1787 - Steamboat Perseverance
- Luc CHAMBON
- Jul 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 22
John Fitch, 43, originally a clockmaker then a gunsmith, successfully trials his steamboat Perseverance on the Delaware river.
Two years ago, Fitch achieved to convince the state legislative bodies of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia to award him a conditional 14-year monopoly for steam navigation on their waterways. He just missed Maryland and the district of Columbia to get a complete area of business in the core of the young United States of America. It was enough to raise funds, a first feat for a project at the forefront of technique, and to start with designing and building his boat, another feat. Admittedly immensity of the United States of America has argued for waterway public transportation.
At that time Fitch produced a model of steamboat propelled by a single row of paddles on a single side that he presented to the American Society in Philadelphia. This is the model we can see on this page, which was presented to public through a picture in the Columbian Magazine last year.
The final prototype, Perseverance, has got twelve paddles, six on each side, put in motion by a steam engine of the Newcomen atmospheric type of twelve-inch diameter and three-foot stroke. Nominal power is unknown but we may guess that the engine delivers one horsepower, or a little bit more. It seems that Fitch has built it on his own with the help of another clockmaker, Henry Voigt, 49. Existence of the Watt's engine fitted with a separate condenser, four times more efficient for a given weight, is known in America but Britain forbids its exportation. We may nevertheless wonder if Voigt would not have tried something of the same sort when we read this from his pen :
N is a forcing Pump to inject a Supply of warm Water from the Condensers, which are also spiral Pipes, and immerged in cold Water and have been very successfully used in Mr. Fitch’s Steam Boat. O is the outside Case—Fire Place and Chimney Pipe—of Bricks or Sheet Iron. P is thd Ash hole. Q is the Iron Legs (if the Case is made of Iron) Fig 3  Is a Boiler of another ...
Henry Voigt, fragment of a bill of material
Most eminent figures of the Federal Convention, which holds its sessions at Philadelphia, as its President, George Washington, 55, and Benjamin Franklin, 81, are reported to be aboard the small steamboat during the decisive trial performed on August 22. Was it true ? They may have observed it from the river bank for there was little room aboard. We may acknowledge the effective presence aboard of eminent Astronomer Rittenhouse. Perseverance steamed four hours upstream against the tide for a full mile course. She may have steamed at two or three miles per hour on water surface. The delegates of the Federal Convention have delivered certificates to Fitch, who hopes to establish a business as soon as possible.
These may Certify that the Subscriber has frequently seen Mr. Fitch’s Steam Boat which with great labour and Perseverance he has at length compleated and has likewise been on board when the Boat was worked against both Wind and tide with a very considerable degree of velocity by the force of Steam only. Mr. Fitch’s merit in constructing a good Steam Engine and applying it to so useful a purpose will no doubt meet with the encouragement he so justly deserves from the generosity of his Countrymen, especially those who wish to promote every improvement of the useful Arts in America. ...
Astronomer David Rittenhouse, 55, certificate dated December 1787
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LINKS WITH PREVIOUS CHRONICLES
1776 - Steamboat Le Palmipède
1783 - Steamboat Le Pyroscaphe
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IN RETROSPECT FROM TODAY
NOTE A - On the aftermath.
Fitch is awarded his 14-year monopoly. He works with Voigt for three years on the steamboat which will open the business line. They change the pattern once more : they finally drop the side paddles to put them at the stern. It is said that Voigt would have preferred a jet pump for the propeller but Fitch seems to have been stuck to the oars, much more cumbersome though.
The new 60-foot-long steamboat can carry 30 passengers. She steams at six miles per hour on average between Philadelphia and Burlington, distant of each other by twenty miles along Delaware river. She does it all Summer 1790 long without any trouble. We cannot say if the business would be profitable over time but it is still absorbing funds.
Fitch is delivered a patent in 1791 at the same time as three competitors, James Rumsey, 48, Nathan Read, 32, and John Stevens III, 42. The shareholders of Fitch's company leave the company at the same time. Is there any causal connection ? Fitch gets stuck without any money to run the company.
NOTE B - On Fitch's sad end.
Fitch tries to develop his idea in France, where he has been awarded a patent in 1791. He arrives there in 1793 and discovers a country in havoc. He leaves for England where he cannot convince anybody and finally comes back to the USA in 1794, where he tries to fund again the building of a new steamboat. He fails and dies, likely by committing suicide, in 1798.