Fulton (ROBERT an American inventor)

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

ROBERT, an American inventor, celebrated as being the introducer of steam navigation; born of Irish decent, in Little Britain, Lancaster co., Pa., in 1765. Early in life he manifested a taste for painting, and repaired to England to study under Benjamin West. In that country, however, he became acquainted with the Duke of Bridgewater, the founder of the canal system of Great Britain, who induced Fulton to abandon art and study mechanical science. This nobleman was at the time engaged in a scheme of steam navigation, which he imparted to Fulton. The latter visiting Birmingham was brought into communication with James Watt, who had just succeeded in his great improvement of the steam engine, with the construction of which Fulton made him self thoroughly familiar. About this time he invented a machine for spinning flax, and another for making ropes, for which he obtained patents in England. In 1796 he published a treatise on the improvement of canal navigation. From 1797 to 1804 he resided in Paris with Mr. Joel Barlow, the American representative at the French court. During this period he invented a submarine or plunging boat, called a "Torpedo," designed to be used in naval warfare. He invited the attention of the French Government to his invention, and Bonaparte, then First Consul, appointed a commission to examine it. Several experiments were made in 1801 in the harbor of Brest. He could easily descend to any depth, or rise to the surface; and where there was no strong current, the boat was quite obedient to her helm while under water. But the motion of the boat while submerged , and it was clearly unequal was very slow to the stemming of a strong current. The French Government declined to patronize the project, and Fulton accepted an inviministry, who tation from the English also appointed a commission to test the ROBERT FULTON merits of his torpedo. He appears, however, to have received but little encouragement, and in 1806 he returned to the United States. Having been supplied with the necessary funds by Robert Livingston, who had been American ambassador at Paris, Fulton had the satisfaction of proving, in 1807, that steam could be applied to the propulsion of vessels with entire success. His first steamboat, called "The Clermont" (of 140 feet keel and 16½ feet beam), made a progress on the Hudson of 5 miles an hour. His second large boat on the Hudson was the "Car of Neptune," and was built in 1807. He afterward built other steam vessels, one of them a frigate which bore his name. His reputation became established, and his fortune was rapidly increasing, when his patent for steam vessels was disputed, and his opponents were in a considerable degree successful. The lawsuits about his patent rights, together with his enthusiasm, which led him to expose himself too much while directing his workmen, impaired his constitution, and he died in New York City, Feb. 24, 1815. In 1909 the centenary of the "Clemont" was celebrated in conjunction with the tercentenary of the discovery of the Hudson by Hendrik Hudson.