Robert Fulton

Robert Fulton, the eminent inventor of steamboats, was born of respectable Irish parents, in the township of Little Britain, Lancaster County. His parents not long after removed to Lancaster borough, where he received a good English education. The house at which he went to school is now used as a saddler’s shop, on the northeast corner of E. King St., and the center square. A schoolmate of his, in 1780, says, “His mother was a widow, in straitened circumstances. I had a brother who was fond of painting. The revolutionary war made it difficult to obtain materials from abroad, and the arts were at a low ebb in the country. My brother consequently prepared and mixed colors for himself, which he usually displayed on mussel shells. His cast-off brushes and shells fell to my lot, some of which I occasionally carried to school. Fulton craved a part, and I divided my treasure. He soon from this beginning so shamed my performances by his superiority, that I voluntarily surrendered the entire heirship of all that came into my possession. Henceforth his book was neglected, and he was often severely chastised by the schoolmaster for his inattention. His friends removed him to Philadelphia, where he was apprenticed to a silversmith; but his mind was not in his trade, and in his eighteenth year he established himself as a painter in that city.”

On entering his twenty-second year, he went to England for the purpose of improving his knowledge as an artist, and was received into the family of Benjamin West, with whom he spent several years, and cultivated a warm friendship. After leaving that family, he employed two years in Devonshire as a painter, and there became acquainted with the Duke of Bridgewater and Lord Stanhope, the former famous for his canals, and the latter for his love of the mechanic arts. He soon turned his attention to mechanics, particularly to the improvement of inland navigation by canals, and the use of steam for the propelling of boats; and in 1794 obtained patents for a double inclined plane, to be used for transportation, and an instrument to be employed in excavating canals. He at this time professed himself a civil-engineer, and published a treatise on canal navigation. He soon after went to France, and obtained a patent from the government for the improvements he had invented. He spent the succeeding seven years in Paris, in the family of Mr. Joel Barlow, during which period he made himself acquainted with the French, Italian, and German languages, and soon acquired a knowledge of the high mathematics, physics, chemistry, and perspective. He soon turned his attention to submarine navigation and explosion, and in 1801, under the patronage of the First Consul, constructed a plunging boat, and torpedoes, (differing materially from Bushnel’s invention, with which he was acquainted,) with which he performed many experiments in the harbor of Brest, demonstrating the practicability of employing subaquatic explosion and navigation for the destruction of vessels. These inventions attracted the attention of the British government, and overtures were made to him by the ministry which induced him to go to London, with the hope that they would avail themselves of his machines; but a demonstration of their efficacy which he gave the ministry, by blowing up a vessel in their presence, led them to wish to suppress the invention rather than encourage it; and accordingly they declined patronizing him. During this period he also made many efforts to discover a method of successfully using the steam-engine for the propelling of boats, and as early as 1793, made such experiments as inspired him with great confidence in its practicability. Robert R. Livingston, Esq., chancellor of the state of New York, and minister of the United States to the French court, on his arrival in France, induced him to renew his attention to this subject, and embarked with him in making experiments for the purpose of satisfying themselves of the possibility of employing steam in navigation. Mr. Fulton engaged with intense interest in the trial, and, in 1803, constructed a boat on the river Seine, at their joint expense, by which he fully evinced the practicability of propelling boats by that agent. He immediately resolved to enrich his country with this invaluable discovery; and on returning to New York in 1806, commenced, in conjunction with Mr. Livingston, the construction of the first Fulton boat, which was launched in the spring of 1807, from the ship-yard of Charles Brown, New York, and completed in August. This boat, which was called the Clermont, (from the seat of the Livingston family,) demonstrated on the first experiment, to a host of at first incredulous but at length astonished spectators, the correctness of his expectations, and the value of his invention. Between this period and his death he superintended the erection of fourteen other steam-vessels, and made great improvements in their construction.

“As I had occasion to pass daily to and from the building-yard,” said Fulton, “while my boat was in progress, I have often loitered unknown near the idle groups of strangers gathering in little circles, and heard various inquiries as to the object of this new vehicle. The language was uniformly that of scorn, sneer, or ridicule. The loud laugh rose at my expense, the dry jest, the wise calculation of losses and expenditures; the dull but endless repetition of the ‘Fulton folly.’ Never did a single encouraging remark, a bright hope, or a warm wish, cross my path. Silence itself was but politeness veiling its doubts or hiding its reproaches. At length the day arrived when the experiment was to be got into operation. To me it was a most trying and interesting occasion. I invited many friends to go on board to witness the first successful trip. Many of them did me the favor to attend as a matter of personal respect; but it was manifest they did it with reluctance, fearing to be partners of my mortification and not of my triumph. I was well aware that in my case there were many reasons to doubt of my own success. The machinery, (like Fitch’s before him) was new and ill made; and many parts of it were constructed by mechanics unacquainted with such work, and unexpected difficulties might reasonably be presumed to present themselves from other causes. The moment arrived in which the word was to be given for the vessel to move. My friends were in groups on the deck. There was anxiety mixed with fear among them. They were silent, sad, and weary. I read in their looks nothing but disaster, and almost repented of my efforts. The signal was given, and the boat moved on a short distance and then stopped, and became immovable. To the silence of the preceding moment now succeeded murmurs of discontent, and agitations, and whispers, and shrugs. I could hear distinctly repeated, ‘I told you it was so; it is a foolish scheme; I wish we were well out of it.’ I elevated myself upon a platform, and addressed the assembly. I stated that I knew not what was the matter; but if they would be quiet, and indulge me for half an hour, I would either go on or abandon the voyage for that time. This short respite was conceded without objection. I went below and examined the machinery, and discovered that the cause was a slight maladjustment of some of the work. In a short period it was obviated. The boat was again put in motion. She continued to move on. All were still incredulous. None seemed willing to trust the evidence of their own senses. We left the fair city of New York; we passed through the romantic and ever-varying scenery of the Highlands; we descried the clustering houses of Albany; we reached its shores; and then, even then, when all seemed achieved, I was the victim of disappointment. Imagination superseded the influence of fact. It was then doubted if it could be done again; or if done, it was doubted if it could be made of any great value.”

Fulton obtained a patent for his inventions in navigation by steam in February, 1809, and another for some improvements, in 1811. In the latter year he was appointed, by the legislature of New York, one of the commissioners to explore a route for a canal from the great lakes to the Hudson, and engaged with zeal in the promotion of that great work. On the commencement of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain, in 1812, he renewed his attention to submarine warfare, and contrived a method of discharging guns under water, for which he obtained a patent. In 1814 he contrived an armed steam-ship for the defense of the harbor of New York, and also a submarine vessel, or plunging boat, of such dimensions as to carry 100 men, the plans of which being approved by government, he was authorized to construct them at the public expense. But before completing either of those works, he died suddenly, February 24th, 1815. His person was tall, slender, and well formed, his manners graceful and dignified, and his disposition generous. His attainments and inventions bespeak the high superiority of his talents. He was an accomplished painter, was profoundly versed in mechanics, and possessed an invention of great fertility, and which was always directed by an eminent share of good sense. His style as a writer was perspicuous and energetic. To him is to be ascribed the honor of inventing a method of successfully employing the steam-engine in navigation, an invention justly considered one of the most important which has been made in modern ages, and by which he rendered himself both a perpetual and one of the greatest benefactors of mankind. He was not indeed the first who conceived it to be possible; others had believed its practicability, and made many attempts to propel boats by steam; but, having neither his genius, his knowledge, nor his perseverance, they were totally unsuccessful.

Source

Day, Sherman, Historical collections of the State of Pennsylvania : containing a copious selection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc., relating to its history and antiquities, both general and local, with topographical descriptions of every county and all the larger towns in the state, Philadelphia : George W. Gorton, 1843.