Morey, Samuel

Morey, Samuel (1762–1843) inventor; born in Hebron, Conn. He was a successful lumberman and became the town engineer for Bellows Falls, Vt. He and his older brother experimented with steamboats after 1790; none were commercially successful but Morey later claimed that Robert Fulton had stolen his ideas. He took out more than 20 patents in all, some of which were well ahead of their time—most notably his American Water Burner (1817–18) and the first American patent (1826) for an internal combustion engine.