Ohio History Journal

JOHN FITCH, INVENTOR OF STEAMBOATS.

BY MIRA CLARKE PARSONS.

By a coincidence of which the writer was not then aware,

while the article* on the "Steamboat" was in type, the name of

Robert Fulton was brought to public notice, for the purpose of

bestowing further honors upon the memory of a great inventor.

The object of this paper is to offer additional proof of the

validity of the prior claim of John Fitch, as the inventor and

originator of steam navigation. While all due regard must be

paid to Robert Fulton, it is only the part of generosity and

justice to offer tribute to the master to whom he was indebted

for the first idea of the invention which was to be productive of

greater results than their wildest dreams had ever conceived.

The first patent right of employing steam as a means of

navigation was granted John Fitch by the State of New Jersey,

in 1786, as will be seen by the following communication, re-

ceived in reply to an inquiry regarding it. The State Library of

Ohio furnishes no copies of the laws of New Jersey previous

to 1800.                TRENTON, N. J., Aug. 29, 1900.

My Dear Madame-The act granting certain rights and

privileges to John Fitch was "Passed at Trenton, March 18,

1786. The title of the act is 'An act for granting and securing

to John Fitch the sole right and advantage of making and

employing the steamboat, by him lately invented, for a limited

time.' "

The act granted to Fitch "of Bucks county, in the State of

Pennsylvania, for and during the full end and term of fourteen

years, from and after the present sessions of the legislature,"

the sole right of making and using boats "which may be urged

or impelled through the water by the force of fire or steam, in

all creeks, rivers, bays and waters whatsoever within the territory

and jurisdiction of this State." The penalty for infringement was

£100 and forfeiture of "all such boat, boats or watercraft, together

with the steam engine, and all the appurtenances thereof."

Very truly yours,      HENRY C. BUCHANAN,

State Librarian.

*John Fitch, Inventor of Steamboats. Vol. VIII, page 397, Ohio

Archaeological and Historical Publications.

(238)

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John Fitch, Inventor of Steamboats.       239

New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia granted

him the same rights the next year.*

The following is a copy of the act passed by New York.

(In substance it may also be found in "Wheaton's Report,"

9, 5.)

It was repealed eleven years after, for reasons which will be

seen.

An act for granting and securing to John Fitch the sole right

and advantage of making and employing for a limited time,

the steamboat by him lately invented.

Passed the 19th of March, 1787.

WHEREAS, John Fitch, of Bucks county, in the State of

Pennsylvania, hath represented to the legislature of this state,

that he hath constructed an easy and expeditious method of

impelling boats through the water by the force of steam, pray-

ing that an act may pass, granting to him, his executors, admin-

istrators and assigns, the sole and exclusive right of making,

employing and navigating, all boats impelled by the force of

steam or fire, within the jurisdiction of this State, for a limited

time. Wherefore, in order to promote and encourage so useful

an improvement and discovery, and as a reward for his inge-

nuity, application and diligence,

Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, rep-

resented in Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by

the authority of the same, That the said John Fitch, his heirs,

executors, administrators and assigns shall be, and they are

hereby vested with the sole and exclusive right and privilege of

constructing, making, using, employing, and navigating, all

and every species or kind of boats or water craft, which may

be urged or impelled through the water by the force of fire or

steam, in all creeks, rivers, bays and waters whatsoever, within

the territory and jurisdiction of this State, for and during the

full end and term of fourteen years, from and after the present

session of the legislature.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That

if any person or persons whomsoever, without being properly

authorized, by him, the said John Fitch, his heirs, executors or

administrators, shall make, use, employ or navigate any boat or

water craft, which shall or may be urged, impelled, forced or

driven through the water, by the force, power or agency of fire

or steam as aforesaid, within the territory or jurisdiction of this

State, every person or persons so offending, against the tenor,

*Documentary History of New York, p 104.

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240      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

true intent and meaning of this act, for each and every such

offense, shall forfeit and pay unto the said John Fitch, his heirs,

executors or administrators, or to such other person or persons

as he, the said John Fitch,, his heirs or assigns, shall authorize

and empower for that purpose, the sum of one hundred pounds,

to be recovered by action of debt in any court of record, within

this state, wherein the same may be cognizable, with costs of

suit; and shall also forfeit to him the said John Fitch, his heirs

or assigns, all such boats or water craft, together with the steam

engine, and all the appurtenances thereof, to be recovered in

manner aforesaid, with costs of suit. Provided always,

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That

neither this act, nor any clause, manner or thing therein con-

tained, shall be taken, deemed or construed to prohibit or pre-

vent any person or persons from making, using, employing or

navigating, within this State, any kind of boats or water craft,

heretofore invented, or hereafter to be invented, on any other

principles, construction or model, which may be urged, im-

pelled, or driven along through the water, by any other power,

force, agency or means, except fire or steam.

(New York Laws, Vol. 2 (1785 to 1788 inclusive), pp.

472-473.)

An act repealing an act entitled "An act for granting and secur-

ing to John Fitch the sole right and advantage of making

and employing the steamboat by him lately invented," and

for other purposes.

Passed the 27th of March, 1798.

WHEREAS, It has been suggested to the people of this State

represented in Senate and Assembly that Robert K. Livingston is

possessor of a mode of applying the steam engine to propel a

boat on new and advantageous principles, but that he is deterred

from carrying the same into effect by the existence of a law

entitled "An act for granting and securing to John Fitch the

sole right and advantage of making and employing the steam-

boat by him lately invented," passed the nineteenth day of

March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, as well

as by the uncertainty and hazard of a very expensive experiment

unless he could be assured of the exclusive advantage of the same

if on trial it should be found to succeed. And whereas, it is

further suggested that the said John Fitch is either dead or

hath withdrawn himself from this State without having made

any attempt in the space of more than ten years for executing the

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John Fitch, Inventor of Steamboats.      241

plan for which he so obtained an exclusive privilege, whereby the

same is justly forfeited; therefore

Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York rep-

resented in Senate and Assembly, That the act aforesaid be and

is hereby repealed. And to the end that Robert R. Livingston

may be induced to proceed in an experiment which if successful

promises important advantages to this State,

Be it further enacted, That privileges similar to those

granted to the said John Fitch in and by the before mentioned

act be and they hereby are extended to the said Robert for the

term of twenty years from the passing of this act. Provided,

nevertheless, that the said Robert shall, within twelve months

from the passing of this act, give such proof as shall satisfy the

governor, the lieutenant governor, and the surveyor general of

this State, or a majority of them of his having built a boat of

at least twenty tons capacity, which is propelled by steam, and

the mean of whose progress through the water with and against

the ordinary current of Hudson's river taken together shall not

be less than four miles an hour and shall at no time omit for

the space of one year to have a boat of such construction plying

between the cities of New York and Albany.

(New York Laws, Vol. 4 (1797 to 1800, inclusive), pp.

215-216.)

Title of Delaware Act: "An act for granting and securing

to John Fitch the sole and exclusive right and advantage of

making, constructing and employing the steamboat by him

lately invented, for a limited time."

Passed Feb. 3, 1787.

(Delaware Statutes, Vol. 2, p. 895.)

Title of Pennsylvania Act: "An act for granting and secur-

ing to John Fitch the sole right and advantage of employing

the steamboat by him lately invented, for a limited time.

Passed March 28, 1787. Recorded in Law Book No. III,

p. 213." (Laws of Pennsylvania, Vol. 3, p. 201.)

Virginia, Title of Act: "An act granting to John Fitch the

exclusive privilege of constructing and navigating boats im-

pelled by fire or steam, for a limited time.

Passed 7th of November, 1787."

Laws of Virginia, Vol. 12, p. 616.)

Further evidence of the priority of Fitch's claim over any

others may be found in the "Documentary History of New

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242       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

York," (Vol II, beginning on page 1039) in a copy of his pamph-

let, "The Original Steamboat Supported."

This contains certificates from the governors of Maryland

and Virginia, bearing date the same year in which his plan was

conceived (1785) and testifying to the genuineness and expected

value of the invention.

The object of the pamphlet was to vindicate his claim over

Ramsey, a would-be inventor. This was long before the name

of Robert Fulton was associated with the idea of steamboat nav-

igation.

Opposite page 1039 in the "Documentary History" is a map

of Collect Pond, evidently a later and improved edition of the

one furnished by Mr. Whiting for the illustration in the April

magazine.*

It is headed: "Honor to whom honor is due," and goes on

to say:

"Origin of steam navigation. A view of Collect Pond and

its vicinity in the city of New York in 1793, on which pond the

first boat, propelled by steam, with paddle wheels or screw pro-

pellors, was constructed by John Fitch six years before Robert

Fulton made trial of his boat upon the river Seine in France,

and ten years prior to his puttting into operation his boat Cler-

mont in New York; with a representation of the boat and its

machinery, on the Collect pond. By John Hatchings."

The affidavits are the same as those on the other map. The

illustrations include a drawing of "John Fitch's first boat, the

'Perseverance,' as seen on the Delaware, Phila., 1787. Speed,

seven miles an hour," also one of the last model constructed at

Bardstown, Ky., in 1797-8.

The testimony furnished by these sources is reliable beyond

question, and seems amply sufficient to establish the claim of

John Fitch to his self-styled title of "Inventor of Steamboats."

* Mr. A. N. Whiting, not I. N., as was inadvertently represented there.

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