﻿520 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  priority 
  seems 
  to 
  belong 
  indisputably 
  to 
  Fitch, 
  Rumsey 
  deserves 
  

   credit 
  for 
  independent 
  and 
  almost 
  simultaneous 
  invention. 
  Rumsey 
  

   was 
  forced 
  to 
  make 
  his 
  demonstration 
  to 
  substantiate 
  his 
  claim 
  of 
  

   priority, 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  made 
  just 
  a 
  month 
  before 
  in 
  a 
  petition 
  to 
  the 
  

   Virginia 
  Legislature 
  asking 
  for 
  the 
  repeal 
  of 
  the 
  exclusive 
  privileges 
  

   which 
  had 
  been 
  granted 
  on 
  November 
  7 
  to 
  Fitch. 
  A 
  year 
  later 
  the 
  

   committee 
  appointed 
  to 
  consider 
  Rumsey's 
  petition 
  reported 
  a 
  bill 
  

   repealing 
  Fitch's 
  grant, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  defeated 
  in 
  the 
  House 
  of 
  Represen- 
  

   tatives, 
  thus 
  substantiating 
  Fitch. 
  

  

  Rumsey 
  came 
  originally 
  from 
  Maryland, 
  entering 
  the 
  world 
  on 
  his 
  

   father's 
  farm 
  at 
  Bohemia 
  Manor, 
  Cecil 
  County, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  year 
  

   (1743) 
  that 
  Fitch 
  was 
  born. 
  He 
  attended 
  the 
  country 
  school 
  near 
  his 
  

   home 
  and 
  became 
  quite 
  interested 
  in 
  mechanics 
  and 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  

   through 
  school 
  he 
  immediately 
  learned 
  carpentry 
  and 
  blacksmithing. 
  

   Later 
  on 
  he 
  tried 
  his 
  hand 
  as 
  a 
  millwright 
  but 
  neither 
  in 
  this 
  nor 
  in 
  

   his 
  other 
  trades 
  was 
  he 
  much 
  of 
  a 
  success, 
  for 
  he 
  was 
  constantly 
  put- 
  

   tering 
  around 
  trying 
  to 
  perfect 
  mechanical 
  contrivances 
  of 
  one 
  sort 
  or 
  

   another, 
  and 
  worked 
  at 
  his 
  trades 
  only 
  enough 
  to 
  keep 
  from 
  starving. 
  

   After 
  the 
  Revolutionary 
  War, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  served, 
  he 
  settled 
  on 
  the 
  

   banks 
  of 
  the 
  Potomac 
  River 
  at 
  Bath, 
  Berkeley 
  County, 
  Va., 
  which 
  is 
  

   now 
  Berkeley 
  Springs, 
  W. 
  Va. 
  With 
  a 
  partner 
  he 
  opened 
  a 
  general 
  

   merchandise 
  store, 
  and, 
  also 
  because 
  of 
  his 
  general 
  mechanical 
  ability, 
  

   served 
  as 
  a 
  bath 
  tender, 
  for 
  even 
  as 
  long 
  ago 
  as 
  1780 
  Bath 
  or 
  Berkeley 
  

   Springs 
  was 
  quite 
  a 
  health 
  resort. 
  

  

  In 
  spite 
  of 
  himself, 
  however, 
  Rumsey 
  could 
  not 
  resist 
  the 
  tempta- 
  

   tion 
  to 
  tinker. 
  It 
  was 
  not 
  long 
  before 
  he 
  left 
  the 
  store 
  business 
  entirely 
  

   to 
  his 
  partner 
  and 
  spent 
  most 
  of 
  his 
  time 
  working 
  by 
  himself. 
  He 
  

   maintained 
  the 
  utmost 
  secrecy 
  about 
  his 
  work 
  and 
  when 
  asked 
  what 
  

   he 
  was 
  doing 
  he 
  answered 
  vaguely 
  with 
  an 
  air 
  of 
  mystery 
  so 
  that 
  he 
  

   became 
  known 
  locally 
  as 
  "Crazy 
  Rumsey." 
  He 
  was, 
  however, 
  by 
  no 
  

   means 
  as 
  crazy 
  as 
  people 
  thought. 
  

  

  For 
  many 
  years 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  inland 
  transportation 
  had 
  the 
  atten- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  all 
  progressive 
  colonists. 
  Long 
  after 
  the 
  first 
  settlements 
  

   were 
  established 
  along 
  the 
  Susquehanna, 
  Schuylkill, 
  and 
  Potomac 
  

   Rivers 
  and 
  beyond 
  the 
  Alleghenies, 
  the 
  settlers 
  continued 
  dependent 
  

   almost 
  wholly 
  on 
  goods 
  sent 
  from 
  the 
  colonies 
  along 
  the 
  eastern 
  coast. 
  

   Decent 
  roads 
  did 
  not 
  exist 
  and 
  nearly 
  all 
  commerce 
  went 
  by 
  river. 
  

   All 
  manner 
  of 
  boats 
  were 
  developed 
  for 
  hauling 
  freight, 
  but 
  the 
  most 
  

   common 
  was 
  a 
  heavy 
  keel 
  boat 
  or 
  "Durham" 
  boat, 
  which 
  resembled 
  

   a 
  scow 
  with 
  a 
  freight 
  car 
  perched 
  in 
  the 
  middle. 
  A 
  running 
  board 
  

   stretched 
  the 
  whole 
  length 
  of 
  each 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  boat. 
  On 
  this 
  the 
  crew 
  

   walked 
  from 
  bow 
  to 
  stern 
  pushing 
  with 
  their 
  shoulders 
  on 
  poles 
  set 
  

   in 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  The 
  expense 
  of 
  carrying 
  freight 
  "west" 
  

   in 
  this 
  way 
  proved 
  tremendous. 
  It 
  required 
  a 
  crew 
  of 
  anywhere 
  from 
  

   4 
  to 
  10 
  men 
  to 
  pole 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  boats, 
  their 
  wages 
  and 
  living 
  expenses 
  

  

  