Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) TRUE STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS ROBERT FULTON [Illustration] THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO [Illustration: ROBERT FULTON. From a miniature owned by Mrs. R. Fulton Blight.] ROBERT FULTON BY ALICE CRARY SUTCLIFFE GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF ROBERT FULTON AUTHOR OF “ROBERT FULTON AND THE _CLERMONT_” AND “THE HOMESTEAD OF A COLONIAL DAME” New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1925 _All rights reserved_ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1915. Reprinted August, 1925. Norwood Press J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFACE On board the fine passenger boat, _Robert Fulton_, one of the several queen steamers of the Hudson River Day Line, on a May morning when the beauty of the incomparable river spread in calm perfection before contented eyes, a great-granddaughter of Robert Fulton began to write, for young readers, this story of the steamboat inventor’s life. No “Hero of America” may lay more just claim to the title than Robert Fulton, the fearless, persistent lad of Pennsylvania. His boyhood of stern self-denial, his struggle for culture and advanced education, and his constant industry place him in “the rank and file” of all students who may read this book with the desire to learn his secret of success. Fulton’s story reveals it. He solved problems locked from the knowledge of man by a faithful use of the key of _hard work_. Born on a lonely farm in the country, deprived in early childhood of his father’s loving care, he earned his own living and carved his path to fame and fortune. Therefore his progress is typical of possible similar achievements for all young Americans who wish to render good service to their country and to their fellow-men.