Background
Isaac Newton was born on January 10, 1794 in Schodack, New York, United States. He was the son of Abner and Alice (Baker) Newton.
Isaac Newton was born on January 10, 1794 in Schodack, New York, United States. He was the son of Abner and Alice (Baker) Newton.
In 1826 he was associated with several others in establishing the first line of tow boats on the Hudson.
In 1839 he brought out the Balloon, a small passenger steamer which attracted attention because of its speed.
He then associated himself with Daniel Drew in the promotion of the People's Line and became president and manager, while Drew became treasurer. For this line he designed the North America and South America, built in 1840 and 1841, which set the style for river boats of the day.
The People's Line Association was incorporated in 1854 as the New Jersey Steamboat Company.
In 1855 the Isaac Newton and the New World were renovated and lengthened and put on night service.
Newton was also interested in a railroad connection to the Great Lakes, and was for a time president of the Mohawk & Hudson, resigning in 1846. He extended his steamboat interests to the Great Lakes, and in 1854 the Western World and Plymouth Rock were built after his design by John Englis & Son of New York who sent their crew to a Buffalo yard to do the work. These were for a time the finest steamers on the lakes. Altogether Newton is said to have designed and supervised the construction of more than ninety barges, river boats, and ocean steamers.
He lived most of his adult life in New York City and was a member and long a Sunday-school teacher in the old Oliver Street Baptist Church.
Newton introduced the burning of anthracite coal, the first instance of practical success with a fuel that was both cheaper and more economical of stowage space than wood, and which was to permit rapid advances in the size and speed of boats. He designed and added to the line the Hendrick Hudson (1845), the Isaac Newton (1846), and the New World (1847), each in its turn the largest steamer on the Hudson. They were also fast boats, participating in many races which made exciting river history. He constructed the first inland river steamers to have a double tier of staterooms above the main deck, and in them Newton introduced the grand saloon extending through both decks and surrounded by galleries leading to the staterooms, a feature of river steamers which has become standard in America. The ornate saloon decorations, the gas-lighting fixtures, the rich cabin furnishings, made the boats the most popular on the river and established the success and fame of the line.
He married Hannah Humphreys Cauldwell who survived him many years, and had ten children.
