Label
Steam Engine, ca. 1793
Samuel Morey
Fairlee, Vermont
Tin, brass
Gift of Amelia S. Morey Kibbey, 1900.2
Samuel Morey was an inventor from Fairlee, Vermont and Orford, New Hampshire. He first began experimenting with steam power in the 1780s, and his first patent, in 1793, was for a steam-powered spit (for cooking food). In the early 1790s, he began to develop a steam engine that he ultimately used to power a small boat that he drove up and down the Connecticut River. Legend has it that he snuck out to test his craft early on a Sunday morning, while the rest of the town was at church, so that he would be spared embarrassment in case of failure.
Morey continued to develop his ideas for steam-powered boats, but he was slow to patent them, and in the early 19th century Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston joined together to create the first steamship line in America. They have typically received credit for creating workable steam engines, though Morey disputed their claims and argued that they stole his ideas.
Morey continued to invent throughout his life, and in the 1820s he invented and attempted to sell an early internal combustion engine. He failed to attract buyers, but beginning in the 1890s, many automobile inventors credited his work as an inspiration.
This model of Morey’s original steam engine comes from the Morey family, and is one of the longest-tenured objects in our collections.