Education
Born "Henry Steer" in Dartmouth, England in 1779, Steers apprenticed for 7 years for Newman of New Quay to learn his trade.
Born "Henry Steer" in Dartmouth, England in 1779, Steers apprenticed for 7 years for Newman of New Quay to learn his trade.
He was afterwards connected the Construction Department of the Royal Naval Dockyards at Plymouth till 1815. At some point, Henry began to spell the surname "Steers" and that usage has continued in the family to this day. Two of Henry"s sons, James and George, followed in the business and later became well known for building many ships in Greenpoint, Long Island, and City.
After his work in Plymouth, Steers moved to the, and built two privateers for the French government there.
Steers accepted the invitation. He relocated with his family to in 1817, and from there to District of Columbia, where he was engaged in the Construction Department of the United State Navys.
Steers showed the commodore of the navy yard the plans from which he had constructed the cruisers for the French government, and obtained from the authorities an order to build two war vessels - the Shark and the Grampus after the same model, and also drew plans for the frigate Brandywine. Steers and Thomas also furnished plans for the construction of an immense ship house and an inclined plane by means of which they were successful in hauling up the frigate Congress for repairs.
In 1824 the two ship builders came to and built at the foot of Tenth Street on the East River the first ship railway ever seen in the United States.
lieutenant consisted of rails laid on an inclined plane upon which a cradle was run for the purpose of drawing vessels up out of the water in order to repair them and in consideration of their enterprise the Legislature granted to the railway company a charter for a bank to last "as long as grass grows and water runs". Thus was founded the Dry Dock Bank, later known as the Eleventh Ward Bank. The only other institution that ever received such a charter was the Manhattan Company.
Mr James Rich Steers has been a stockholder in that bank more than fifty years.
