WHITESIDE, Peter, patriot, born in Puten, England, in 1752; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in December, 1828. He came to Philadelphia, arid was for many years one of the foremost merchants in that city, becoming the partner of Robert Morris. He was a friend of Washington, and at the opening of the Revolution declined the post of aide-de-camp on his staff. During the struggle he advanced a large part of his fortune to procure shoes for the Continental army. Subsequently Washington sent him on a mission to France to arrange for better commercial intercourse between that country and the United States. About the time that John Fitch and James Rumsey were trying their experiments on steam navigation, Whiteside and two friends constructed a side-wheel steamboat in Philadelphia, and tried it successfully on Schuylkill river. With Robert Morris, and his brother, William Whiteside, a wealthy tea-merchant, he sent out the first trading-ship from this hemisphere to the East Indies, the three realizing jointly $30,000 from the venture. In his house in Philadelphia he often entertained Washington, the French exiles, and other men of eminence.