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Contribution #70 of 365
Benjamin Thornton Montgomery
Inventor of a Shallow-Water Steamboat Propeller Design
1850s
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Mechanic, inventor, and entrepreneur Benjamin Thornton Montgomery developed a propeller design intended to improve steamboat navigation through shallow water. After emancipation, he became a major agricultural and business leader, applying technical skill and enterprise to economic development in Mississippi.