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William Jones and His Unsuccessful Steamboat Venture of 1819
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2012
Extract
In connection with some research in the field of banking history the author recently came across the William Jones Papers, acquired a few years ago by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. These records, which are of unusual interest in many respects, are the basis of the present essay.
William Jones (1760-1831), as is generally known, was a Philadelphia shipping merchant and, during the War of 1812, both Madison's Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the Treasury pro tem. In 1816 he became, for political reasons, the first president of the second Bank of the United States, but he resigned as early as January, 1819, after an inefficient and unsuccessful administration.
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References
1 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has graciously permitted the use of the material reproduced herewith.
2 For the early history of steamboat building and steamboating see the following: Albion, Robert G., The Rise of New York Port (New York, 1939), Chap, VIIIGoogle Scholar; Flexner, James T., Steamboats Come True. American Inventors in Action (New York, 1944)Google Scholar; Hall, Henry, Report on the Shipbuilding Industry of the United States, U. S. Tenth Census, vol. 8 (Washington, 1884)Google Scholar; George B. Merrick and William R. Tibbals, “Genesis of Steam Navigation on Western Rivers” in Proceedings State Hist. Soc. of Wisconsin, 1911; Preble, George H., A Chronological History of the Origin and Development of Steam Navigation, 2d ed. (Philadelphia, 1895)Google Scholar; Turnbull, Archibald D., John Stevens: An American Record (New York, 1928), Chaps, v–vi, ix–xv, xix.Google Scholar
3 To William Key Bond of Chillicothe, Ohio, Mar. 21, 1819. The last sentence is crossed out in the draft of the letter.
4 Biographical material on the men has not come to the attention of the writer.
5 Humphreys to Jones, “Wednesday” [April, 1819].
6 Humphreys warned Jones to make sure that the agreed price included the boiler and the wheels, since it was customary for engine builders to charge extra for the boiler. This contract should be compared with that which John Stevens made for building the Phoenix (see Turnbull, op. cit., pp. 236–237).
7 Letter of Nov. 15, 1819.
8 Jones paid the balance which he owed as late as February 13, 1821, a fact which certainly does not speak for a profitable outcome of the venture. Nevertheless he remained interested in steamboat building. In 1820 he submitted to one John Vaughan a “Description and Plan of steamboat for the coast and harbours of Brazil from Rio Janario to Pernambuco,” a project which was also discussed at Washington at that time. Jones' offer was based on information received from his former partner Humphreys under the date of May 3, 1820.
9 In 1800 Oliver Evans, the engine builder, had estimated the cost of a workable steamboat at $15,000 and Robert Fulton expected in 1808 that his second boat would cost that amount. See Turnbull, op. cit., pp. 176, 254.