Most of the patents prior to 1836 were lost in the Dec. 1836 fire. Only about 2,000 of the almost 10,000 documents were recovered. Little is known about this patent. There are no patent drawings available. This patent is in the database for reference only.

This patent was an attempt to patent all modes of powering boats by steam. The patent office only allowed him to patent the specific method that he used in his steamboat model. Twenty years later, after this patent had expired, Robert Fulton used it in his steamboat design.

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Wikipedia entry for John Fitch