Robert Fulton was born of poor parents in
Little Britain, Pennsylvania, in 1765, the year of the famous Stamp Act.
When the boy was only three years old his father died, and so Robert was
brought up by his mother. She taught him at home until he was eight, and
then sent him to school. Here he showed an unusual liking for drawing.
[Illustration: Robert Fulton.]
Outside of school hours his special delight was to visit the shops of
mechanics, who humored the boy and let him work out his clever ideas with
his own hands.
A story is told of how Robert came into school late one morning and gave
as his excuse that he had been at a shop beating a piece of lead into a
pencil. At the same time he took the pencil from his pocket, and showing
it to his teacher, said: "It is the best one I have ever used." Upon
carefully looking at the pencil, the schoolmaster was so well pleased that
he praised Robert's efforts, and in a short time nearly all the pupils
were using that kind of pencil.
[Illustration: Fulton's First Experiment with Paddle-Wheels.]
Another example of Robert's inventive gift belongs to his boyhood days. He
and one of his playmates from time to time went fishing in a flatboat,
which they propelled with long poles.
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