William A. Robertson, 1859-1929

Chemist and friend

William Robertson of Charleston, South Carolina, was one of two individuals named in the will of Josephine Louise Newcomb. The other person so named was Alice Bowman.

Very little is known about the friendship between Robertson and JLN. He was a well-known chemist who tested water quality, as well as cotton products. He worked, along with a Professor Chazal, at the Shepard Laboratory, which also functioned as a testing location for students hoping to gain admission to the School of Mines, Columbia College, New York City. In a postcard, he wrote to JLN of a return from a trip to Europe, mentioning his desire to hurry back to his laboratory. Water purity became a cause for reformers in the early twentieth century, and JLN may have become interested in his work by other reformers she herself knew.