History tells us that the steam engine was invented by Robert Fulton. However, it was actually invented by a man named Samuel Morey. In 1793, he fitted a paddle wheel and steam engine to a small boat and powered up and down the Connecticut River.
Legend has it that this was done on a Sunday morning, when the town was at church, to avoid ridicule if he failed. Credit for the first successful steamboat line goes to Robert Fulton and his financier, Chancellor Robert Livingston. This was a cause for contention, as Morey claims that they took some of his ideas.
Captain Morey was so angered, that he sunk his boat, the Aunt Sally to the bottom of Lake Morey (named in honor of Samuel Morey) in Fairlee, VT, and on a still, moonlit night, the Aunt Sally rises to the lake's surface and floats without sound or ripple, as the ghost of Captain Morey watches from shore.
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