Thomas Paschall Roberts

Thomas Paschall Roberts (April 21, 1843 – February 25, 1924) was a civil engineer and surveyor who worked as the chief engineer of the Monongahela Navigation Company and named Black Eagle Falls and Rainbow Falls during his survey of the Missouri River.

Early life Thomas Paschall Roberts, known affectionately as Colonel, was born on April 21, 1843, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to William Milnor Roberts and Anna Gibson Roberts. In 1854, he and his family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then back to Carlisle. He was educated at private and public schools in these two cities, including Farmers’ High School, While attending Dickinson College, Thomas was elected President of the Union Philosophical Society.

Civil engineering career Roberts worked as a civil engineer on the Don Pedro Railroad with his father until 1865. He returned to the United States and was named principal assistant engineer under his father for work on improving the Ohio River.

Roberts also surveyed the upper Monongahela River from Morgantown to Fairmont, West Virginia, and the Academy of Science of Western Pennsylvania.

Publications Roberts, Thomas P., Jeremiah S. Black, and William Augustus Porter. Memoirs of John Bannister Gibson : Late Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, 1890. Roberts, Thomas P., and United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Report of a Reconnaissance of the Missouri River in 1872. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1875. Roberts, Thomas Paschall. 1913. "Pros and cons on the forest and flood question". Professional Memoirs, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, and Engineer Department-at-Large. 5: 568-585. Roberts, Thomas P. 1893. Address on the commercial outlets of the Great Lakes, with special reference to the proposed Lake Erie and Ohio River Ship Canal: delivered before the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh, March 27, 1893. [Pittsburgh?, Pa.]: [publisher not identified]. Roberts, Thomas P. 1875. Report of reconnaissance of Missouri River in 1872. Washington, DC: U.S. G.P.O. Roberts, Thomas Paschall. 1893. The World's Columbian Water Commerce Congress, Chicago, 1893: The projected Lake Erie and Ohio River : ship canal. Boston: Damrell & Upham.