Historian Don Sharp recently re-emphasized the importance of Lacombe area resident James Rumsey and his contributions to the founding American republic. Rumsey was friends with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, served as George Washington's Chief Engineer, and contributed much to the prosperity of the young country by inventing steam-engine propelled watercraft. That was a discovery that only a few years later led to steamboats carrying cargo up and down the Mississippi River, opening up the vast Midwest to settlement.
While much is known about the last 12 years of Rumsey's life, Don Sharp has discovered a wealth of information about Rumsey's early life, how he was born in Bristol, England, how he fought in the French and Indian Wars, and how he ran a pioneer trading post in Illinois before coming down through Natchez, then to New Orleans, and finally to Lacombe in St. Tammany Parish. At that time this area was part of British West Florida, which has now become known as "The Fourteenth Colony."
Sharp's research helps correct some of the misinformation that had been given out regarding Rumsey's early life, and Sharp even explained why the misinformation was formulated in the first place by persons wishing to protect his legacy.
Rumsey, working in secret in Lacombe, explored various ways in which the newly-invented steam engine could be used to propel boats upstream against the current, which was a major problem at the time. To keep his secret designs safe, he moved from Lacombe to Pearl River Island at the mouth of the Pearl River. One of his visitors there was William Bartram, noted botanist, who stayed with Rumsey for a month while recovering from an illness.
When the American Revolution broke out, St. Tammany was a British colony subject to attacks, so with the help of some high-ranking Louisiana politicians, Rumsey was able to re-located the Baltimore, MD. That is where he perfected his steam-propelled watercraft, demonstrating it to the public for the very first time on the Potomac River in Shepherdstown, Virginia, in 1778.
Ten years later, Benjamin Franklin formed The Rumserian Society to honor the inventor and study his discoveries.
Presentation by Don Sharp in two videos...
