﻿516 
  

  

  ANNUA!. 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  two 
  of 
  schooling 
  each 
  winter 
  since 
  he 
  was 
  four 
  and 
  he 
  much 
  preferred 
  

   reading 
  and 
  arithmetic 
  to 
  helping 
  on 
  his 
  father's 
  farm 
  at 
  East 
  Windsor, 
  

   Conn. 
  By 
  the 
  time 
  he 
  was 
  13 
  he 
  had 
  progressed 
  so 
  far 
  in 
  mathe- 
  

   matics 
  that 
  his 
  schoolmaster 
  told 
  him 
  "he 
  could 
  learn 
  him 
  no 
  farther 
  

   in 
  arithmetic 
  but 
  would 
  learn 
  him 
  in 
  surveying." 
  Fitch 
  accordingly 
  

   learned 
  what 
  he 
  could 
  of 
  this 
  profession 
  and 
  while 
  he 
  did 
  not 
  follow 
  it 
  

   up 
  immediately 
  it 
  kept 
  him 
  from 
  starving 
  later 
  in 
  life. 
  He 
  had 
  

   never 
  been 
  in 
  robust 
  health 
  nor 
  had 
  he 
  much 
  physical 
  endurance, 
  so 
  

   in 
  his 
  seventeenth 
  year 
  his 
  father, 
  somewhat 
  disappointed, 
  decided 
  

   that 
  he 
  would 
  either 
  have 
  to 
  go 
  to 
  sea 
  or 
  learn 
  a 
  trade. 
  One 
  trip 
  

  

  along 
  the 
  coast 
  in 
  a 
  

   sloop 
  decided 
  Fitch 
  

   against 
  sailoring. 
  

   He 
  tried 
  the 
  other 
  

   alternative, 
  becom- 
  

   ing 
  a 
  watchmaker's 
  

   apprentice. 
  Unfor- 
  

   tunately, 
  the 
  two 
  

   masters 
  for 
  whom 
  he 
  

   worked 
  were 
  averse 
  

   to 
  instructing 
  their 
  

   apprentices 
  and 
  af- 
  

   ter 
  five 
  years' 
  effort 
  

   Fitch 
  gave 
  up, 
  al- 
  

   most 
  as 
  ignorant 
  of 
  

   watchmaking 
  as 
  

   when 
  he 
  began. 
  

  

  From 
  this 
  time 
  on 
  

   until 
  he 
  died, 
  every 
  

   undertaking 
  that 
  

   Fitch 
  attempted 
  

   went 
  wrong 
  sooner 
  

   or 
  later. 
  He 
  went 
  

   into 
  the 
  potash 
  bus- 
  

   iness 
  and 
  his 
  part- 
  

   ner 
  absconded 
  with 
  all 
  the 
  funds; 
  he 
  married 
  but 
  the 
  clash 
  of 
  natures 
  

   proved 
  too 
  much 
  for 
  him 
  and 
  he 
  abandoned 
  his 
  wife 
  and 
  children 
  

   within 
  two 
  years 
  ; 
  he 
  tried 
  button 
  making 
  in 
  Trenton 
  and 
  the 
  factory 
  

   burned 
  down 
  ; 
  while 
  surveying 
  in 
  Kentucky 
  he 
  was 
  captured 
  and 
  held 
  

   prisoner 
  by 
  Indians. 
  After 
  considerable 
  hardship 
  and 
  suffering 
  he 
  

   was 
  released 
  and 
  made 
  his 
  way 
  to 
  Buck's 
  County, 
  Pa. 
  Here, 
  in 
  1785 
  

   at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  42 
  he 
  began 
  his 
  work 
  on 
  steamboats. 
  From 
  what 
  he 
  

   wrote 
  later, 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  utilizing 
  steam 
  force 
  in 
  any 
  manner 
  seems 
  

   never 
  to 
  have 
  occurred 
  to 
  him 
  before 
  this 
  and 
  he 
  began 
  his 
  experi- 
  

  

  FiGUEE 
  6.— 
  John 
  Fitch, 
  1713-1798. 
  First 
  to 
  build 
  and 
  operate 
  a 
  man 
  

   carrying 
  steamboat 
  in 
  America 
  

  

  