The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-18
FULTON IN INDIANA.
Capt. Daniels Keminisce 0f The I'm
yentor Of the St eambOat.

~
yentor Of the NJ eanbOat.
JASPER, Ind. Aug. THE celebration
| OF the Robert Fulton centenary recalls the
| residence Of the inventor OF the steamboat
at Troy. Ind. According to Capt. Wildon
H.. Daniel OF this place. but formerly OF
| Troy, Robert Fulton came to Troy from
Louisville. KY. with Joseph Wright. grand
father Of Capt. Daniel. who was the first
white man TO settle below the falls Of the
| Ohio. and who settled near the present site
OF Troy in 1898.
Fulton first visited Troy about 1905 or
1909. II was necessary in those days for
the people living at Troy to go to Louisville.
Ky, a distance OF $50 miles. to Tarascon's
mill to get their corn ground. Wright was
in Louisville on such a trip and wa I'm
loading his corn from his canoes when
Fulton came along. fell into conversation
with him and decided TO accompany him
back to Troy.
In 1911 Fulton reached Troy aboard the
| Orleans, the first steamboat that ever
piled the Ohio River. The Thing, as the
people called il, landed and Robert Fulton
put his brother. Abraham Smythe Fulton.
his goods and his family of. while he him.
self went on to New Orleans. He arranged
to have his brother build him q house on
one OF the most picturesque and command
ing sites on the Ohio River.
The house was begun and rose to be five
| logs high on the north. east and south sides.
| but while they were putting the fifth log
in place on the west side it slipped and fell
| upon Abraham Fulton. who was superin-
| tending the erection Of the building. and
| killed him instantly. His remains were
| buried in what 10 now the Troy cemetery.
but his grave 10 unmarked.
Robert Fulton apparently became dis
Outraged with Troy after the death Of his
brother and finally sold out the woodward
! and general store which he had started
to Vivian Daniel and took his brothers
| family back to Pittsburg. The house W a
not completed and the logs remained there
and rotted.
On June %, 1925. the steamboat Mechanic.
bearing Lafayette and his party, who had
been visiting Gen. jackson at the Hermitage.
was sunk by a snag near Troy. All aboard
the boat finally reached Troy. While "A
fayette was standing ON one OF the deoaying
logs OF the old Fulton building. from which
point he could look up the Ohio River q dis
tanoe OF nine miles and down the river a
| distance Of twenty miles. he said:
fright here on this spot should be erected
| som monument in c~ommemoration OF that
great man Robert Fulton"
Capt. Daniel, hoping to carry out the sug.
eeston made by Lafayette, prepared and
| circulated a subscription list to secure funds
| with which to erect the monument. The
/ list was circulated in 1854 when river steam
boating was at it's zenith and $4,000 was
subscribed. About this time Ham Smith.
superintendent OF the Cannelton cotton
mfh. wrote an article in which he maintained
that the monument should be erected on the
hill at Cannelton because Fulton at m
time owned the land from Troy TO Camel
ton. This arrang cement did not meet with
the approval Of the men who subscribed
the money and the whole matter fell
through.
The town site laid out by Fulton. where a
coal bank was opened, still retains its name
OF Fulton. although the coal has been az
hausted and only n house now remains.
Il is about half way between Cannelton
and Troy. The beacon light which was
established by the United States Govern
ment thirty years ago ia still maintained.
the bar at that point being called, after
Robert Fulton. Fulton's Bar.