Congratulations FTF njdc24
This geocache marks the spot where the worlds first
commercial steamship service completed its run from Philadelphia to
Trenton, 17 years before
Fulton's Clermont made its maiden voyage on the
Hudson. Sadly the dock and fishing pier that is part of the
Mercer County RiverWalk sank into the river in the late 90's
and the area was fenced off. You can still view the
historical marker and if you climb the small hill next to the
parking lot you can see what is left of the
dock.
In September Fitch rigged up another model,
fitted with long paddles on either side, moving on two endless
chains running from stem to stern. Several weeks later he
petitioned the Virginia Legislature for assistance, and then the
Pennsylvania and Maryland Legislatures. None gave him aid. Perhaps
the most bitter disappointment experienced by Fitch at this time
came at the hands of Benjamin Franklin, the dean of American
science, or natural philosophy, as it was then called. Most of the
evidence comes from Fitch. He writes that he approached Benjamin
Franklin for a certificate testifying to the merits of his
invention, and though Franklin praised his endeavor, he evaded
giving him a certificate. Instead, he made Fitch an offer of
charity, which Fitch refused. In this connection, it is interesting
to note a letter written by Franklin from Philadelphia in 1788:
We have no philosophical news here at
present, except that a boat, moved by a steam-engine, rows itself
against tide in our river, and it is apprehended that the
construction may be so simplified and improved as to be generally
useful.
Franklin, it would
seem then, was impressed with the possibility of Fitch’s
invention, but not with the crude plan which he presented to him.
There were refinements to be made, plans to be modified, before he
could testify to the practical and efficient qualities of the
boat.
It was shortly after
this meeting with Franklin that the New Jersey Legislature granted
Fitch the exclusive franchise for 14 years
. . . of constructing, making, using and
employing, or navigating, all and every species or kind of boats,
or water craft, which might be urged or impelled by force of fire
or steam, in all the creeks, rivers, etc., within the territory of
this State.
Stacy Potts, Isaac
Smith, Robert Pearson, Jr., Samuel Tucker, Abraham Hunt, Rensselaer
Williams, John and Charles Clunn, and others of Trenton, lent their
names to the petition for the franchise.
With this encouragement, Fitch went about
the organizing of a company. Stacy Potts was among those who
subscribed to the initial fund of $300. The builder of the boat,
Henry Voight, of Philadelphia, received stock of the company for
his work. The boat was a small one, with an engine possessing a
single cylinder of 3-inch bore. The first trials on the Delaware,
held July 20, 1786, were unsuccessful. Fitch had experimented with
several methods of propelling the boat; the plan that succeeded was
that in which the side paddles were moved by cranks worked by an
engine. The first boat in America to be propelled successfully by
steam moved on the Delaware on July 27, 1786. It was an
enthusiastic Fitch who wrote to Stacy Potts from Philadelphia the
next day. “We have tried every part, and reduced it to as
certain a thing as can be, that we shall not come short of ten
miles per hour, if not twelve or fourteen. I will say fourteen in
theory and twelve in practice.” Fitch’s fond belief
never materialized, even in the most efficient of his models. His
first successful boat made several trips on the river near
Philadelphia in the autumn of 1786.
In need of further
funds, Fitch applied to the Pennsylvania Legislature the same year,
but he was unsuccessful. Delaware, however, confirmed his right to
his invention. In February 1787, Fitch’s shareholders agreed
to advance additional capital for the building of a 45-foot vessel;
equipped with an engine containing a single 12-inch cylinder.
Lacking skilled workmen, Fitch had to depend upon fumbling
blacksmiths in the manufacture of this new engine. Their faulty
work was the cause of many accidents and delays. Finally the boat
moved on the river in full view of practically the entire
Continental Convention (August 22, 1787). Fitch thought it an
appropriate time for once again petitioning the Continental
Congress for aid; this time the bill was reported out of committee,
but died on the floor of the House.
The new boat
traversed the Philadelphia-Burlington route for the first time in
July 1788. At the end of the run, the boiler burst and the ship had
to be floated back to Philadelphia. A new boiler was installed and
on October 16 Fitch ran his steamboat, on which were a company of
prominent guests, up the Delaware to Burlington, and then on to
Trenton, returning to Philadelphia the same day.
In order to cut down
the time on the Philadelphia-Trenton run to five hours, an
auxiliary company was formed to finance the building of a new
18-inch cylinder engine. During 1789 the boat made several trips to
Burlington and Trenton, but regular service could not be maintained
because of the unreliable machinery. This steamboat was the last of
Fitch’s boats and the most successful one. It made its last
trips on the Delaware in 1790. An advertisement which appeared on
June 14 of that year informed the public that:
This craft was the
first steam vessel anywhere to be employed in the business of
transporting passengers and freight. The boat made more or less
regular trips up and down the river during the summer and fall of
1790. Those who travelled on it placed its speed at eight miles an
hour. 9
9
Watson’s Annals, Vol. II, p. 446.
Congress granted Fitch letters patent on his
invention in April 1791. When Fitch visited France, Louis XVI
granted him a patent, but the French Revolution put an end to
whatever use Fitch might have intended to make of this right.
Fitch’s plans, left behind in France, are commonly supposed
to have furnished Fulton with ideas for his successful
Clermont.
Tired and embittered,
Fitch withdrew from a world that had shown him little kindness. He
settled on his tract at Bardstown, Ky. There he died on July 2,
1798, the circumstances of his death pointing to suicide. His grave
was soon forgotten, but in recent years the John Fitch Chapter of
the Daughters of the American Revolution found it again and removed
Fitch’s ashes to a new grave in front of the Bardstown Court
House. The grave is marked with a monument. Fitch’s genius is
also commemorated by a bronze tablet in the Hartford, Conn.,
capitol building. John Fitch Way and the John Fitch memorial
boulder and tablet are Trenton’s tribute to the inventor.
John Fitch Way runs from the municipal wharf along the river front
as far as Assunpink Creek. It was formerly Commercial Avenue, but
the name was changed by an ordinance passed early in 1921. The
Fitch boulder was dredged from the river and set up at the lower
end of John Fitch Way, near the municipal wharf. After an
appropriate bronze tablet had been attached, it was dedicated on
November 30, 1921.
