Abraham McDowell

The following highly interesting letter, concerning the unfortunate John Fitch, was published in the Bucks County Intelligencer, at Doylestown, Pa., February 16, 1858, and a copy forwarded to the author:—

Warminster Township, ) February 9, 1858. )

My Dear Sir :—In answer to your verbal inquiry, I would state that I was acquainted with John Fitch, the steamboat man. Some time after the revolutionary war, he came to my father's house, in Warminster township, to board, where he remained two or three years or more. Near the house was an old log shop, where my father carried on weaving, and James Scout, called " Scobe Scout," carried on silversmithing.

In this shop John Fitch built his first steamboat, which I distinctly remember, as I was a good sized boy. It was about four feet long, and a little over a foot in width, with a wheel in the stern, which was something like a flutter-wheel. When the boat was done it was taken to a dam on the farm of Arthur Watts, in Southampton township, near the present village of Davisville, and now owned by Gen. John Davis.

John Pitch was accompanied by James Scout, 'Abraham Sutphin', Anthony Scout, John McDowell, William Vansant and Charles Garrison. I went along, out of boyish curiosity, and after we had reached the dam, Arthur Watts, and I think his son William Watts, then a young man, came out to witness the experiment. I think the soft coal of Virginia was used to generate steam, and it is my opinion that the fire was lighted while the boat was on the bank. Before the boat was put in the water, the persons along were sent to the other side of the dam to prevent its running aground, and to turn it when it should come across. I was sent up to the head of the dam, where the water was shallow and the mud deep, as the men did not like to go in where they would get muddy. I waded in some little distance, where the water was deep enough to allow the boat to float, and stood there. The boat was launched, and in a few minutes it put off under full headway, puffing and the smoke flying, and very soon reached the opposite side of the dam. This run being too short, it was next started lengthwise of the dam, and made several trips back and forth to and from the point where I stood. When it reached me I turned it round, and headed it towards the starting point again. I could always tell about where it would come out when I saw it coming towards me, and waded through the mud and water to that place to prevent its running aground. We were there at least two or three hours, until all were satisfied with the experiment, when we returned home, Fitch carrying the boat. The gentlemen who witnessed the trial were delighted, and I was astonished. The boat had a deck, and I am certain the fire was below it, as it could not be seen when the boat was in motion. I think it had a smoke stack. The late Nathaniel Boileau, Esq., then a young man, turned some part of the machinery for the boat, and I carried it back and forth several times, and I remember I thought the wheels were pretty things, and wanted them for a wagon. I do not remember the year in which this took place, but I was born in January, 1782, and at that time I could not have been less than four or five years old. The whole transaction is indelibly impressed on my memory. Soon after this trial, Fitch took his boat to Philadelphia, where he met some person, and I am under the impression it was Fulton, who told him that some part of the machinery was not right, and that he had better alter it,—when Fitch returned home with the boat to make the necessary alterations, after which he went a second time to Philadelphia with his boat.

The shop in which this boat was built was on the farm now owned by Mitchell Wood, in Warminster township, within about three hundred yards of the county line of Montgomery county. Mr. Boileau lived at that time with his father on the farm now owned by Lewis Willard, on the county line between Bucks and Montgomery, near the eight square school house, and a little more than a mile from Davisville.

Yours respectfully, Abraham Mcdowell, Warminster Township.

To W. W. H. Davis, Davisville, Bucks Co., Pa.

The writer of the above letter is a gentleman far advanced in years, and in perfect possession of his faculties. His character, among those who know him, is unimpeachable. It is the more interesting, coming, as it does, directly from a living witness of these experiments, and also strongly substantiates the many statements that have been made and published of this unfortunate man of genius.

Abraham's Letter of John Fitch's Steamboat