refused to pay for the completion of the five new ships. Robeson served briefly as both Secretary of Navy and as ad interim Secretary of War after Secretary of War William W. Belknap abruptly resigned in 1876. Robeson was the subject of two Congressional investigations in 1876 and 1878 on profiting and bribery charges from shipbuilding contracts but was exonerated for lack of material evidence. Elected in 1878, Representative for New Jersey, Robeson served as minority leader of the Republican Party. Robeson's grandfather was George C. Maxwell and he was the nephew of John Patterson Bryan Maxwell, both having represented New Jersey in the House of Representatives. Defeated from office by Democrat Thomas M. Ferrell in a bitter highly contested 1882 election campaign, Robeson was left $60,000 in debt and forced to sell his Washington D.C. property. As a result of his financial troubles, his wife and family abandoned him while traveling abroad. Robeson moved to Trenton, resumed his law practice, and lived a modest lifestyle until his death in 1897. Although Robeson showed decisive action during the Virginius Affair while Secretary of the Navy, his reputation was marred by allegations of corruption during his tenure. Early life George M. Robeson was born on March 16, 1829, in Oxford Furnace, New Jersey, near Belvidere in Warren County. Robeson's family was of Scottish origin and he was a descendant of Andrew Robeson, the surveyor-general of New Jersey in 1668. His father was Philadelphia Judge William Penn Robeson and his mother was the daughter of U.S. Congressman George C. Maxwell, who served in the 12th U.S. Congress from 1811 to 1813 representing Hunterdon, New Jersey. His brother William P. Robeson, Jr. was a brevetted Brigadier general in the Union Army. Robeson was the nephew of U.S. Congressman John Patterson Bryan Maxwell. Robeson gained a scholarly reputation by having graduated from Princeton University at the young age of 18 in 1847. Upon graduation, he studied law in Newark in Chief Justice Hornblower's law office. He graduated and was admitted to the bar in 1850. He was admitted as a legal counselor in 1854. He initially set up his law practice in Newark, but then moved his practice to Jersey City. In 1858, he was appointed public prosecutor for Camden County. Civil War During the Civil War, Robeson was appointed a brigadier general in the New Jersey Militia by the Governor of New Jersey.