I have truly heard Paine enthusiasts declare that our "infidel" was the authentic inventor of the steamboat! In any case, he is known to have "palled" with Fulton, and certainly gave him many ideas.
There were, to be sure, annoyances.

He was, in spite of Mme.

de Bonneville's affectionate protection, still an object of persecution.
Two clergymen were especially tireless in their desire to reform this sterling reformer.

I believe their names were Milledollar and Cunningham.

Janvier tells this anecdote: "It was during Paine's last days in the little house in Greenwich that two worthy divines, the Rev.Mr.Milledollar and the Rev.Mr.Cunningham, sought to bring him to a realising sense of the error of his ways.