he real inventor may have been William
Longstreet of Augusta, an uncle of General James B. Longstreet, and the
father of Judge A. B. Longstreet, author of "Georgia Scenes." On the
26th of September, 1790, William Longstreet sent the following letter to
Edward Telfair, who was then governor of Georgia:--

Sir,--I make no doubt but you have heard of my steamboat
and as often heard it laughed at. But in this I have only
shared the fate of all other projectors, for it has
uniformly been the custom of every country to ridicule even
the greatest inventions until use has proved their utility.

My not reducing my scheme to practice has been a little
unfortunate for me, I confess, and perhaps for the people in
general, but until very lately I did not think that either
artists or material could be had in the place sufficient.
However, necessity, that grand science of invention, has
furnished me with an idea of perfecting my plans almost
entirely with wooden materials, and by such workmen as may
be got here, and from a thorough confidence of its success,
I have presumed to ask your assistance and patronage.

Should it succeed agreeable to my expectations, I hope I
shall discover that source of duty which such favors always
merit, and should it not succeed, your reward must lay with
other unlucky adventurers.

For me to mention to you all the advantages arising from
such a machine would be tedious, and, indeed, quite
unnecessary, Therefore I have taken the liberty to state in
this plain and humble manner my wish and opinion, which I
hope you will excuse, and I will remain, either with or
without approbation,

Your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servant,

William Longstreet.

There are two features of this letter that ought to attract attention.
One is that William Longstreet has the name of "steamboat" as pat as if
the machine were in common use. The second is his allusion to the fact
that his conception of a boat to be propelled by steam was so well known
as to be noised abroad.

Credit is sometimes given to John Fitch, who, it is said, invented a
boat propelled by steam, that carried passengers on the Delaware River
in 1787. An Englishman named Symington is said to have run a steamboat
in 1801, while Robert Fulton's success was delayed until 1806. All these
men have received cred