Thomas Robins (inventor)

He was born on September 1, 1868, in West Point, New York to Thomas Robins Sr. He attended Princeton University.

In 1891, Robins began work on a conveyor belt for carrying coal and ore for Thomas Edison and his Edison Ore-Milling Company in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. His conveyor belt received the grand prize at the Paris Exposition in 1900, and first prizes at the Pan-American Exposition and Saint Louis Exposition.

Based on his invention, Robins started the Robins Conveying Belt Company and of the Robins New Conveyor Company (now ThyssenKrupp Robins).{{cite web |url=http://www.krupprobins.com/Company/History/robins.html |title=Robins History |accessdate=2013-12-17 |publisher=ThyssenKrupp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314165904/http://www.krupprobins.com/Company/History/robins.html |archive-date=2010-03-14 }} In 1915 he was appointed to the Naval Consulting Board.{{Cite Americana|wstitle= Robins, Thomas |volume= XXIII |short=1 }}

On April 26, 1894, Robins married Winifred Hamilton Tucker (1868–1952){{cite news|title=Mrs Thomas Robins|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/09/16/84260537.html?pageNumber=29|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=September 16, 1952}} in Boston, Massachusetts. They lived together at 40 East 66th Street in New York City and had a home in Stamford, Connecticut, called Saddle Rock House designed by prominent New York City architects, Hunt and Hunt.Stamford Historical Society{{nonspecific|date=June 2020}} Together with his wife, he had:

• Thomas Robins III "Jr" (1897–1977), who in 1939 married Louisa Winslow Cogswell (1899–1962), an artist.{{cite news|title=Mrs. Thomas Robins Jr.|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/07/13/81791744.html?pageNumber=23|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=July 13, 1962}} She was the daughter of Cullen Van Rensselaer Cogswell and Agnes Eugenia Nickerson. Her paternal grandparents were Andrew Kirkpatrick Cogswell (1839–1900) and Mary Van Rensselaer Cogswell (1839–1871). After her death, he married Eileen Burden Maynard (1910–1970), daughter of Cynthia Roche (1884–1966) and the granddaughter of James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (1852–1920) and Frances Ellen Work (1857–1947){{cite news|title=Thomas Robins Jr., Company Chairman – Headed Hewitt-Robins, Producers of Synthetic Rubber|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/05/29/75747818.html?pageNumber=28|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=May 29, 1977}}
• Louisa Robins (1920–1992), who married Austin Goodyear (1920–2005) in 1939.{{cite news|title=Marriage Announcement|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/12/20/112735552.html?pageNumber=32|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=December 20, 1939}} After their divorce, Goodyear married Sara Suleri{{cite news|title=Austin Goodyear|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=14872634|accessdate=14 April 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 21, 2005}}
• Grace Rumsey Goodyear (b. 1941), who in 1962 married Franklin Delano Roosevelt III (b. 1938), grandson of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt{{cite news|title=Grace Goodyear, Student at Smith, Will Be Married; Sophomore and Ensign Franklin D. Roosevelt 3d Engaged to Wed|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/04/12/82123468.html?pageNumber=39|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=April 12, 1962}}{{cite news|title=Miss Grace R. Goodyear Is Married; Becomes Bride of Ensign Franklin D. Roosevelt 3d|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/06/19/82045381.html?pageNumber=26|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=June 19, 1962}}
• Phoebe Louisa Roosevelt (b. 1965)
• Nicholas Martin Roosevelt (b. 1966)
• Amelia "Amie" Roosevelt (b. 1966)
• Cullen Goodyear, a noted triathlon athlete{{cite news|title=Kona 2015: A chat with Cullen Goodyear - Triathlon Magazine Canada|url=http://triathlonmagazine.ca/news/kona-2015-a-chat-with-cullen-goodyear/|accessdate=14 April 2016|publisher=Triathlon Magazine Canada|date=October 13, 2015|language=en-US}}
• Thomas R. Goodyear, who was married to Barbara Marshall (1946–2007){{cite news|title=Barbara Marshall Goodyear|url=http://bangordailynews.com/2008/09/25/obituaries/barbara-marshall-goodyear/|accessdate=14 April 2016|newspaper=The Bangor Daily News|date=September 25, 2008}}
• Mary Van Rensselaer Robins (1919–2006), who married Dr. Stephen Goodyear (1915–1998). They divorced in 1963{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special To The New York|title=Mrs. Goodyear Wed To Julien D. McKee|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/14/mrs-goodyear-wed-to-julien-d-mckee.html|accessdate=14 April 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 June 1964}} and in 1964, Mary married Julian McKee (1918–2006){{cite news|title=Obituaries and death notices, Nov. 8, 2006 Laurette Forest, Julian D. McKee, Stetson services|url=http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/obituaries/obituaries-and-death-notices-nov-laurette-forest-julian-d-mckee/article_3ab93a54-e842-5465-b583-06ff5327f949.html|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=SentinelSource.com|publisher=The Keene Sentinel|date=November 8, 2006}}
• Anne Davis Robins, who married Evan W. Thomas II{{cite news|title=Evan Thomas II|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Evan-Thomas-II-2943468.php|accessdate=13 April 2016|work=SFGate|publisher=SFGate|date=March 6, 1999}}{{cite news|title=Paid Notice: Deaths – Thomas, Evans Welling II|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/01/classified/paid-notice-deaths-thomas-evan-welling-ii.html|accessdate=13 April 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 March 1999}} in 1943,{{cite news|title=Paid Notice: Deaths – Thomas, Anne Davis Robins|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/classified/paid-notice-deaths-thomas-anne-davis-robins.html|accessdate=13 April 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 March 2004}} son of Norman Thomas and Frances Violet Stewart.
• Evan Welling Thomas III (b. 1951)
• Samuel Davis Robins, who married Emma Lawrence Jacob in 1925. She was the daughter of Bartholomew Jacob. One of Robin's groomsmen was Frederic W. Lincoln IV{{cite news|title=Emma Jacob Weds Samuel D. Robins – Bride's Twin Brothers Give Her in Marriage in Church of the Resurrection – Miss Cory a Paris Bride – Rochester Girl Married to Philip Chew of New York – Miss Oliver Weds R.H. Fischer|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1925/05/03/104172788.html?pageNumber=29|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=May 3, 1925}} Jacob later married Joseph R. Busk in 1937{{cite news|title=Busk--Robins|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/07/30/94406330.html?pageNumber=16|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=July 30, 1937}}
• Samuel Davis Robins, Jr. (1926–2010){{cite news|title=Samuel Davis Robins Jr.|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/greenwichtime/obituary.aspx?pid=145924437|accessdate=14 April 2016|publisher=Greenwich Time|date=October 10, 2010}} who was married to Winifred Anne Willis{{cite news|title=Child to Mrs. S.D. Robins Jr.|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/01/24/86509756.html?pageNumber=24|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=January 24, 1956}} in 1950{{cite news|title=Nuptials Are Held for Miss W. Willis – She Wears White Embroidered Organdy at Her Wedding to Samuel Davis Robins Jr.|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/06/25/91103374.html|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=June 25, 1950}} and Ruth R. McCollester,{{cite news|title=Samuel Robins Jr. Weds Ruth McCollester|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1979/12/30/111213993.html|accessdate=14 April 2016|work=The New York Times|date=December 30, 1979}} in 1979; both of whom he divorced. His companion at the time of his death was Mary Hooker Judson
• Samuel Davis Robins III
• Leah Anne Robins (b. 1956)
• Abigail Cope Robins

He died on November 4, 1957, at the Nestledown Convalescent Home in Stamford, Connecticut, aged 89.{{cite news |title=Thomas Robins, Inventor, 89, Dies. Developer of Heavy-Duty Conveyor Belt Had Headed Hewitt-Robins Company |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/11/05/archives/thomas-robins-inventor-89-dies-developer-of-heavyduty-conveyor-belt.html |newspaper=New York Times |date=November 5, 1957 |accessdate=2013-12-18 }}

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Category:1868 births

Category:1957 deaths

Category:Princeton University alumni

Category:19th-century American inventors

Category:20th-century American inventors

Category:Naval Consulting Board

Category:People from West Point, New York

Category:People from Old Saybrook, Connecticut