John (1743) Fitch Sold at Auction Prices

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      • John Nugent Fitch [ORCHID STUDIES] Nine hand-colored lithographs
        Mar. 31, 2020

        John Nugent Fitch [ORCHID STUDIES] Nine hand-colored lithographs

        Est: $800 - $1,200

        John Nugent Fitch (1840-1927) [ORCHID STUDIES] Nine hand-colored lithographs, with good or full margins, framed. Sight of largest sheet 18 x 11 inches C Property of an Elegant Lady

        DOYLE Auctioneers & Appraisers
      • 1777-Dated, JOHN FITCH Signed Document Inventor, Granted First Steamship Patent
        Aug. 27, 2016

        1777-Dated, JOHN FITCH Signed Document Inventor, Granted First Steamship Patent

        Est: $5,000 - $7,000

        Autographs "John Fitch" Signed Document Granted First U.S. Patent For The Steamboat "...bound unto the Honourable John Hancock Esqr. President of the Continental Congress..." JOHN FITCH (1743-1798). Famous American Clockmaker, Brassworker, Silversmith and Credited as the Inventor, Granted the First Official Patent in 1791 for a Steam Powered Ship in the United States. October 10, 1777-Dated Revolutionary War Period, Partly-Printed Document Signed, "John Fitch" and "Eleazer Carey" at Windham, Connecticut, Choice Very Fine. It measures 12" x 7" with its two wax and paper .75" Seals intact, completed in brown ink upon fine quality laid period paper. Old collection number paper tag in the upper right corner appears easily removable. This Exceedingly Rare form of Document is an official agreement to Substitute Servitude in the American Army for a large monetary debt. Fully transcribed it reads: "Know all MEN by these PRESENTS, That we John Fitch and Eleazer Carey -- Both of Windham in the County of Windham in the State of Connecticut -- are holden and stand bound unto the Honourable John Hancock Esqr. President of the Continental Congress, or his Successor in Office, The sum of five thousand Dollars --To which Payment well and truly to be made and done, We the said John Fitch & Eleazer Carey do bind ourselves, our Heirs, Executors, and Administrators, firmly by these Presents. Signed with our Hand, and sealed with our Seals: Dated at Windham October the Tenth - Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy seven - - The Condition of this OBLIGATION is such, That if the above-bounden John Fitch - shall well and truly execute the Office and Trust of an ASSISTANT COMMISSARY of ISSUES, in the American Army, according to the Resolutions of Congress, regulating that Department; then this present Obligation to be void and of none Effect, but in Default thereof, shall stand, remain and abide in full Force, Strength, Power and Virtue" Signed at lower right "John Fitch" and "Eleazer Carey" each with a small wax and paper seal. At lower left, "Signed, Sealed and Delivered in Presence of 'Vinc Eldermin' and 'Joseph Baker.'" Reverse side Docket reads, "John Fitch & Eleazer Carey's Bond October 10, 1777" Countersigned by the witnesses Vinc Eldermin and Joseph Baker. Usual folds, even toning; overall very nice having no separations or repairs. An exceedingly rare and unusual historical Revolutionary War Document, mentioning being "...bound unto John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress" being the first of this form we have encountered. Extraordinary! On August 26, 1791, John Fitch was Granted a United States Patent for the Steamboat. Four years earlier, on August 22, 1787, John Fitch demonstrated the first successful steamboat, launching a forty-five-foot craft on the Delaware River in the presence of delegates from the Constitutional Convention. John Fitch (1743-1798) built the First recorded Steam Powered Ship in the United States, in 1786. The first successful trial run of his steamboat was made on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787, in the presence of Delegates from the Constitutional Convention. John Fitch was Granted a Patent on August 26, 1791, after a battle with James Rumsey, who had created a similar invention. Fitch's idea would be turned profitable by Robert Fulton, decades later. In the autumn of 1777, Fitch sold beer and tobacco to the British, an act that caused General George Washington to greatly despised him for his facilitating the British.

        Early American History Auctions
      • 1777-Dated, JOHN FITCH Signed Document
        Apr. 25, 2015

        1777-Dated, JOHN FITCH Signed Document

        Est: $5,000 - $7,000

        Autographs "John Fitch" Signed Document Granted First U.S. Patent For The Steamboat "...bound unto the Honourable John Hancock Esqr. President of the Continental Congress..." JOHN FITCH (1743-1798). Famous American Clockmaker, Brassworker, Silversmith and Credited as the Inventor, Granted the First Official Patent in 1791 for a Steam Powered Ship in the United States. October 10, 1777-Dated Revolutionary War Period, Partly-Printed Document Signed, "John Fitch" and "Eleazer Carey" at Windham, Connecticut, Choice Very Fine. It measures 12" x 7" with its two wax and paper .75" Seals intact, completed in brown ink upon fine quality laid period paper. Old collection number paper tag in the upper right corner appears easily removable. This Exceedingly Rare form of Document is an official agreement to Substitute Servitude in the American Army for a large monetary debt. Fully transcribed it reads: "Know all MEN by these PRESENTS, That we John Fitch and Eleazer Carey -- Both of Windham in the County of Windham in the State of Connecticut -- are holden and stand bound unto the Honourable John Hancock Esqr. President of the Continental Congress, or his Successor in Office, The sum of five thousand Dollars --To which Payment well and truly to be made and done, We the said John Fitch & Eleazer Carey do bind ourselves, our Heirs, Executors, and Administrators, firmly by these Presents. Signed with our Hand, and sealed with our Seals: Dated at Windham October the Tenth - Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy seven - - The Condition of this OBLIGATION is such, That if the above-bounden John Fitch - shall well and truly execute the Office and Trust of an ASSISTANT COMMISSARY of ISSUES, in the American Army, according to the Resolutions of Congress, regulating that Department; then this present Obligation to be void and of none Effect, but in Default thereof, shall stand, remain and abide in full Force, Strength, Power and Virtue" Signed at lower right "John Fitch" and "Eleazer Carey" each with a small wax and paper seal. At lower left, "Signed, Sealed and Delivered in Presence of 'Vinc Eldermin' and 'Joseph Baker.'" Reverse side Docket reads, "John Fitch & Eleazer Carey's Bond October 10, 1777" Countersigned by the witnesses Vinc Eldermin and Joseph Baker. Usual folds, even toning; overall very nice having no separations or repairs. An exceedingly rare and unusual historical Revolutionary War Document, mentioning being "...bound unto John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress" being the first of this form we have encountered. Extraordinary! On August 26, 1791, John Fitch was Granted a United States Patent for the Steamboat. Four years earlier, on August 22, 1787, John Fitch demonstrated the first successful steamboat, launching a forty-five-foot craft on the Delaware River in the presence of delegates from the Constitutional Convention. John Fitch (1743-1798) built the First recorded Steam Powered Ship in the United States, in 1786. The first successful trial run of his steamboat was made on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787, in the presence of Delegates from the Constitutional Convention. John Fitch was Granted a Patent on August 26, 1791, after a battle with James Rumsey, who had created a similar invention. Fitch's idea would be turned profitable by Robert Fulton, decades later. In the autumn of 1777, Fitch sold beer and tobacco to the British, an act that caused General George Washington to greatly despised him for his facilitating the British.

        Early American History Auctions
      • Fitch John (1743-1798)
        Feb. 02, 2008

        Fitch John (1743-1798)

        Est: $1,000 - $1,500

        Fitch, John (1743-1798) Autograph manuscript, two full pages, signed twice John Fitch, probably East Windsor, CT. "Notes on Lying"; the text of the manuscript contemplates the act of lying, and whether the act can be justified 'according to reason' or through use of the scriptures. Small hole from ink erosion; crease marks with one small tear. 13 x 7-5/8 in (33 x 19.4 cm)

        Weschler's
      • A RARE AMERICAN SILVER CASTER, JOHN FITCH, TRENTON, NJ, CIRCA 1775
        Oct. 07, 2006

        A RARE AMERICAN SILVER CASTER, JOHN FITCH, TRENTON, NJ, CIRCA 1775

        Est: $6,000 - $8,000

        weight 5oz 6dwt (168g) measurements height 6 1/2in. (16.5cm) of baluster form on circular foot, the domed cover pierced and engraved with lattice panels and flame finial, base engraved S V V C, marked in center of base J·F in rectangle NOTE John Fitch (1743-1798) first established himself in Trenton in May, 1769 after having worked as a watch repairer and brassworker in his home town of East Windsor in Hartford County, CT. He received his silversmith training through John Wilson, and shortly after was able to purchase Wilson's tools and take over the remnants of his business, which had apparently failed as a result of Wilson's alcoholism. By 1776, Fitch had created a successful business and had hired additional nine journeymen producing all varieties of hollowware vessels in addition to sword hilts and military equipment. In the summer of that year he joined Captain William Tucker's company as a lieutenant, and was named armorer of his battalion. In December, before the Battle of Trenton, Fitch's King Street shop was ransacked and destroyed by the British. He fled to the Ohio River Basin where in March, 1782 he was captured by Indians on the Muskingum River. It was during his time as a prisoner that he first developed the concept of a steam powered ship. Fitch's first steamboat was built in 1787 and featured a rack of canoe paddles inspired by those used on Indian war canoes. Fitch was unable to gain monetary support from George Washington, but did receive funding from private investors. In 1790 he launched a revamped version of his steamboat, and was granted a US patent a year later. While Fitch's ships were mechanically successful, they failed commercially. Penniless and prone to bouts of severe depression, Fitch eventually followed in his mentor John Wilson's footsteps and turned to alcohol to relieve his woes. He died in Kentucky having taken a "Roman's remedy for the ills of life". Although Fitch's account books indicate that his shop in Trenton was prosperous and his journeymen amply supplied with commissions there are few know surviving examples of his work. As of the publication of Silversmiths of New Jersey, 1700-1825 in 1949, Carl M. Williams recounts that only three cream pots, eight tablespoons, two teaspoons and a sugar tongs have been attributed to Fitch's shop.

        Sotheby's
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