Robert R. Vandiver was born on July 22, 1805, in Brandywine Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware.
He was the superintendent of the dig that allowed the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad to move their cars between Havre de Grace and Perryville on steamers.
Vandiver served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Harford County, during the 1868 term.
[4] Vandiver served as a member of the board of town commissioners of Havre de Grace for fourteen years, non-consecutively.
They had four sons and three daughters, George T., Robert R. Jr., Murray, Jacob, Martha, Alice and Ellen.