FULTON, ROBERT, an American in ventor, celebrated as being the introdu cer of steam navigation; born of Irish decent, in Little Britain, Lancaster co., Pa., in 1765. Early in life he mani fested a taste for painting, and repaired to England to study under Benjamin West. In that country, however, he be came acquainted with the Duke of Bridgewater, the founder of the canal system of Great Britain, who induced Fulton to abandon art and study mechani cal science. This nobleman was at the time engaged in a scheme of steam naviga tion, which he imparted to Fulton. The latter visiting Birmingham was brought into communication with James Watt, who had just succeeded in his great im provement of the steam engine, with the construction of which Fulton made him self thoroughly familiar. About this time he invented a machine for spinning flax, and another for making ropes, for which he obtained patents in England. In 1796 he published a treatise on the im provement of canal navigation. From 1797 to 1804 he resided in Paris with Mr. Joel Barlow, the American representa tive at the French court. During this period he invented a submarine or plung ing boat, called a "Torpedo," designed to be used in naval warfare. He invited the attention of the French Government to his invention, and Bonaparte, then First Consul, appointed a commission to examine it. Several experiments were made in 1801 in the harbor of Brest. He could easily descend to any depth, or rise to the surface; and where there was no strong current, the boat was quite obedi ent to her helm while under water. But the motion of the boat while submerged was very slow, and it was clearly unequal to the stemming of a strong current. The
French Government declined to patronize the project, and Fulton accepted an invi tation from the English ministry, who also appointed a commission to test the merits of his torpedo. He appears, how ever, to have received but little en couragement, and in 1806 he returned to the United States. Having been supplied with the necessary funds by Robert Liv ingston, who had been American ambas sador at Paris, Fulton had the satisfac tion of proving, in 1807, that steam could be applied to the propulsion of vessels with entire success. His first steamboat, called "The Clermont" (of 140 feet keel and feet beam), made a progress on the Hudson of 5 miles an hour. His sec ond large boat on the Hudson was the "Car of Neptune," and was built in 1807. He afterward built other steam vessels, one of them a frigate which bore his name. His reputation became estab lished, and his fortune was rapidly in creasing, when his patent for steam ves sels was disputed, and his opponents were in a considerable degree successful. The lawsuits about his patent rights, together with his enthusiasm, which led him to expose himself too much while directing his workmen, impaired his constitution, and he died in New York City, Feb. 24, 1815. In 1909 the centenary of the "Cle mont" was celebrated in conjunction with the tercentenary of the discovery of the Hudson by Hendrik Hudson.