Description:

ROBERT FULTON
(1765 - 1815) American engineer and inventor of the first practical submarine and torpedo, and established the first commercially successful steamboat, the Clermont. Fine content A.L.S. "Robt Fulton" 1p. 4to., New York, Nov. 18, 1813, to Dr. William Wilson concerning a settlement involving the estate of his recently deceased patron, Robert R. Livingston. Fulton writes, in full: "The estate of the Chancellor [Livingston] is to be charged with the Iron credit having been given by me to him in Settling our accounts. You will please to show the annexed to Mr. Edward P. [Livingston]". Wilson penned on the overleaf: "Mr. Livingston will look to the enclosed letters and inform me if anything is necessary for me to do. W.W.". Robert R. Livingston, the first chancellor of New York State and negotiator of the Louisiana Purchase, was enthralled with the concept of invention. Claiming that to be his "hobby horse," he held several patents for a means of diminishing the friction of spindles on millstones and for manufacturing paper from river weed. However, Livingston was talented neither in the theory nor practice of mechanics, and his inventions generally did not work. Thus, he collaborated often with others who had the scientific experience to implement his visions. One such idea was steam navigation and one such collaborator was Robert Fulton, and the two became deeply immersed in steamboat experimentation. They determined, when they returned to America, to make another effort with a larger boat to sail on the Hudson River. Essentially, Livingston would supply the money and Fulton would do the work. Livingston secured the exclusive privilege of "navigating all boats that might be propelled by steam, on all waters within the territory or jurisdiction of the State, for the term of twenty years," so they started out with very valuable monopoly. Their agreement was formalized into a partnership, one that would last the remainder of Livingston's life. In July, 1807 the first successful steamboat ran from New York to Albany, meeting the requirements of the New York State grant and perfecting their monopoly. Robert Livingston died in February, 1813. Even though he and Fulton possessed a monopoly , they were continually building new steamboats and had accrued nearly $167,000 in partnership debts. With his partner's death, Fulton was faced with the challenge of negotiating Livingston's assets with his heirs, and relations with Livingston's family members were abrasive. A friend of the family, Dr. William Wilson was the executor of the Chancellor's estate. The Livingstons owned an iron foundry, and Fulton once stipulated that "iron work in the best manner" was to be used to build their steamboats. It is apparent that Livingston supplied iron from his foundry for the construction rather than buying it on the open market, and that Livingston was given credit for the iron's value from Fulton in order to assess their respective partnership distributions. After Livingston's death, an issue arose as to the final allocation of funds for the iron, and Fulton bargained for both the money and additional leverage with his heirs. Here Fulton supplies Wilson with the necessary papers to indicate that the iron credit was to be charged back to the estate. Light toning along expected folds, tiny loss at left margin clear of writing, else very good to fine condition.

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June 3, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

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