To all to whom these LETTERS PATENT shall come:
Whereas, NICHOLAS J. ROOSEVELT, a Citizen of tho United States,
hath alleged that he has invented a new and useful improvement
IN PROPELLING BOATS &c. BY STEAM,
which improvement he states has not been known or used before
his application; hath made oath that he does verily believe that
he is the true inventor or discoverer of the said improvement;
hath paid into the Treasury of the United States the sum of
thirty dollars, delivered a receipt for the same, and presented
a petition to the Secretary of State, signifying a desire of
obtaining an exclusive property in the said improvement, and
praying that a patent may be granted for that purpose: These are
therefore to grant, according to law, to the said NICHOLAS J.
ROOSEVELT, his
heirs, administrators, or assigns, for the term of fourteen
years, from the first day of December, one thousand eight
hundred and fourteen, the full and exclusive right and liberty
of making, constructing, using and vending to others to be used,
the said improvement: a description whereof is given in the
words of the said Nicholas J. Roosevelt himself, in the schedule
hereto annexed, and is made a part of these presents.
In testimony wherof, I have caused these Letters to be made
Patent, and the Seal of the United States to be hereunto
affixed.
Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, this first day
of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and fourteen and of the independence of the United States of
America, the thirty-ninth.
JAMES MADISON.
By the President.
Jas. Monroe, Secretary of State.
City of Washington, to wit:
I DO HEREBY CERTIFY, That the foregoing Letters Patent were
delivered to me on the first day of December in the year of our
Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen to be examined;
that I have examined the same, and find them conformable to law:
and I do hereby return the same to the Secretary of State within
fifteen days from the date aforesaid, to wit: on this
first day of December in the year aforesaid.
Richard Bush, Attorney General of the United States
To All To Whom these Presents shall come:
Nicholas J. Roosevelt., of the State of New Jersey, Esqr.,
sends greetings:
Be it known, That I, the said Nicholas J. Koosevelt have
discovered, invented and constructed a new & useful mode
& improvement in the propelling of boats or vessels through
water by the force & agency of fire & steam, the
construction of which discovery, invention & improvement is
specified as follows, as the mode to which I have given a
preference reserving to myself the right of varying and changing
the proportions and combinations of the several parts of the
said discovery and invention as experience may suggest or as I
shall think advisable or expedient, to wit.
A true copy from the Specification filed in the Patent Office.
Geo. Lyon, Clk. Patent Office, 3 December, 1814.
THE SCHEDULE referred to in these Letters patent and making
part of the same containing a description in the words of the
said Nicholas J. Roosevelt himself of his improvement in
propelling Boats, &c. by steam.
In a boat or vessel of any form, but of sufficient capacity to
contain the machinery required, I place a Steam Engine of a
power proportioned to the restance to be overcome, in propelling
a boat or vessel a given distance in a given time, this steam
Engine is supplied by a boiler of the usual form or made
Cylindric one or more at pleasure so as to be of sufficient
capacity to feed the Engine. I next place two wheels over the
sides, on the axis of which I put flyes, dispence with them or
otherwise combine them at pleasure, either to regulate motion or
give additional velocity, or they may be connected with the
water shaft and steam Engine, by wheels so as to give any number
of revolutions that may be desired. The arms of the water
wheels I would make of wood, to which I attach floats or paddles
of cast Iron, or of Boiler plate thick sheet Iron, though they
may be made of wood. These floats I make move up and down
on the arms, by means of screws and holes, so as to make them
enter deeper or shallower in the water, in taking a purchase or
hold on the water agreeably to the depth of water the boat my
draw, and the lading there may be on board, or agreeably to
other circumstances. The supporters of the outer ends of
the water wheels shaft to be made of Iron with braces, though if
required they may be made of wood.
N.J. Roosevelt
Witnesses: Jere'h Ballard, John Dev'x DeLacy
