JOHN FITCH

                Everyone knows Robert Fulton invented the steamboat, right?  Wrong.  The actual inventor was a sad sack named John Fitch.  In the 1780’s, Fitch began to dream of a vehicle propelled by a steam engine.  Land travel over the terrible roads of that time was unfeasible, but perhaps on water it would work.  In 1786, he and a clockmaker friend named Henry Voight built a skiff with three blades on each side.  The blades were connected by a chain that was attached to a cranking mechanism.  When this worked, they replaced the hand crank with a small steam engine.  Unfortunately, the boat just spun around when it made its maiden voyage before a mocking crowd.  In 1787, he built a bigger boat with six oars on each side.  He called it the Perserverance and showed it off for delegates to the Constitutional Convention.  It was impressive, but it was hard to steer and ended up stuck on a mudbank.  Financers were not interested.  He built a longer, slimmer boat with paddles in the rear which he sailed up the Delaware River at a clip of 4 MPH.  Feeling the adrenaline, Fitch fed in more and more wood, resulting in the boiler exploding.  Still, it was a success and he started a transit service in 1791 carrying passengers between Philadelphia and Trenton.  It ran three times a week.  It cost 5 shillings, but you got free beer and sausages.  The boat made 31 trips, but it proved to be unprofitable.  A trip to France to sell his invention was fruitless and he returned in debt and poor health.  In 1798, he deliberately overdosed on opium pills.  A sad end for an inventor who deserved better from history.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Fitch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fitch_(inventor)

https://biography.yourdictionary.com/john-fitch

–  Lawrence 57-58