Emily Warren Roebling (September 23, 1843 – February 28, 1903) was an engineer known for her contributions over a period of more than 10 years to the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband Washington Roebling developed caisson disease (a.k.a. decompression disease) and became bedridden. She served as a liaison and supervisor of construction through communicating between her husband and on-site personnel. Her husband was the chief engineer during construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which had been designed by his late father, John A. Roebling. Early life Emily was born on September 23, 1843, to Sylvanus and Phebe Warren at Cold Spring, New York. She was the second-youngest of twelve children. Emily's interest in pursuing education was supported by her older brother Major General Gouverneur K. Warren. The two siblings always had a close relationship. She attended school at the Georgetown Visitation Academy in Washington, DC, now known as Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School. In 1864, during the American Civil War, Emily visited her brother Gouverneur at his headquarters; Warren was commanding the Fifth Army Corps. At a soldiers' ball she attended during the visit, she became acquainted with Washington Roebling, a son of Brooklyn Bridge designer John A. Roebling. The younger man was also a civil engineer and was serving on her brother Gouverneur Warren's staff. On January 18, 1865, Emily and Washington married in Cold Spring, in a dual wedding ceremony with another of her Warren siblings and spouse. While John Roebling was starting his preliminary work on the Brooklyn Bridge, the newlyweds went to Europe to study the use of caissons for constructing the bridge. In November 1867, Emily gave birth in Germany to the couple's only child, John A. Roebling II. Brooklyn Bridge On their return from their European studies, Washington's father died in 1869 of tetanus, following an accident at the bridge site. Washington Roebling was assigned as chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge's construction. As he immersed himself in the project, Washington developed decompression sickness, which was known at the time as "caisson disease", by going to underwater depths to study the placement of caissons and not rising at the proper speed. It affected him so severely that he became bed-ridden. As the only person to visit her husband during his sickness, Emily Roebling relayed information from Washington to his assistants and reported to him the progress of work on the bridge. She developed