Beneath this monument are interred the mortal remains of John Fitch, Soldier and Inventor, Born at South Windsor, Connecticut, January 21, 1743: Died at Bardstown, Kentucky, July 2, 1798.

At the outbreak of the American Revolution appointed a Lieutenant of a New Jersey company of the First Regiment, and later employed as Armorer for the troops by the Committee of Safety for the Province of New Jersey. In the fall of 1785 he presented drawings of his proposed steamboat to the American Philosophical Society and endeavored to finance experiments by selling maps of his explorations and by petitioning the assemblies of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania for assistance. On the Delaware River, August 22, 1787, John Fitch launched and successfully operated a steamboat before a distinguished gathering which included the framers of the American Constitution then in session during the years 1786 - 7. Laws granting Fitch exclusive rights to navigate by steam were enacted by several states. On July 26, 1788, he launched another steamboat using a stern paddle wheel and on April 16, 1790, his steamboat established and maintained scheduled sailings on the Delaware. Congress granted John Fitch a patent August 26, 1791 signed by President George Washington. King Louis of France likewise granted the American inventor a patent on November 20th of the same year. In 1796 Fitch constructed still another steamboat using a form of screw propeller. He reaped neither profit nor glory from his inventions, which contributed toward the revolution of navigation.

)Erected A.D. 1927 in compliance with the Act of Congress Approved February 12, 1926.

Reproduction of a model made by John Fitch in 1786, now in the National Museum at Washington

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