at Danvers, in 1789, John Fitch, in 1788, built another boat, propelled by steam from Philadelphia to Burlington, twenty miles, being the longest trip ever made by a boat under steam at that time. In October, 1788, Millar, Taylor, and Symington put a steamboat on Lake Dalwinston, Scotland. In 1789 a steamboat built under Fitch's directions attained a speed of eight miles an hour on the river at Philadelphia. In 1790, William Longstreet had a small boat on Savannah river; the same year Lord Stanhope patented an ambi-navigator with a propeller in the form of a duck's foot. John Stevens, of Hoboken, N. J., constructed steamboats with a speed of five or six miles an hour. In 1794, Samuel Morey took a boat by steam from Hartford to New York city. Robert L. Stevens sailed a paddle-wheel steamer on the Hudson only a few days later than Fulton's “Clermont.” This boat was afterward taken by sea to Philadelphia, thus making the first steamship voyage on the ocean. Fitch and Stevens are Fulton's most formidable competitors for the honor of demonstrating the feasibility of steam navigation, although many other claimants have had partisans. So late as 1871, John H. B. Latrobe, in an address before the Maryland historical society, entitled “A Lost Chapter in the History of the Steamboat,” urged the claims of Nicholas J. Roosevelt as the inventor of vertical wheels over the sides of the boat, which produced, in Fulton's hands, when propelled by steam, the first practical result. Fitch's boat was propelled by vertical paddles, and Rumsey's by the expulsion, at the stern, of water that had been drawn in at the bow; Fulton, in his Paris experiments, as set forth by Colden, his biographer, preferred endless chains with resisting boards or floats. Whatever may have been Fulton's honors as to the invention, he undoubtedly deserves the credit of first bringing into practical use the steamboat as a conveyance for passengers and freight, all earlier undertakings having been inefficient practically. The success of the “Clermont” was followed by the rapid multiplication of steamboats. A list of those built under Fulton's superintendence comprises the “Car of Neptune,” the “Paragon,” the “Fire-fly,” the “Richmond,” the “Washington,” the “Vesuvius,” the “Olive Branch,” the “Emperor of Russia,” and the “Chancellor Livingston,” as well as several ferry-boats. He described his first ferry-boat in an article published in the “American Medical and Philosophical Register” for October, 1812. In 1814, Fulton submitted to the coast and harbor defence committee plans for a steam war-ship to carry 44 guns, and in October of that year a boat of this description, called the “Demologos” (subsequently named “Fulton the First”), was successfully launched. The war of 1812 terminated before the effectiveness of the “Fulton” as a war-vessel could be tested, and she afterward became a receiving-ship. The last subject to which Fulton's energies were devoted was a modification of his submarine boat the “Nautilus,” but only the hull of the projected craft was completed before his death. Exposure in crossing the Hudson, after testifying in New Jersey in a steamboat case, laid the foundation of Fulton's last illness. He left a widow (daughter of Walter Livingston) and one son and three daughters. The literature of the steamboat controversy is extensive. The fullest list on the subject is afforded by Preble's “History of Steam Navigation.” Fulton's published works are “A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation” (London, 1796; French translation, Paris, 1799); the New York historical society has a unique copy containing the original drawings from which the engravings were made; “Letters on Submarine Navigation” (London, 1806; French translation, Paris, 1811); “Torpedo War” (New York, 1810); “Letter to the Secretary of the Navy on the Practical use of the Torpedo” (Washington, 1811); “Report on the Practicability of Navigating with Steamboats on the Southern Waters of the United States” (New York, 1813); “Memorial of Robert Fulton and Edward P. Livingston in regard to Steamboats” (Albany, 1814); “Advantages of the Proposed Canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson River” (New York, 1814). Copies of Fulton's original drawings, including the illustrations to the “Columbiad,” which he designed or superintended, are contained in Reigart's “Life of Fulton” (Philadelphia, 1856). Fulton's paintings seem to have gone out of existence. Smith, in his catalogue of portraits, catalogues a fancy picture of Lady Jane Grey, painted by Fulton about 1793. Fulton's life has been written by Cadwallader D. Colden (New York, 1817), and by James Renwick in Sparks's “American Biography.”
FULTON, William S., senator, b. in Cecil
county, Md., 2 June, 1795; d. in Rosewood, near
Little Rock, Ark., 15 Aug., 1844. He was gradu-
ated at Baltimore college in 1813, and began to
study law with William Pinckney. Before com-
ing of age he served with credit as a volunteer for
the defence of Fort McHenry in the war of 1812.
At the conclusion of peace he removed, with his
father's family, to Tennessee, where he resumed
the study of law with Felix Grundy. In 1818 he
volunteered with the Nashville guards, and subse-
quently acted as military secretary to Gen. Jackson
during the Florida campaign. At its close he
settled in Alabama for the practice of the law, hav-
ing been admitted to the bar. He was appointed,
in 1829, by Gen. Jackson, secretary of the territory
of Arkansas, and in 1835 its governor, which office
he held until the territory became a state. He was
then chosen as one of its first U. S. senators, serv-
ing from 5 Dec, 1836, until his death.
FUNES, Gregorio, South American author, b.
in Cordova de Tucuman, Buenos Ayres, about the
middle of the 18th century; d. about 1820. He
studied under the Jesuits in the university of his
native city, and. after the expulsion of that order,
under the Franciscans. He was afterward ordained
priest, received the title of doctor of theology, and
became dean of the church of Cordova. When the
colonies of Spain revolted he took an active part in
the cause of independence. He was named deputy
to the congress which assembled in the city of
Tucuman in 1816 to elect a president of the united
provinces of the Rio de la Plata, but declined on
account of his infirnuties. The work which has
gained him a high reputation in Spanish America
is entitled " Ensayo de la historia civil del Para-
guay, Buenos Ayres y Tucuman " (3 vols., Buenos
Ayres, 1816-17). His work, which comprises the
period of the revolution in Peru by Tupac-Amaru,
ends with a " Sketch of the Revolution, from 25
May, 1810, to the Opening of the National Con-
gress on the 25th of March, 1816."
FURMAN, Charles M., financier, b. in Charleston, S. C, in 1797; d. there, 3 July, 1872. He was admitted to the bar of South Carolina in 1819, and practised until 1832, when he was elected by the legislature treasurer of the lower division of the state. In this office he gave evidence of that financial ability for which in after years he became distinguished, and was subsequently chosen to be
the comptroller-general of the state. Later he was elected one of the masters in equity for the Charles-
