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Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 - February 24, 1815) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 engineer
Engineer

An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of engineering. Engineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints....
 and inventor
Inventor

An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device or other useful means. The word inventor comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find....
 who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat
Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam engine, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels....
. He also designed a new type of steam warship
Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way than cargo ship....
. In 1800 he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design Nautilus
Nautilus (1800 submarine)

Nautilus is often considered the first practical submarine, though preceded by Cornelius Drebbel's of 1620. The Nautilus was designed between 1793 and 1797.by the United States inventor Robert Fulton, then living in the French First Republic....
, which was the first practical submarine
Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
 in history.

rt Fulton was born in 1765 in that part of Little Britain Township, Pennsylvania
Little Britain Township, Pennsylvania

Little Britain Township is a township in southeastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,514 at the 2000 census....
  which was in 1844 separated as Fulton Township
Fulton Township, Pennsylvania

Fulton Township is a township in southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States, and it is the only municipality in the county to touch the Maryland border....
.






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Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 - February 24, 1815) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 engineer
Engineer

An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of engineering. Engineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints....
 and inventor
Inventor

An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device or other useful means. The word inventor comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find....
 who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat
Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam engine, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels....
. He also designed a new type of steam warship
Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way than cargo ship....
. In 1800 he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design Nautilus
Nautilus (1800 submarine)

Nautilus is often considered the first practical submarine, though preceded by Cornelius Drebbel's of 1620. The Nautilus was designed between 1793 and 1797.by the United States inventor Robert Fulton, then living in the French First Republic....
, which was the first practical submarine
Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
 in history.

Early life

Robert Fulton was born in 1765 in that part of Little Britain Township, Pennsylvania
Little Britain Township, Pennsylvania

Little Britain Township is a township in southeastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,514 at the 2000 census....
  which was in 1844 separated as Fulton Township
Fulton Township, Pennsylvania

Fulton Township is a township in southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States, and it is the only municipality in the county to touch the Maryland border....
. He had become interested in steamboats in 1777 when (at the age of 12) he visited William Henry
William Henry (delegate)

William Henry was an United States gunsmith from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1784, 1785, and 1786....
 of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Lancaster is a city in the South Central Pennsylvania part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania....
. Henry had found out about Watt's steam engine
Watt steam engine

The Watt steam engine was the first type of steam engine to make use of steam at a pressure just above atmospheric pressure to drive the piston helped by a partial vacuum....
 on a visit to England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. He had then made his own engine and in 1767 - two years after Fulton was born - tried putting his engine in a boat, which sank.

Fultonseine
Fulton grew up in a 2-story, small, solid gray stone house. He went to Paris in 1786 to study painting. There he met James Rumsey
James Rumsey

James Rumsey 1743-1792) was an United States mechanical engineer chiefly known for exhibiting a boat propelled by machinery in 1787 on the Potomac River at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, now West Virginia, before a crowd of local notables, including Horatio Gates....
 who sat for a portrait in the studio of Benjamin West
Benjamin West

Benjamin West Royal Academy was an England-United States Painting of historical scenes around and after the time of the American Revolution. He was the second president of the Royal Academy serving from 1792 to 1805 and 1806 to 1820....
 where Fulton was apprenticing. Rumsey was an inventor from Virginia who ran his first steam boat in Shepherdstown
Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, West Virginia, USA. Shepherdstown claims to be the oldest town in the state. In 1734, Thomas Shepherd was granted , on the south side of the "Potomack" river....
, (now West Virginia), in 1786 and repeated his attempt on December 3, 1787. As early as 1793 Fulton proposed plans for steam vessels to both the United States and the British Governments, and in England he met the Duke of Bridgewater
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater

Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater , known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman, the younger son of the 1st Duke....
, whose canal would shortly be used for trials of a steam tug, and who later ordered steam tugs from William Symington
William Symington

William Symington was a Scotland engineer and inventor, and the builder of the first practical steamboat.Symington was born in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire, Scotland to a family he described as being "respectable but not wealthy." His father worked as a practical mechanic at the Leadhills mines....
. Symington had successfully tried steamboat
Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam engine, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels....
s in 1788, and it seems probable that Fulton could have been aware of these developments.

In 1797, he went to France (where Claude de Jouffroy had made a working paddle steamer
Paddle steamer

A paddle steamer is a ship or boat driven by a steam engine that uses one or more paddle wheels to develop thrust for Ship propulsion. It is also a type of steamboat....
 in 1783) and commenced experimenting with submarine torpedoes and torpedo boats. Fulton is the inventor of the first panorama
Panorama

In its most general sense, a panorama is any wide view of a physical space. It has also come to refer to a wide-angle representation of such a view ? whether in painting, drawing, photography, film/video, or a three-dimensional model....
 to be shown in Paris, which was complete by 1800 (located in a street that bears to this day the name Rue des Panorames).

In that year he met Chancellor Robert R. Livingston
Robert Livingston (1746-1813)

Robert R Livingston , was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from New York....
 who was appointed U.S. Ambassador to France in 1801, and they decided to build a steamboat to try out on the Seine. Fulton experimented with the water resistance of hull shapes, made drawings and models and had a steamboat
Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam engine, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels....
 constructed. At the first trial it was perfect, but the hull was rebuilt and strengthened, and on August 9, 1803, this boat steamed up the River Seine. The boat was long, beam and made between 3 to 4 mph (5 to 6 km/h) against the current.

In 1806, he married Chancellor Livingston's niece Harriet (daughter of Walter Livingston
Walter Livingston

Walter Livingston was an United States merchant, lawyer and politician....
), and they had four children: Robert, Julia, Mary and Cornelia.

In 1807, Fulton and Livingston built the first commercial steamboat, the North River Steamboat (later known as the Clermont), which carried passengers between New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 and Albany, New York
Albany, New York

Albany is the Capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County, New York. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York City, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk River and Hudson Rivers....
.

From 1811 until his death, he was a member of the Erie Canal Commission
Erie Canal Commission

The New York State Legislature appointed in 1810 a Commission to Explore a Route for a Canal to Lake Erie, and Report which became known as the Erie Canal Commission....
.

Fulton is buried at the Trinity Church Cemetery
Trinity Church Cemetery

Trinity Church Cemetery consists of three separate burial grounds associated with Trinity Church, New York in Manhattan, New York, USA. The first was established in the Churchyard located at 74 Trinity Place at Wall Street and Broadway ....
 in New York City alongside other famous Americans such as Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Fathers of the United States, economist, and political philosopher. He led calls for the Philadelphia Convention, was one of America's first Constitutional lawyers, and cowrote the Federalist Papers, a primary source for Constitutional interpretation....
.

Memorialization

Fultonnautilus
Fultonnshc
In 1816, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
 donated a marble statue of Fulton to the National Statuary Hall Collection
National Statuary Hall Collection

The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol comprises statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history....
 in the US Capitol Building.

Fulton was honored for his development of steamship technology in New York City's Hudson-Fulton Celebration
Hudson-Fulton Celebration

From September 25 to October 11, 1909, New York City held an elaborate celebration commemorating the tercentennial anniversary of Henry Hudson?s discovery of the Hudson River, and the centennial anniversary of Robert Fulton?s first successful commercial application of the steamboat....
 of 1909. A replica of his first steam-powered steam vessel, the Clermont
North River Steamboat

The first commercially successful steamship of the paddle steamer design, North River Steamboat , operated on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany, New York....
, was built for the Celebration.

A wide number of places are named for Robert Fulton, including (but not limited to):
  • Fulton Opera House
    Fulton Opera House

    The Fulton Opera House, also known as the Fulton Theatre or simply The Fulton, is a League of Regional Theatres class C regional theater located in historic downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania....
    , Lancaster, PA
  • Clermont Elementary School, Fulton Township, Lancaster County, PA
  • Fulton Elementary School, Fulton Township, Lancaster County, PA
  • Robert Fulton Fire Company, Fulton Township, Lancaster County PA
  • Fulton Township
    Fulton Township, Pennsylvania

    Fulton Township is a township in southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States, and it is the only municipality in the county to touch the Maryland border....
    , Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
    Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

    Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, known as the Garden Spot of America since the 18th century, is located in the southeastern part of the US state of Pennsylvania, in the United States....
  • Robert Fulton Highway, Lancaster County PA
  • Robert Fulton Drive in Columbia, Maryland
    Columbia, Maryland

    Columbia is a new town that consists of ten self-contained villages, located in Howard County, Maryland, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore and, to a lesser degree, Washington, DC....
  • Fulton Street
    Fulton Street (Brooklyn)

    Fulton Street, street name after engineer Robert Fulton, exists mainly in two parts in what are today two borough s of New York City which Fulton linked by his steam ferries, and each segment has its own distinct identity....
     in Brooklyn
    Brooklyn

    Brooklyn is one of the five Borough of New York City, located at the western end of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area....
  • Fulton Street
    Fulton Street (Manhattan)

    File:Schermerhorne Row Santas jeh.JPGFulton Street is a busy street located in Lower Manhattan. It is in New York City's Financial District, Manhattan, a few blocks north of Wall Street....
     in Manhattan
    Manhattan

    Manhattan is one of the five borough of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.With a United States Census of 1,620,867 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles , Manhattan, coextensive with New York County, is the most population density county in the United States, w...
  • Fulton Street in Massapequa Park, New York City
  • Fulton Street in New Orleans
  • Fulton Street
    Alcoa, Tennessee

    Alcoa is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, Tennessee, United States, south of Knoxville, Tennessee. Its population was 7,744 at the United States Census, 2000....
     in Alcoa, Tennessee
    Alcoa, Tennessee

    Alcoa is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, Tennessee, United States, south of Knoxville, Tennessee. Its population was 7,744 at the United States Census, 2000....
  • Fulton Street in San Francisco
  • Fulton County, Georgia
    Fulton County, Georgia

    Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia . Its county seat is Atlanta, Georgia, the state capital and principal city of the Atlanta metropolitan area....
  • Fulton County, Indiana
    Fulton County, Indiana

    Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 20,511. The county seat is Rochester, Indiana....
  • Fulton County, Kentucky
    Fulton County, Kentucky

    Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1845. As of 2000, the population was 7,752. Its county seat is Hickman, Kentucky....
  • Fulton County, Illinois
    Fulton County, Illinois

    Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of 2000, the population was 38,250. Its county seat is Lewistown, Illinois, Illinois....
  • Fulton County, Pennsylvania
    Fulton County, Pennsylvania

    Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2000, the population was 14,261.Fulton County was created on April 19, 1851 from part of Bedford County, Pennsylvania and named for inventor Robert Fulton....
  • Fulton County, New York
    Fulton County, New York

    Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the United States Census 2000, the population was 55,073. Its name is in honor of Robert Fulton, inventor of the first commercially-practical steamboat....
  • Fulton, Mississippi
    Fulton, Mississippi

    Fulton is a city in Itawamba County, Mississippi, Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,882 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Itawamba County, Mississippi....
  • Fulton, Missouri
    Fulton, Missouri

    Fulton is a city in Callaway County, Missouri, Missouri, the United States of America. It is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Area....
  • Fulton, Oswego County, New York
    Fulton, Oswego County, New York

    'Fulton' is a city in Oswego County, New York, New York, United States. The population was 11,855 at the 2000 census. The city is named after Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat....
  • Fulton, Schoharie County, New York
    Fulton, Schoharie County, New York

    Fulton is a town in Schoharie County, New York, New York, United States. The population was 1,495 at the 2000 census. Within the town of Fulton are the hamlets of Breakabeen and Fultonham....
  • Fultonham, Ohio
    Fultonham, Ohio

    Fultonham is a village #Ohio in Muskingum County, Ohio, Ohio, United States. The population was 151 at the United States Census 2000. It was named for inventor Robert Fulton....
  • Fultonville, New York
    Fultonville, New York

    Fultonville is a village in Montgomery County, New York, New York, United States. The population was 710 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat....
  • Robert Andoga Drive, Reston, Virginia
  • Fulton, Maryland


Further reading

  • , 1796. From the University of Georgia Libraries in DjVu
    DjVu

    DjVu is a computer file format designed primarily to store , especially those containing combination of text, line drawings and photographs. It uses technologies such as image layer separation of text and background/images, progressive loading, arithmetic coding, and lossy compression for bitonal images....
     & formats.
  • 1796. From Rare Book Room
    Rare Book Room

    Rare Book Room is an educational website for the repository of digitally scanned rare books made freely available to the public.Starting around 1996 the California based company Octavo began scanning rare and important books from libraries around the world....
    .
  • in Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made (1871), by James D. McCabe, Jr., Illustrated by G. F.
    George Frederick Bensell

    George Frederick Bensell , was an United States artist and illustrator, usually known as George Bensell, G. F. Bensell or George F. Bensell. He is best known for his paintings and role in forming the Philadelphia Sketch Club....
     and E. B. Bensell
    Edmund Birckhead Bensell

    Edmund Birckhead Bensell , was an United States artist and illustrator, usually known as E. B. Bensell. While an accomplished painter, he is best known for his ink drawings, particularly his illustrations for Charles F....
    , a Project Gutenberg
    Project Gutenberg

    Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works, as founder Michael Hart said "To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."....
     eBook.