in 1818 the College asked him and 21 other students to leave in a dispute involving the charges for a lecture class. Although later exonerated, Robinson never returned to the school, nor fulfilled his father's expectation to follow his example and become an attorney, (though his cousin, Richard C.L. Moncure long served as President of the Court of Appeals). Robinson studied drafting in New York, and visited the Erie Canal then under construction. Knowing that Virginians contemplated similar canal building, Robinson applied for a position with the Board of Public Works to survey a route from Richmond to the Ohio River. Personal life Robinson married Charlotte Randolph Taylor (1815–1895) on February 2, 1835. Likewise a member of the First Families of Virginia, her grandfather Edmund Randolph was the nation's first attorney general, and numerous other Randolphs likewise distinguished (even President Thomas Jefferson could trace Randolph family descent). Their sons were John Moncure Robinson (1835-1893) and Edmund Randolph Robinson; their unmarried daughter Natalie Robinson lived at home in 1880. The family lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania beginning in 1835, although the traveling Moncure Robinson only lived there intermittently until his death. They also had a residence in Richmond, Virginia. Early surveys Although denied a job because of his youth, the enthusiastic 16-year-old Robinson was allowed to accompany the surveyors as a volunteer. On returning to Virginia, Robinson worked as an engineer's assistant with the James River Company, apprenticing on survey work for canals in his native state. He then continued his education in Europe, where he witnessed and learned from some of the world's first railroad operations. Three years later, the Virginia Board of Public Works hired Robinson to assist in locating an extension for the James River Canal. Robinson traveled to New York to view the construction of the Erie Canal, over a less hilly route than contemplated in Virginia. That visit convinced him of the advantages of railroads over canals both as a means of transportation and in commerce. His report to the Virginia Board of Public Works disputed the benefits of further canal development, and praised railroads in its place. Faced with an unenthusiastic response, Robinson resigned his position and, at that moment, devoted himself to developing railroads. Robinson then traveled to Europe and further studied civil engineering at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees, Sorbonne, in Paris from 1825 to 1827. Touring Europe, Robinson also studied canal, harbor,