The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Roosevelt, Nicholas J.

ROOSEVELT, rō'zë-vĕlt, Nicholas J., American inventor: b. New York, 27 Dec. 1767; d. Skaneateles, N. Y., 30 July 1854. He engaged in manufacturing and inventing in New York and was connected with Robert R. Livingston and John Stevens in experimental boat-building. In 1798 he conceived the idea of a vertical wheel, a suggestion which made steam navigation a success. The first experiment was made in a boat launched in 1802 and propelled by the vertical wheels. In 1809 he was associated with Fulton in the introduction of steamboats into Western waters and in 1811 built and launched the New Orleans, with which he made a pioneer trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in 14 days. He obtained letters patent from the United States government in 1814 protecting his invention, but was denied protection by the New Jersey legislature. Fulton never claimed the invention as his own, and Roosevelt's title to it has never been legally proved.