Robert Fulton

								

sturdy crane swinging in the sooty shadows where Mrs. Fulton hung her
kettle to boil, in those distant days of pioneer life. Joseph Swift, of
Philadelphia, wrote in after years that his grandmother “well remembered
in her youth the preparations which a visit to Aunt Fulton required in
the way of baking, boiling and roasting, and in getting ready the camp
equipage which the journey through the wilderness required. It was only
less formidable than a journey across the Atlantic.”
It was in this quiet farm-house[1] that Robert Fulton, the inventor, was
born on the 14th day of November, 1765. He was the first son and there
was great rejoicing at his birth. During the cold winter days he slept by
the open fireside while his mother attended to her household tasks and
cared for the little daughters,—Peggy and Belle, as they were called,—who
toddled about the baby brother’s cradle. When the springtime threw its
mantle of green over the fresh country-side, Robert laughed and grew
strong in the clear country air.
Possibly farming did not pay, for during the succeeding year Mr. and Mrs.
Fulton mortgaged the property to Joseph Swift and two others, arranging
payments to be made during five years. When Robert Fulton finally moved
his family back to Lancaster, Joseph Swift came to live in the house, now
pleasantly shaded by a tall button-wood tree. This tree is said to have
grown from a riding-whip which Joseph Swift’s daughter, Esther, stuck
into the ground one day as she dismounted from her favorite pony.
Although the Fulton family lived but a short time upon these farm lands,
it gave a sufficient reason for a change of name in the township, for
when Little Britain was resurveyed in 1844 the section containing the
farm was entitled “Fulton Township,” in honor of the baby boy who first
saw the light under that sloping roof, on the bleak November day in 1765.
In selecting land near Conowingo Creek, the elder Robert Fulton
realized—as his son came to realize in later years—the importance of
watercourses and turnpike advantages. He continued upon the farm till
1771, when it was advertised for sale as “the place where Robert Fulton
lives.” But he died early in the autumn of 1774, and his widow, with
scanty means, took up the task of rearing their five children, for a
daughter, Mary, and a second son, Abraham Smith Fulton, had been born
since 1765.
Robert Fulton, the older son, was then nine years old, a bright, active
boy, eager for all sorts of fun. An uncle, his father’s brother, took him
to his home for a time, but Robert was unhappy away from his mother and
returned to her. He early learned to carve his fortune from the hard rock
of adversity.
[1] In 1909, a bronze tablet, commemorative of Fulton’s birth, presented
by the Lancaster County Historical Society, was unveiled at the entrance