American Heroes~Robert Fulton (1765 –1815)~by rldubour

A son of Robert and Mary Fulton

In Lancaster County,Pennsylvania.

One younger brother Abraham

Three older sisters, Mary, Liz and Isabella.

 

Dad sold the farm in sixty-six

Moved his family to the city.

In sixty-eight he passed away

Left five children feeling pity.

 

Robert moved to Philadelphia

At the age of seventeen.

To pursue his painting and

Book publishing was his dream.

 

Became friends with Benjamin Franklin.

And other influential people.

At twenty-one bought Mom a farm

A keen mind and very practical.

 

As an inventor, mechanic and engineer

Designs for canals and bridges he’d make.

Led to the famous Erie Canal

And construction in New York State.

 

His vision of a diving boat

With his engineering skills begun.

He designed and developed

The “Nautilus” in eighteen-hundred and one.

 

In eighteen-hundred and seven

Completed his work on the “Clermont.”

The first successful steamboat

Fulton’s name would be savant.

 

The “Clermont’s” maiden voyage

Was fromNew York CitytoAlbany.

One hundred and fifty miles

On August seventeen.

 

The steamboat actually showed

Fulton’s genius as an engineer.

He did not invent it but made it practical

By applying his own ideas.

 

He studied success and failures

His mind was brilliant and keen.

Until his death from pneumonia

On February twenty-third, eighteen-fifteen