He was a rich man, a man of family and of influence.

His father's house--afterwards his own---at 7 Broadway, facing Bowling Green--was one of the mansions of early New York, and his own summer residence on Castle Point, Hoboken, just across the Hudson, was one of the landmarks of the great river.

For many years John Stevens crossed that river; most often in an open boat propelled by sail or by men at the oars.

Being naturally of a mechanical turn, he sought to make the crossing easier.

To his library were coming the prints that told of James Watt and the steam engine in England, and John Fitch's boat had interested him.
Robert Fulton's Clermont, of which we shall speak presently, was undoubtedly the pioneer of practicable steamboats.