Concerning Rumsey and his steam engine, Jefferson wrote in a letter to Dr. Willard, from Paris, on March 24, 1789: “ . . . M ^r. Rumsey has also obtained a patent for his navigation by the force of steam in England and is solliciting a similar one here. his principal merit is in the improvement of the boiler, and, instead of the complicated machinery of oars and paddles proposed by others, the substitution of so simple a thing as the reaction of a stream of water on his vessel. he is building a sea-vessel at this time in England and she will be ready for an experiment in May. he has suggested a great number of mechanical improvements in a variety of branches; and upon the whole is the most original and the greatest mechanical genius I have ever seen . . . ”

On April 27, 1790, in a letter to William Short, Jefferson wrote: “ . . . what is become of Rumsey & his steam-ship? not a word is known here. I fear therefore he has failed . . .”

James Rumsey, 1743-1792, inventor, was a native of Maryland. In 1788 the Rumseian Society, formed by the American Philosophical Society to finance his inventions, sent him to England to secure his patents, on account of the public’s interest in his rival, John Fitch, q.v. After Rumsey’s arrival in London he was recommended to the notice of Jefferson by Benjamin Vaughan, in a letter dated July 11, 1788, in which he requested Jefferson to attend to Rumsey’s interests, and explained that “ Mr Rumsey is patronized by Gen. Washington, Dr. Franklin, & other respectable persons, notwithstanding he has a competitor in Pensylvania; which is my apology for presuming to write to you upon this occasion, & for requesting the favor that no delay may be used . . . ”

Jefferson complied with Benjamin Vaughan’s request. He answered Vaughan’s letter on July 23 to explain the steps he had already taken, and from that time on continued to interest himself on Rumsey’s behalf.