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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02480.07 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents relating to American inventors |
| Title | Receipt for Robert Stocton for payment in full |
| Date | 15 May 1775 |
| Author | Fitch, John (1743-1798) |
| Document Type | Business and financial document |
| Content Description | Receipt to Robert Stocton [Stockton?] for payment in full. Accompanied by incomplete letter of the same date, apparently in a different hand, stating "The enclosed letter came to my Hands of," with monetary calculations. John Fitch designed and successfully launched the first steamboat in 1787. He received a U.S. patent for his steamboat in 1791. In the 1770's, Fitch made a living in Trenton as a silversmith, gunsmith, and provisioner of Continental Army troops. |
| Subjects | Inventor Patent Finance Invention |
| People | Fitch, John (1743-1798) |
| Place written | Trenton, New Jersey |
| Theme | Science, Technology, Invention |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
| Additional Information | John Fitch was an inventor, and perhaps the first man to practically apply steam power to a boat. Though he built a number of successful steamboats, they were all commercial flops, and he is therefore given little credit for the important scientific innovations that he did make in this field. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |