Robert Fulton was not the inventor of the steamboat. He was, however,
the first man to apply the power of the steam engine to the propulsion
of boats in a practical and effective manner. Born of poor parents at
Little Britain, now Fulton, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1765,
he received only the scantiest education; but early showed promise
of becoming an excellent artist. At the age of seventeen he took up
painting seriously, and supported himself thus in Philadelphia until he
was twenty-one.
Then he bought a farm in Washington County; but soon after was
strongly advised to go to England for the purpose of studying art
under the American, Benjamin West. There he met Earl Stanhope, Duke of
Bridgewater, who interested him in engineering. In 1794 he took out an
English patent for superseding canal locks by inclined planes. He also
invented about this time a new method for sawing marble, a machine for
spinning flax, and another for making ropes.
Soon after this he went to Paris, and built a submarine, the
_Nautilus_. This boat was tried in Brest Harbor in 1801, before a
commission appointed by Napoleon Bonaparte, and Fulton succeeded in
blowing up a small vessel anchored there for that purpose. Two years
later, at Paris, he was also successful in propelling a boat by steam
power.
Fulton returned to America, and in partnership with Robert Livingston
constructed the first American steamboat, the _Clermont_. This was
launched in the spring of 1807, and its success caused a great
sensation. The principle of propelling boats by steam was now proved.
The _Clermont_ was soon established as a regular passenger boat between
New York and Albany.
Fulton built the _Demologos_, or _Fulton the First_, for the United
States government during the years 1814 and 1815. This was the first
steam battleship ever constructed.
In February, 1815, the inventor caught cold from exposure and rapidly
became worse. On February 24 he died, mourned by everyone who had known
the man and his achievements.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 29, SERIAL No. 29
[Illustration: ELIAS HOWE]
_GREAT AMERICAN INVENTORS_
_Elias Howe_