AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS, AND IN ENGINES TO BE ACTUATED BY STEAM OR OTHER POWER
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GILMAN, of Bethnal Green, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria the First, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of August, in the first year of Her reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Gilman, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Gilman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Gilman, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEAM BOILERS, AND IN ENGINES TO BE ACTUATED BY STEAM OR OTHER POWER;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William
Gilman, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said

page_text: William Gilman, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed; is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
My Invention of an Improvement or Improvements in Steam Boilers, and
in Engines to be actuated by Steam or other Power, consists of five different
heads or sections.
The first is a novel or improved construction of chambers to form a steam
boiler or generator, in which the water under ebullition is caused, by the
peculiar form, arrangement, and construction of such chambers, to circulate
therein.
Second, in improved arrangements and constructions of steam boilers, in
which the several narrow chambers composing the same are furnished with
compartments or chambers placed below the line of fire bars for the purpose of
receiving the sediment or deposit which takes place in the same, whereby the
inconvenience and injury caused by the burning of the bottom parts of such
chambers is obviated, which injury takes place when the chambers are placed
over the fire, and submitted to the direct action thereof.
Thirdly, in an improvement. in metal plates used in the construction of such
steam boilers and other generators as are composed of narrow chambers, the
side plates being rivetted to each other throughout their surfaces, and consists
in rolling or forming such plates of metal with ribs or extra thickness at those
parts where the plates are pierced for the rivetts, in order to give additional
strength thereto, which are otherwise weakened by the piercing of the holes.
Fourthly, in an improved arrangement and construction of the cylinders and
valves of steam engines wherein the steam is worked expansively; that is,
when the steam is admitted into one cylinder: at a high pressure, and allowed
to escape from such cylinder, after exerting its force upon the piston, into
another cylinder of larger dimensions exerting its force upon another piston,
and so on, one after another; and consists in placing the said cylinders one
within the other, all the pistons being connected to one cross head; and
also in the arrangement and construction of slide valves adapted to the
same, whereby the steam passages of all the cylinders are opened and closed
simultaneously.
!!
And, lastly, in improvements upon that description of rotatory steam engine
which acts upon the principle of that construction of machine commonly called
or known by the name of "Barker's Mill," all of which improvements will be
fully understood by reference to the accompanying Drawings, to which I shall

page_text: (that is to say):
My first improvement in steam boilers consists in the formation of the
novel or improved arrangement and construction of circulating chambers in
which the water is exposed to the action of the fire, the chambers being placed
side by side to form a complete boiler.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of one of these chambers; Fig. 2 is an end eleva-
tion of a portion of a steam boiler, one of the chambers being shewn partly in
section. These chambers are composed of two parallel side plates or surfaces.
a, a, (one of which is removed in Fig. 1 to shew the internal arrangement,)
and outside or edge pieces C, C, firmly bolted or rivetted together; between
the side plates are intermediate pieces B, B, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. C, C, C,
are rivets passed through the side plates and the intermediate pieces, and the
whole firmly rivetted together, which are thus strongly united to resist internal
pressure, whilst the diagonal or inclined position of the pieces B causes the
steam formed in the spaces between them to pass upwards, in the direction of
the arrows, into the vertical passage D, where, ascending to the surface, it parts
with the superfluous water carried with it, which water returns by the
descending passage E, thus maintaining a constant circulation of water within
the chambers. F is a pipe through which the chambers receive their supply of
water from the vessel G, which is connected to the feed pump. This vessel
may be of any suitable figure, and the chambers may be ranged along it, as
shewn in Fig. 2, the chambers being connected by pipes in the usual manner;
but if they are placed side by side, crossing each other, as shewn in the eleva-
tion, Fig. 3, they will be connected to the vessels G, G, alternately on either
side. Or the chambers may be disposed in two separate series or ranges, as
shewn in the other elevation, Fig. 4. His the pipe for conveying the steam
from the chambers to a reservoir or steam chamber, to which all the several
chambers composing the boiler are in like manner connected. I do not intend
to confine myself in this arrangement or construction of a circulating chamber
to the use of flat parallel surfaces or side plates, as the spaces and passages
may be either cylindrical or oval, and so formed, by indenting or corrugating
the plates with dies or other suitable means, and rivetting the opposite eleva-
tions together, or by partially indenting the plates, and making up the difference
with intermediate pieces. Nor do I confine myself to the angle formed by the
top and bottom to the sides, as the chambers may be square, and the interme-
diate pieces placed at the required angle within them; also the intermediate
pieces, instead of being inclined to the vertical passages D, E, may be placed
in lines at a right angle to such passages; in which case I obtain the necessary.

page_text: inclination of the intermediate pieces for producing circulation by inclining the
chambers themselves. The chambers may also be worked full of water, and
the separation of steam take place in a distinct vessel, and the water there
deposited returned by a pipe to the feed chamber G for the supply of the
vertical passage E and the spaces connected therewith. And further, I would
remark that these chambers may be made, as before described, of malleable
metal plates, or they may be made of cast-iron in one piece complete, with the
several passages and spaces, except the vertical passage E, which must be open
throughout the whole length of the chamber for the purpose of allowing the
core being extracted after casting, the apertures at the ends being afterwards
made good by bolting on a suitable piece to flanges or other means provided on
each end of the open passage for that purpose.
My second improvement, viz*, in the arrangement and construction of steam
boilers, is shewn in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, of the accompanying Drawings.
Fig. 5
is a transverse vertical section of part of a boiler, shewing the form and con-
struction and arrangement of another kind of chambers for steam boilers
adapted for horizontal draft. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken through
the boiler, between a pair of chambers. The chief feature of novelty in these
chambers is the enlarged capacity of the top and bottom of each, so as to form
the top and bottom of the flues d, d, as shewn in Figure 5, the upper enlarge-
ment e, e, at the same time forming a water and steam chamber, which may be
made of any required height, while the bottom enlargement f forms a chamber
for deposit or sediment below the fire bars, and consequently not subject to the
direct action of the fire. Each of these enlargements is to be furnished with
suitable man-holes at either or both ends, if required, for cleaning, or the lower
ones may
each be furnished with a pipe connecting them to a discharge pipe
common to all for blowing through. The side plates of the chambers are
rivetted together by what are termed long rivetting, as shewn in the sectional
Figure 5, to enable them to withstand the pressure. The side plates may be
flat, or they may be curved or corrugated between the vertical lines of rivets,
as shewn in the partial section of a boiler, Figs. 8 and 9. If it is thought
desirable, each of the chambers may be separated by transverse openings or
flues in their narrow parts, as shewn at 9, 9, in Fig. 6; and for convenience
of manufacture the chambers may be first formed in pieces or sections, and
afterwards riveted together to form the complete boiler; and, if the chambers
are formed in two pieces, a stop piece may be placed in the lower or sediment
enlargement of the chambers, so as to cut off the communication with the other
half, excepting at the upper part. In this case the feed will be first thrown into
the back half of the chambers, and the front supplied therefrom by the water

page_text: flowing over from one chamber to the other, it having free communication
through the steam and water chamber at the upper part. The upper enlarge-
ment of each chamber may be extended over the fire-place either in a direct
horizontal line, or curved as shewn at h, h, in Fig. 6, and the bottom may be
continued in like manner beneath the fire bars. Each of the chambers is fur-
nished with a pipe P, Fig. 6, for conveying the steam to a reservoir or steam
chamber B, from whence the engine is supplied. The supply of water may be
conveyed by one pipe common to all the chambers, with connecting pipes
branching therefrom to each chamber; but I do not confine myself to any
particular form of the reservoir, or the mode of connecting the chambers to
each other, nor to the mode of connecting the feed pipe thereto. And I will
only further remark, that the position of the boiler should be such as to permit
any one chamber being taken out in case of defect, by merely disconnecting its
feed and steam pipes, and replacing it by another chamber without disturbing
the remaining ones. The whole series or rows of chambers may be kept
together by long bolts extending from side to side of the boiler on the out-
side, their ends passing through lugs attached to the two outside chambers,
and the whole firmly secured by nuts or other means.
upper
Another variation in the construction of this kind of boiler is shewn in the
cross sectional view, Fig. 7, in which nearly the same effects are obtained
as in the former, this being another mode of constructing and adapting narrow
flues to the top and bottom enlargements or chambers. The chambers of the
boiler may be formed with parallel sides, and made of any required length,
height, and thickness, and open at their top and bottom parts to the and
lower chambers e and f, which, in this instance, are connected to all the middle
chambers i, i. The upper and lower edges of the side plates of the middle
chambers are connected together by angle iron or in any other convenient
manner, so that when they are united together the angle pieces of the opposing
sides of two chambers are made to lap over at top and bottom, and, when
rivetted together, will form the tops and bottoms of the flues a, a, a; but if the
flues are required of greater width than angle iron will afford, a plate of the
necessary width may be employed to connect the angle pieces by rivetting
A body of
them thereto, or any other suitable means may be adopted.
chambers thus connected are formed into a complete boiler, with the exception
of the furnace, by rivetting or bolting semi-cylindrical or other shaped top and
bottom chambers, as shewn in Fig. 7, to form steam and sediment chambers.
The furnace may be formed in like manner to that described in Fig. 6, by
extending the steam chamber over the fire bars, and continuing the outside
chambers towards the front. A sufficient number of chambers may be com-

page_text: bined, as herein-before described, for a complete boiler; or the same may be
formed by ranging several such combinations side by side, as is also the case
with the simple chambers, Fig. 5, the water being supplied and the steam
conveyed to a reservoir in any convenint manner.
My third improvement, viz, in shaping or forming plates of metal for
making steam boilers or generators or receivers, is shewn in the plan and
sectional Figures 10 and 11. Fig. 10 represents portions of a flat plate of
iron or copper, having ribs or projections a, a, a, rolled or formed thereon
out of one and the same metal, at such distance apart, and of such width and
thickness as the pressure which the plate is intended to sustain may require;
the object of these ribs is to afford a greater substance for retaining the rivets
more securely than common plate metal when parallel surfaces are rivetted
together, as shewn in Figures 8 and 9, or by short rivets in contact with the
ribs; and further, for uniting parallel surfaces by welding, whether the spaces
between the ribs are flat or curved, which is effected by bringing the ribs of two
plates into contact and there retaining them while they acquire a welding heat
in a suitable furnace, when they are to be subjected to the pressure of a pair of
rollers or other suitable means adapted to the mould of the surfaces, and the
process of welding will be completed. Fig. 11 shews a portion of a curved,
grooved, or corrugated metal plate, with the extra thicknesses a, a, formed
thereon, Fig. 8 being a portion of a chamber formed with the same.
I claim as my Invention, under these several improvements in the construc-
tion of steam boilers,―
First, the arrangement and construction of circulating chambers first above
described, with spaces or passages either at right angles, diagonal, or inclined
to the ascending and descending passages, as herein-before described and illus-
trated, and which I denominate circulating chambers.
Secondly, the arrangement and construction of the separate chambers fur-
nished with enlarged parts or chambers for forming the tops and bottoms of
the flues, and also forming chambers for deposit, not subject to the action of
the fire (as described and illustrated by Figures 5 and 6); also the combination
of chambers and flues in the manner described and illustrated in Fig. 7.
And, lastly, the improvements in forming and constructing chambers for
steam boilers, or for containing steam or water, with plates of metal having
ribs or extra thicknesses formed at the parts pierced for the rivets, as described
and illustrated by Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11.
My first improvement under the head of steam engines applies to that
description of engines in which the steam is worked expansively, or on the
principle of Messrs. Woolf and Edwards' double-cylindered expansive engine,

page_text: and by means of my improvements the complication of valves and pipes are
avoided, and much economy attained in the space occupied by the engine
cylinders, and consists in placing one cylinder within another, with their steam
passages so arranged that one slide valve only is necessary to conduct the
steam into the first cylinder above and below the piston thereof, and from
thence to the bottom or the top of the piston in the larger or external cylinder,
and from this latter cylinder to the condenser, or to another cylinder if
desired. Fig. 12 is a horizontal section of the two cylinders, shewing their
positions with the slide valve for changing the induction and eduction pas-
sages. Fig. 13 is a vertical section taken through the cylinders in the
line a, b, in Fig. 12; and Fig. 14 is another similar section taken through
the cylinders in the line c, d. A is the first or internal cylinder; B, the
external one, with the outer casing or steam jacket C, C. The piston D of
the internal cylinder is of the common form, and attached to the cross head
by the piston rod in the usual manner; but the piston E of the external
cylinder B, must be of an annular form, as seen in section in Fig. 13; this
piston has an additional packing on the inside, working against the exterior
surface of the cylinder A. The annular piston has two or more piston
rods P, P, properly keyed to the same cross head to which the piston rod
of the internal cylinder is attached, by which means the power is concentrated,.
and is consequently more convenient in its application than the piston rods of
two separate cylinders can be made. The foundation plate or bottom F,
and likewise the covers G of the cylinders are common to both, and it is
desirable that the joints should be composed of well finished surfaces to
insure correct fitting. The jacket is intended to keep up the temperature of
the external cylinder, to compensate the expansion of the internal one. The.
vertical section, Fig. 14, shews the valve H, and the alternate induction and
eduction steam passages a, a, and b, b; these, together with the working of
the valve, will be readily understood by inspection of the Drawings. The
cylinder A is supplied with steam from the valve chest or steam box in the
usual manner. c is the steam pipe leading from the boiler. The valve H
has two passages, one, d, for transferring the steam from the cylinder A to
the larger cylinder B, and the other passage, e, for conducting the steam from
the cylinder B to the eduction' steam pipe L. The movements and operation.
of this valve will be readily understood by any practical engineer, and needs
no further description. Fig. 15 shews another arrangement of slide valve
for performing the same operation and effect, which will require no particular
observation, as the description of the foregoing valve applies to this, the only.
difference being, that the steam passages in the cylinder are shortened and

page_text: those of the valve elongated. I do not intend to confine myself to the placing
of only one cylinder concentric within the other, as described, as I propose to
use three cylinders placed concentrically in like manner, when it is desirable
to equalize the power more nearly from the commencement to the termination
of the stroke than can be effected by the cylinders, especially where no fly wheel
can conveniently be employed, in which case, a portion of the intended ex-
pansion of the steam takes place in the second cylinder, and its complete
expansion in the third; in this case there will of course be two annular
pistons and three sets of steam passages or ways, arranged and conducted from
the bottoms and tops of the three cylinders, in like manner to that shewn in the
Figures, through which arrangement of passages the steam may be worked
by one slide valve as before, which necessarily must have three conducting
passages arranged also in like manner to the passages in the valve before
described. Nor do I confine myself to the use of two piston rods for each of
the annular pistons, as four may be employed, cottered to the piston at the
four quarters, and keyed to a cross head furnished with arms, as shewn in
Fig. 16. If three cylinders are employed, the arms of the cross head will
of course lengthen sufficient to connect the piston rods of the second annular
piston thereto in like manner. I do not confine myself to any particular
mode of fixing the internal cylinder, nor to the bottom plate and top cover
being each made in one piece, but I claim the placing of one steam cylinder
within another, and also the conducting of the steam for the purposes of the
two cylinders, by means of one valve, as herein-before described.
My next improvements as applied to that description of rotatory steam
engines acting upon the principles of "Barker's Mill," or rather of the
antient engine of Hero, and known more recently as Avery's steam engine,
wherein motion is obtained by the reaction caused by steam flowing freely
from apertures in the periphery of a drum or wheel, (or from the extre-
mities of tubular arms placed at a right angle, or nearly so, to the radius
of the revolving body, and shewn in Figs. 17 to 24 inclusive. Fig. 17
is a transverse vertical section taken through the engine at the dotted line e, f,
Fig. 18, which is a longitudinal vertical section of the same. A, B, are the
two wheels composing the engine, mounted on separate shafts. The hollow
shaft g of the engine is mounted, turning in proper bearings in the framework;
upon this shaft the wheel B is fixed. The end of the hollow shaft is
connected to the steam supply pipe by any of the usual means of coupling ;
the shaft conveys steam to the centre of the wheel B, whence it is distributed
to the annular or ring-shaped channel h, h, at the circumference, by means
of the passages i, i, Fig. 17, and from thence it flows freely through the

page_text: apertures k, k, in the periphery, and meeting the partitions or vanes I, 1, in
the other wheel A, consequently will drive that wheel the reverse way to that
in which the wheel B is travelling. 1, r, is an outer casing, furnished with
a pipe s, to conduct off the escaping steam. As various forms of revolving
arms, drums, and wheels have been used or projected by others, I do not
consider the steam wheel B, as above described, as forming any part of my
Invention, nor do I confine myself to the use of any particular form or con-
struction of such wheel, but I consider my Invention to be the application
and adaptation of the concentric wheel A, the ring of which, moving in the
same plane as the steam wheel, is furnished with the vanes or partitions fitted
into the recess formed in the wheel, the position of the vanes being clearly
shewn in Fig. 17. The operation and effect of this engine is as follows:-
Steam flowing freely from the apertures k, imparts only a portion of its
velocity to the revolving body from whence it issues, consequently the amount
of velocity not imparted may be employed with the same effect as steam
issuing from a fixed orifice with a like velocity; this velocity I therefore
apply to impel the concentric vane wheel A, by delivering the escaping steam
thereon, which wheel moves of course in an opposite direction to that of the
apertures; these motions I combine in the main driving shaft F, by any well-
known mechanical means, as exhibited in Fig. 18, to which in this instance
the power is conveyed by the agency of straps and drums. Fig. 19 is another
modification of this improved construction of rotatory engine, wherein the
concentric vane wheel is mounted, turning freely on the axle or shaft of the
steam wheel, and the motions of the two wheels A and B are combined by
means of the three bevil wheels m, n, o; the wheel m being fixed on the
boss of the vane wheel, the intermediate wheel n revolves on a pin as its
axle, supported by means of a bracket attached to the framework; the other
bevil wheel o, is fixed to the steam wheel shaft, thus combining and concen
trating the power of the two wheels A and B in the driving shaft F, from
whence it may be taken by a band and rigger, or any other convenient means.
Fig. 20 is a section of an application of this modification placed in a hori-
zontal position, wherein the hollow shaft g of the steam wheel B passes
through another hollow shaft, on which the vane wheel A is mounted. The
motions of these shafts are combined, and their power concentrated in the
driving shaft F, through the medium of three bevel wheels, in the manner
before described. This engine is also applicable to water power; the water
issuing from apertures of proper dimensions (as in the machine known as
"Barker's Mill") impinges on the vanes of the concentric wheel, which it

page_text: impels in like manner to that before described of the issuing steam. Fi-
gures 21, 22, and 28, exhibit different forms of vanes, and their position in
the ring of the wheel A, which will be understood by inspection of the
Drawings. It is desirable that the edges of the vanes should be presented
to the issuing fluid, as shewn in Fig. 17. The form of the recess in which
the vanes are placed may be either that of a square, as shewn in Fig. 18,
angular, as in Figures 19 and 20, or of a curved figure.
My next improvement in rotatory engines is, a combination of the foregoing
improved engines for working steam expansively, on the principle of operation
of the said engines. Fig. 24 is a longitudinal section of an arrangement of
engine formed and adapted to this purpose. I, I, is a tight casing, divided
by partitions p, p, into the several chambers marked Nos. 1, 2, 3. A steam
wheel B, such as I have before described, or of any other suitable form, is
mounted in each chamber on the main shaft F; each wheel has a hollow
collar q, working in conical fittings in the respective partitions. These hollow
collars conduct the steam from the chambers to the interior of the wheels.
The steam being admitted by the pipe K, flows into the centre of the wheel
in No. 1, and escapes into its chamber by the apertures in the periphery, in
the manner of the engines before described. No. 1 chamber thus becomes a
reservoir for the supply of steam to the wheel in No. 2, and chamber 2 a
reservoir to the wheel in No. 3, and so on, continued throughout any number
of chambers of which the machine may be composed, which number is limited
only by the pressure of the steam in the boiler, and the relative difference of
pressure maintained between the steam in the several chambers, as will be
hereafter explained. No advantage would result from combining a series of
chambers and wheels in this manner, were the apertures of all the wheels alike
equal in amount of area, but the advantage gained by such combination arises
from so adjusting the area of the apertures in each wheel successively as will
maintain any relative difference of pressure between the steam in the reservoirs
or chambers as may be determined upon, and combining so many wheels and
reservoirs as will exhaust the expansive power of the steam previous to its
discharge into the atmosphere or to a condensor. Thus, suppose it be
determined to supply steam by the pipe K of eighty pounds pressure per
inch, and that the relative difference between the reservoirs shall be ten
pounds, as seventy pounds in No. 1, sixty pounds in No. 2, and so on pro-
gressively throughout a series, which I will assume in this case to be eight
in number, it is manifest that, with every reduction of pressure, a corre-
sponding increase will take place in volume by expansion, and that for passing

page_text: this increased volume from one chamber to another, and preserving at the
same time the relative difference of pressure as above noted, depends entirely
upon a proper adjustment of the apertures or ways; this being accomplished,
an uniformity of velocity will be maintained throughout the series. If then
it be assumed that steam expands in the same ratio as atmospheric air, and,
consequently, that the elastic force of the steam in the last reservoir of the
series is reduced by expansion to ten pounds per inch, it has arrived at an
increase of volume equal to eight times its original bulk; hence it follows,
that the apertures of the last wheel, in order to allow the amount of volume
to pass, must be eight times greater than the area of the apertures in the first
wheel, and consequently will have eight times the reacting power.. Now, as
expansion commenced in chamber No. 1, and progressed throughout the whole
series, the aggregate amount of power produced, calculated on the ratio of
atmospheric expansion, will be about two and two thirds of that which would
result from passing the steam through a single wheel.
Having thus described the object of the combination, and the effect in its
simplest form, I would remark, that I increase its power by mounting vane
wheels A, A, on the main shaft in each chamber or reservoir, with its gearing
as described in the modification, Fig. 19, but such addition is optional.
I claim under this head of my improvements, first, the application of the
concentric wheel fitted and applied with vanes or partitions as herein-before
described, both for water and steam power; also the mechanical means for
combining the motions of the wheels, and concentrating their power in the
driving shafts, as severally described.
And, secondly, the working of steam expansively in a series of these
rotatory engines, by so adjusting the apertures of the steam wheels in a com-
bination of engines and chambers or reservoirs, as illustrated by Fig. 24, in
order to maintain as nearly as possible any determined difference of pressure
between the reservoirs, and in such a number of wheels and chambers or
reservoirs as will nearly exhaust the whole power of the steam working the
engine.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gilman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
WILLIAM (L.S.) GILMAN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventeenth day of February,
in the first year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said William
Gilman came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Seventeenth day of February, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-eight.