Samuel Denniston

Samuel Denniston (1772-1852) was an American pioneer who, while resident at Grand Island, Erie Co., New York during the early 19th century, reputedly claimed to have discovered the principle of perpetual motion. Denniston reportedly offered Colonel James Cronk, the leader of military expedition to expel settlers at Grand Island in 1819, a share in his discovery if he was allowed to remain;^[W] and, in 1827, Denniston had entered into an agreement with Jas. Higy, a mechanic at Black Rock township, Erie Co., New York, to construct the machine.^[VS]

Press Coverage

• "The Principle of Perpetual Motion — DISCOVERED!", Black Rock Gazette (Black Rock, NY): 2, 23 Dec. 1826, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121548478/the-principle-of-perpetual-motion/ 
• "Perpetual Motion.", Black Rock Gazette (Black Rock, NY): 3, 7 Apr. 1827, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121551063/perpetual-motion/ 

Sources

• Wilgus, Nathaniel (1869), Memoir of an Expedition to Grand Island in December 1819 to Remove Trespassers , https://www.worldcat.org/title/185027098
• Van Schaack, Henry Cruger (1882), Reminiscences of a Four Years Residence on the Niagara Frontier, 1823 to 1827 , https://www.worldcat.org/title/174146108