26 Facts About Samuel Morey

Samuel Morey was an American inventor, who worked on early internal combustion engines and was a pioneer in steamships who accumulated a total of 20 patents.

The son of a Revolutionary War Officer, he was the second of seven children born to Israel Morey and Martha Palmer and was born in Hebron, Connecticut, but moved to Orford, New Hampshire, with his family in 1768.

Samuel Morey operated a successful lumber business in Orford and Fairlee, Vermont.

Samuel Morey died in 1843, and was buried in Orford.

Samuel Morey realized that steam could be a power source in the 1780s, and he probably appreciated a steamboat's potential from work on his father's ferry and the locks he designed along the Connecticut river.

At this point, Samuel Morey considered his boat ready for commercial use and sought financial backers.

The summer after the one Samuel Morey spent at Hartford, he returned to New York and gave Livingston a ride in his boat.

Samuel Morey offered $7,000 for the rights to use his current work around New York but Morey declined the offer.

Samuel Morey had conversations with Fulton and Livingston, and Livingston even traveled to Orford to see him.

Later, Samuel Morey reportedly was aboard Fulton's boat and expressed to Fulton his displeasure that his ideas had netted Fulton much but nothing for himself.

Samuel Morey received one more steam patent in 1817 but his interest had been captured by experiments with flammable vapors, which had started some time before.

Samuel Morey noted differences in flames near knots, perhaps rich in sap, or in wet wood.

Samuel Morey's experiments are described at length over several articles in the American Journal of Science and Arts.

Samuel Morey observed that passing steam over burning coal or tar caused the flames to burn brighter and without smoke, and he theorized that the steam was decomposed in this process.

Samuel Morey contended that the temperature was insufficient to cause decomposition.

Samuel Morey was not the first to use water-gas for lighting, and his devices, including the patented 1818 American Water Burner, simply used the gas immediately instead of piping it to be burnt elsewhere, done as early as 1792 in England.

Samuel Morey apparently did not know of this advance or at least did not recognize it as the same process.

Still, Samuel Morey's device did produce more light, and there is evidence that it resulted in more efficient combustion.

Samuel Morey recognized its potential, developed an engine, and wrote an unpublished description in 1824, which he modified in 1825 and 1826.

Samuel Morey finally published and patented the idea later in that year.

Samuel Morey did mention trying direct action, and elaborated on it in other descriptions.

Samuel Morey demonstrated his engine in New York and Philadelphia and there are eyewitness reports for both.

Samuel Morey never mentioned them, and Hardenberg concludes that they did not influence Morey.

Recently, Samuel Morey's work has received renewed attention by people other than locals and engineers, in particular American comedian Jay Leno, who is an avid car collector.

Samuel Morey began steamboat experiments in 1790 and was awarded a patent in 1803 for improvements on a steam engine.

In 2004,10 of Samuel Morey's patents, including the one for the internal combustion engine, were rediscovered in the Dartmouth College archives.