The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-10-04
Rivals Of FuIton In steam NavIaatIon.


Cook and Peary over the discovery of
the North Pole has generated a gen.
Ieral inclination toward controversy,
certain it is that in connection with
the Hudson-Fulton celebration the
claim OF Hudson to the original dis
coyery of the Hudson river by white
man and of Fulton to the construction
of the first successful steam boat are
being vigorously contested.
Vermont long ago made claim to
superiority In successful, steamboat
operation through the work OF Sam
uel Mercy, who is said to have built
boat and with a single companion to
have made his first trip up the Con-
lnecticut river between Oxford, N. H.,
and Fairlee at least fourteen years
before Fulton's trial trip in the Cler-
mont up the Hudson in 1907.
II is claimed that Captain Morey
went to New York and had frequent
interviews with Fulton and Living
stone before the advent of the Cler-
mont and it is a well established fact
that Fulton visited Captain Morey in
Fairlee for the purpose of witnessing
the latter's successful experiment be-
lOI6 lie HdQ any hAh0 VI q
successful steamboat on the Hudson
Moreys craft is described as boat
twenty feet in length, painted white
with red streaks and black gunwale.
1t was called the Aunt Sally" 1t
had paddle wheels on the sides which
were turned by means of crank be-
fore steam was applied. and after the
adoption of this means of propulsion
the wheel was at the stern.
1t is barely possible that the adjec-
tive successful" may be a saving
word for Fulton while Rumsey and
Fitch and Symington as well as Nor
ey had long been conducting expert
ments in the matter of steam naviga-
ton and had evolved steam craft.
Fulton advertised for passengers and
his boat was soon crowded. THE Cler-
mont" says an English writer, was
the steamboat that commenced and
continued to run for practical purpo-
SEES. and for the remuneration of her
owners" Here was the boat that was
wanted-one that was financially pro-
fitable.
The matter is not to be allowed to
drop at this point, however by any
means. A movement has been start
ed in Washington to honor the men,
DRY of James Rumsey. a soldier of the
Revolutionary war, and millwright
who as we'll as Fulton, was an inven
tor of the steamboat 1t is proposed
to have Congress provide for statue
of Rumsey in the Hall of Fame at the
Capitol. The matter has been taken
up by the citizens of West Virginia,
and Senator Scott has been enlisted
in the movement. 1t Is likely the
question of whether Rumsey or Full
ton has the prior claim as an inven-
tor will become an interesting con-
troversy in Congress and out of it in
which event Vermont should press
Morey's claim to recognition.
Rumsey was a native of Maryland |
but in 1872 went to Berkeley county.
Virginia, now West Virginia, bought |
a farm and pond. and went to work
in experiments in steam and hydraul- !
les. He is said to have built a steam |
boat which was publicly exhibited and |
ran successfully at Sneperdstown, Va. |
on the Potomac river December and |
II. 1887. In petition prepared by |
West Virginia supporters of Rumsey |
il is said:
THE great success and practically |
useful character of Rumsey's steam |
boat was established by sworn testi- !
mony of many notable witnesses such |
men as Gen. Horatio Gates conquer |
or of Burgoyne, and many others, as
well as by the multitude OF astonish-
ed and delighted spectators"
1t Is pointed out that this was 90 I,
years before the Clermont made It's |
initial trip TO Albany. Rumsey was a
friend of Washington and was APP
pointed in 1885 general manager OF |
the Potomac Navigation Improvement |
OF which Washington was
president. Rumsey's supporters say |
full proof of what he did is found in
the archives of Virginia and in the |
natural archives. He is said also to |
have built steamship which worked |
In England in 1898
In support of Rumsey against Full
ton. John Morey has written a letter |
from Berkeley Springs In which It is
alleged that 1t was due to the repres-
of Robert R. Livingston,
chancellor of New York business part |
ner of Robert Fulton. that the idea |
was industriously disseminated that |
Fulton was the real inventor of the |
The chances are that steam navi- |
CATION was dreamed of by various |
men, just as the dream OF reaching |
the North Pole has lured a host of |
explorers during the past half cen
fury or so. Each may have profited |
by the experience of the other to a
greater or less extent and each state
has right to rejoice in the part la
ken by its own inventor in the devel
opment of steamboat that could be
made to run.--Burlington Free Press.