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Sylvester H. Roper (Francestown, New Hampshire 24 November 1823 – 1 June 1896 Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an inventor from Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, and a pioneering builder of early automobiles and motorcycles. In 1863 he built a steam carriage, one of the earliest automobiles.〔See also: * (“An improved steam carriage,” ) ''Scientific American'', new series, vol. 8, no. 11, page 165 (March 14, 1863). * (“New steam carriage,” ) ''Scientific American'', new series, vol. 9, no 22, page 341 (November 28, 1863).〕 The Roper steam velocipede of 1867–1869 may have been the first motorcycle, for which he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2002. He is also the inventor of the shotgun choke and a revolver repeating shotgun. ==Early life== Sylvester H. Roper's father, Merrick, was a cabinetmaker, born 1792 in Sterling, Massachusetts. Merrick came to Francestown, New Hampshire in 1807 and married Sylvester's mother Susan Fairbanks in 1817.〔 Sylvester had an older brother who was a housepainter, two younger sisters, and a younger brother who became a machinist at the Singer Sewing Machine Manufactory in Boston, then later a jeweler.〔 Sylvester Roper was born on 24 November 1823.〔 From an early age he displayed mechanical talent.〔 At age 12 he made a stationary steam engine, even though he had never seen one before in person; this invention was kept on display in the laboratory of the Francestown Academy.〔 At age 14, he built a locomotive engine, and only afterward saw such an engine for the first time in Nashua.〔 Roper left Francestown at a young age and worked as a machinist, first in Nashua, then in Manchester, New York,〔The history is unclear if this refers to Manchester (town), New York, Manchester (village), New York, or Manchester, New Hampshire and New York state〕 and Worcester.〔 He married Almira D. Hill on 20 April 1845 in Providence, Rhode Island.〔 In 1854 he moved to Boston.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sylvester H. Roper」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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