Show almo satt released ne leased by western newspaper union steamboat inventor ONE hundred and fifty years ago on august 26 1791 the newly established patent office of the united states issued 13 patents this in itself is not important except for the fact that it marked the beginning of the controversy over who invented the steamboat which after a century and a half is still unsettled for among the 13 patents issued on that day six were awarded to james or rumsey one 1141 to john fitch two to nathan V 1 4 read and three to john stevens jr names of all these men were destined to be linked with the invention of the steamboat of course the school robert fulton book histories say that robert fulton was the inventor of the steamboat but whether or not that is true depends upon the definition of inventor partisans of stevens and fitch assert that all three have better claims to the honor of inventing the steamboat than does fulton read had begun experimenting with steam engines for propelling boats in 1788 1783 and his contribution to the develop development mei A of the steamboat was the invention of the mul ti tubular boiler and the portable high pressure engine both important john stevens jr but hardly a large enough contribution to entitle him to the honor of being called the inventor of the steamboat stevens began studying steam engines in 1789 but it was not until 1798 that he completed his first steamboat and operated it successfully on the hudson river it was stevens who made the first application of steam to the screw propeller for driving a boat through the water and his steamboat contained the first condensing double acting engine ev ever er made in america and a boiler on which he secured american patents in 1803 among the patents granted to was one for propelling boats or vessels and his claim to the title of steamboat inventor rests upon these facts on september 7 1784 george washington saw and certified to Rum says model of a boat which could go upstream by machinery in 1785 he obtained from the pennsylvania assembly an exclusive sive right for 10 years to navigate and build such contrivances in march 1786 he exhibited on the potomac river a boat propelled by steam in 1787 both virginia and maryland granted him patents on it later he obtained similar patents in england france and holland and in december 1792 gave a successful exhibition of his steamboat on the thames river most vocal of all the partisans are those of john fitch and the evidence which they submit to prove his right to the honor that has been given to robert fulton seems to be to establish his right to the title of inventor of the steamboat arranged chronologically k here are the steps which establish their claims john fitch 1785 in april fitch then ii living ving in bucks county pa conceived the idea of a steamboat and in november he presented a drawing of the boat models and tube boiler to the american philosophical society 1787 on august 22 his boat equipped with a 12 inch cylinder was demonstrated at philadelphia and members of the constitutional convention ven tion then in session witnessed the successful demonstration 1790 newspaper advertisements prove that fitch was operating operatic ope ratin 11 a steamboat successfully and carrying passengers across the delaware 1791 congress voted to grant fitch a patent on his steamboat it was signed by president george washington and is the only one granted on august 26 1791 in which tile the wording propelling boats boat au b by y steam ac is used a and n d there is ii n no record of a similar patent issued on any earlier date than that a a a fitch was unable to interest enough people in in his invention to ca capitalize pit alize on it and ho he I 1 died in poverty er ty in bardstown Bards town ky july 2 1798 in his last years he wrote the day will come when some more moe powerful man will get fame and riches from my invention but nobody will believe that poor john fitch can do anything worthy of attention the man who did get fame and riches was robert fulton for he had access to fitcha drawings and specifications and from them constructed his clermont in 1807 |