Fitch

Fitch, John (1743-1798), was born in Connecticut, and during the Revolution was a gunsmith. He then made some expeditions to the west, and was captured by Indians, but escaped. In 1785 he made a model of a steamboat, and in 1789 made a trial trip with a steamboat on the Delaware. In 1790 he ran a passenger boat for 20 miles, and in 1793 went to France to advance his views. The Revolution upset his plans, and he came home penniless. It is a question whether later boats were not modelled upon his plans deposited in France.