The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1909-12-09
The MAN WHO MADE
The FIRST STEAMBOAT
The First of a Series of
Incidents of History
Written for the News
by Prof. G. w. Ashton.

1t may be of interest to some
of the readers of the News to
know that the real inventor of the
steamb ,at was not Robert Fulton,
but John Fitch who was born at
South Windsor, Connecticut, Jan.
19, 1743. And 1t Is doubtful If
history has a sadder page than
that on which the life, struggles
and death of this strange, poor
man are recorded. ...
A hard hearted, close fsted
father, and an elder brother of
the same character, made the
boyhood life of poor John Fitch
one long Ivy of grief, privatlon
and humiliation. Attaining his
majority, he learned the trade of
matchmaking and settled in
Trenton, N. j. The war of the
Revolution breaking out, he be-.
came gun smith, making arms
for the defenders of his country,
till the British destroyed his
shop. He then entered the army
in time to suffer the horrors of
Valley Forge. From the army
he went about in the country a
tinker of clocks and watches, but
in 1879 was sent by Virginia as
deputy surveyor to the then wllds
of Kentucky. In the west he
was captured by the Indians and
kept a year before he could es-
cape. In poverty and want he
returned and settled at Warmin-
ster, Pa. 1t was at this place
and period of his life that the
idea of using steam as a motive
power for vehicles and boats
took possession of him. He made
Ia model of a steam boat Identical
in principle with that which has
now become universal in practice.
He went to Philadelphia and there
constructed'a steam engine, with
a three-lnch cylinder, and ap-
piled the same to a sklff. An
authentic historian records,
This was without doubt the first
steam boat ever constructed by
man." Vainly did Fitch appeal
to the Continental Congress, the
| Assem- bly, of Pennsylvania, and
the learned and wealthy men of
his day. Time went by and Fitch
got the reputation OF beng a
crazy man. He finally formed a
company which reluctantly fur
nlshed the means to build a boat
As feet long, IL feet beam, inch
cylinder engine. The inventor
agreed that his boat should make
eight miles an hour. August %,
| 1887, the boat made her trial trip
on the Delakare and was success
full. The members of the Con
stitutional Convention, with Geo.
| Washington at its head, adjourn
ed on invitation and went down
to see the strange invention on Its
first voyage. The members
shook their wise heads, left the
crazy man with his craft, and
went back to building the Ship
of State. A regular Packet line
with schedule was established on
the Delaware and was MAINTAIN
ed for about three years. But
the steam boat business was not
financial success and Fitch g
boat was finally wrecked by a
storm. From 1t the inventor
went forth into the world pcnni-
less and a beggar. After wan.
dering in this country, and in
Europe to find financial support
for his steam boat scheme, and
finding none, he wandered again
into the far West, Kentucky.
There in a little room of tavern
ID Bardstown, with not penny
In the world, prematurely old
from despair and strugnle, his
clothes worn to tatters and rags,
|, his face wrinkled and haggard,
on the night of July 2, 1903 he
lifted a cup of poison To his hps,
drank the deadly potion and lay
|, down, unhonored and unwept, to
, die. No stone marks his grave
and his last resting place is now
, obscured. Here are the words
he left IN q letter, "The day will
coma whan aoma more pOWerful