Rumseyan Society.

The Rumseyan Society was founded in Shepherdstown, W. Va., in 1906, to honor James Rumsey (1743?-1792) as the inventor of the first steam-powered boat. Rumsey publically demonstrated his steam-powered vessel on the Potomac River at Shepherdstown in 1787, although documentation shows he had developed the concept several years earlier. In 1789 he went to Philadelphia to solicit support for his invention. There the first Rumsey Society was formed, with Benjamin Franklin as its president. In 1792 Rumsey went to London to demonstrate his invention before the Royal Society of Arts, but unfortunately suffered a stroke and died before the demonstration. After his death, John Fitch and Robert Fulton each claimed the idea of the application of steam power to navigation as his own. The Rumseyan Society was founded to create a fitting monument to Rumsey and to fix his place in history. A monument was erected at Shepherdstown in 1915.