to take the place of lord Hus huskinson kenson who was killed by the firt first train run over the line which had by his own instrumentality been constructed by authorization of an act of parliament the passage of which he had en gingered gine cred ered to demonstrate the feasibility of f railways lord Hus huskinson kenson as the chief promoter of the idea essayed to run the first train himself acting as cond conductor uc tor the train left liverpool on the morning of september IS 15 1830 at croft the train met the second one to be run over the line which was started from fro in manchester lord huskinson Hus kenson alighting from his train stepped in front of the down comin coming train from manchester and was killed and it was then that mr air robinson was called upon to take charge lie ile ran the train on to manchester cl and on its return trip to liverpool and from that time on remained in the service of the road for twelve years as conductor ile he therefore had the honor of 0 being the first railroad rail read co con 1 I ductor lit in the world and an uon tion made by his son heber who lives at american fork and who visited england lasty last t ear proved beyond all doubt that he was the oldest man living who had been a railway employee in any capacity edward robinson sr though of humble peasant parentage and a man who never had the advantages of in an education lived an eventful life and had a most successful career ile he wai w as born nt at little sutton chesshire england october 16 1807 he was therefore at his death 88 years and 6 months old ile he worked on a farm until he reached the age age Z of 21 ile he then became a gentle mans coachman in which employment he continued for over two years at which time he engaged himself to the liverpool manchester railroad company as a guard during construction when tile the time for opening the road came he was promoted to train man the intention being to make him conductor actor as soon as the road was in successful ful u I 1 operation and he had acquired sufficient clen t knowledge of the business to enable him to successfully handle a train but the accident to lord huskinson Hus kenson brought that promotion much sooner than he anticipated As stated mr Robin bOll CO continued lit linued in the service of the company twelve years and it was one of his proudest boasts that he never in that time missed but one day and then he was given a vacation which however he terminated by his own volition at the expiration of the first day of it and went back to work in preference it was during these years 0 ham young orson hyde heber C kimball and parley P pratt began preaching the doctrines of the mormon faith in england mrs airs robinson the firs helpmate of the veteran I 1 became converted and he was himself a regular attendant at the meetings there is no record decoi d of f the time when mr robinson embraced the falah but the best information obtainable front from his relatives a to the effect that it was in 1842 shortly thereafter he decided to come to america and the same year sai sailed ledwith with his family in the ship mchenry arriving lit in america the family proceeded directly to nauvoo illinois where with the wealth he had accumulated lie he built what was at that time consi considered dered tile the finest residence in that locality ile he devoted film himself self to farming 1 ng anti and remained at nauvoo until 1847 when wh en ire he removed to burlington iowa living there until 1849 in that year year he joined tile the westward movement and came to utah lie he remained in salt lake that winter and in the spring of isso 1850 went to mill crek creek and took charge of the farm belonging to the late president taylor upon which he remained until the spring of issi 1851 at which time he took up his abode at american fork where he spent the remainder of his days mr robinson Robin bon was one of the first settlers at american fork there being but a half dozen families there at taj time of his advent among them being the family of james chipman during the indian depredation bonie stirring lines were experienced and it was vas lie he wha tadad started and superintended super intended the building of the old fort fart whose protection the settlers were wont to aval avail themselves af pf of when indians indiana became too troublesome tor for caf safety ety the dead pioneer was wab married three times timer and was the father oi of ten children six of whom survive him they are re edwsrd dward william and george heber residing at american fork richard at kanab elizabeth cox at sacramento caf and mrs mr mary jane wood at huntington utah the oade bt of the children e n 1 li s 61 year y e a rs and i n d t the h e y youngest 0 u n g eg t i li s 49 years year there e r a are re many m a n y in interesting t er e 6 tl n g f a c ct ta a and n d reminiscences related of this man the father of railroaders railroader he fie was wa exceedingly proud of hi his early experiences and was never so BO happy as when reciting the stories of hi libeon life on therall the rail at which time he would produce with an air of the greatest pride an old and verv worn orn sliver silver watch and show how it to hit his liste Ite it t w was a s a present a t to him from nie aric tors lite he d directors 0 of f t the he pre liverpool 1 veep 0 1 himi man M fram hester chester and bestowed betlow cd at the same time when he was wai leaving their service ervice as a token of their esteem on one cover Is 1 engraved liverpool manchester rall railway way to edward robinson in token of regard from the directors dl rector 1842 this ancient timepiece time piece Is s still in the posses slon blon of the family and was willed to ko edward ednard W ro binson grandson among the he directors was war the father of Willi william aln E gladstone one ol of mr robinsons staunchest staunches I 1 friends it i is told ot of mr robinson amoia other reminiscences which lie was fond of relating that at one time during his service on the liverpool manchester it came to the knowledge of the company that some of the conductors were withholding fares collected and spotters were sent out to ascertain which they were mr robinson was found to be the only conductor in the service not practicing the knocking down system and all but he were discharged it was mr air robinson whose suggestion instituted the use of sand for keeping the drive wheels of the engine from slipping the idea came to him through a slight accident which occurred one da day y while his train was brunning running down a grade the track was war slippery and the brakes failed to stay the speed of the train which pumped into a bumper at the end of the track doing some come slight light damage an official of the road said aid to mr mi robinson this Is a new venture and we are constantly meeting with difficulties which we mutt must overcome if abany at any time you can offer any valuable suggestion we will gladly receive it in reply a mr A ir robinson suggested eted that a box be attached to the engine in such away a way that sand could be carried in it and sift ed on to the rails rail when the wheels wheela slipped lipped the suggestion suggett lon was w acted upon ard sanding the rails became a feature of operating engines from that time among the passengers who came over in the he same ship with the deceased pioneer are e two who are still living and reside in utah they are Willi william ant ralph aged 84 living at american fork and mrs thomas allman of provo mrs aelmans All mans husband was nas also a fellow passenger 6 he Is since dead both both mrs allman and mr ralph attended the lu fu nera i joseph birch of american pork fork Is 1 another who remembers the deceased in england he often rode over the line on which mr robinson was conductor mr robinson was also distinguished in another particular as a pioneer lie he started the first brewery in utah it was a at t mill creek during the time he lived on the tayl tay lor or farm he later built and opera operated t ed a brewery at t american fork and it was from these facts that he became known as li brewer robin 1 son death came to the pioneer friday night april 17 at to 1030 ao the remains will be laid to rest in Amerl cali frk fork cemetery cene cemetery tery the funeral took look placebo day at I 1 many of the church officials were in attendance |
