READS OF OWN DEATH
After the engagement with the forts and victory had been won the press boat moved alongside the flagship for news. Among the killed on the Mohican was a Mr. Whittemore, one of Chief Engineer Robie's assistants. The correspondents were informed that an engineer had been killed and they immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was Chief Engineer Robie, and so reported it in their papers.
"As a consequence", Admiral Robie said, "I was afterward permitted to read very complimentary obituaries of myself, which I clipped at the time and have kept ever since. It was a close shave, though, for poor Whittemore was in charge of the engine room bell. I was not far from him at the time when a shell toppled him over. I tried to shout to Mr. Cuthbert to take charge of the bell, while I carried poor Whittemore's body below. After a time he heard me and stepped forward to obey, when he, too, poor fellow, was hit but not killed, and I was quite near him also. I had them both removed below and then took charge of the engine room bell myself; but, dear me, it was one of the warmest duties I ever had in my life."
Admiral Robie was also on board the U S Flagship Susquehanna in the expedition sent to capture the filibusters in Nicaragua; He also served on the steam frigate Niagara when that vessel left Charleston, S.C., in 1858, with 271 captured slaves, and landed 200 of them, the remainder dying enroute, at Monrovia, Liberia.
During the Spanish American War, Admiral Robie was senior officer of a board to select and fit out vessels for the auxiliary naval force at Charleston, Savannah, Baltimore, New York and Boston.

OF DISTINGUISHED FAMILY
The Admiral states that since January 1, 1852, he has kept a continuous diary of the events of his life, a remarkable thing in itself; and that from it he can locate his whereabouts and his mission at any time during all the intervening years.
He comes from a distinguished and long-lived family, his father, Jacob Carter Robie having been commissioned a Brigadier General of the 28th Brigade of the National Guard of New York, by the famous war governor, John A. Dix, after enlisting and commanding the 89th Regiment of New York Volunteers in the Civil War.
He traces his ancestry from John Robie of Castle Donington, England, 1402, from whom descended Henry Roby, who came to Dorchester, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony early in 1639 and finally settled in Exeter, New Hampshire.
His wife, whom he married June 3, 1858, was Miss Helen Adams, a direct descendant of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Five children were born of this union, three of whom are still living and are now in Washington.
He is an ex-president of the American Society of Naval Engineers, and ex registrar of the District of Columbia Commandery of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and was for a time Inspector of the G.A.R. Posts in Virginia, and national aide of General Veazey when the latter was commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The Admiral is especially proud of the fact that, without a collegiate education he was able to outstrip his classmates of the class of 1852, many of whom were college men; and that by his ability as a practical man he has many times been able to accomplish things in which others more erudite had failed.

Obituary, Army & Navy Journal, 1911 -
EDWARD D ROBIE
"To the past go more dead faces
Every year:
As the loved leave vacant places
Every year:
Everywhere the sad eyes greet us
In the evening's dusk they meet us,
And to come to them entreat us,
Every year."

Chief Engineer Edward D Robie was born in Burlington, Vermont, in September 1831, and received an academic education in that city, besides learning the trade of machinist. At the age of 21 he entered the Navy as a Third Assistant Engineer and was ordered to the steam sloop MISSISSIPPI, the flag ship of Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan, and served aboard that vessel for three years. He was a versatile young man, ingenious and resourceful, and of his services Commodore Perry made great use during that period.
The Perry Expedition conveyed many presents to the Mikado, and skilled artisans and artists were carried in the ship for the purpose of demonstrating and teaching the Japanese the arts and discoveries of Americans and to enter into commercial relations with them. Rear Admiral Upshur and Chief Engineer Robie are the last survivors of that famous expedition.
Among the experts on board was an artist who had studied the art of Daguerre--for it was before the days of photography but who, for some reason, failed to produce a picture. Commodore Perry assigned Mr. Robie to the task, and his effort was crowned with success. Mr. Robie erected and operated the first telegraph line in Japan; he afforded material assistance in building the first railroad and in operating the first steam locomotive in that Hermit Kingdom.
Commodore Perry has been called the father of the steam Navy; he had one or more of his engineers with him whenever he visited a port, not that he had any particular liking for them, but because they were useful to him. They had brought into the service the arts and methods hitherto unknown, and were resourceful in many ways.
Mr. Robie was promoted to Second Assistant Engineer in 1855, and served on board the MICHIGAN for a year, when he was transferred to the SUSQUEHANNA, which vessel was the convoy of the NIAGARA when she laid the first Atlantic submarine cable in 1856-57. The SUSQUEHANNA then went to Nicaragua to capture the famous Walker filibuster expedition, where an epidemic of yellow fever so depleted the crew that the vessel was obliged to return to New York.
Mr. Robie was promoted to First Assistant Engineer in 1858, and went, in the NIAGARA, to the West Coast of Africa to return captured negro slaves. The slave trade was at that time quite active, and the United States, England and France kept war ships on that coast to break up the barbarous traffic, but no other nations gave any assistance.
In 1859, Mr. Robie joined the LANCASTER, at Philadelphia, which went to the Pacific, via Cape Horn, and, on reaching Panama, was transferred to the SARANAC as Senior Engineer, that vessel then going in search of the sailing sloop of war LEVANT, which was missing.
Mr. Robie was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1861 and was ordered to the MOHICAN, a screw ship. The Civil War being then in progress, he served in the MOHICAN in the battles at Port Royal, Brunswick, GA., and Fernandina, and returned to New York in 1862, where he was detailed to superintend the building of the iron-clad monitor DICTATOR, her hull armor and machinery complete. At that time the experience of the naval constructors was limited to wooden shipbuilding only.
In 1864 Mr. Robie took charge of the operations of the steamship ERICSSON, raising obstructions in the harbor of Charleston, SC., after which he was on duty as a member of several Boards of Inspection and on court martial duty. In 1865 he was on the Engineer Board of Examiners. Here he endeared himself to those going up for examinations for promotion by his very clear and comprehensive questions, and by his uniform kindness to candidates.