[Arran]

I'd say go either to an article published, I think, in IEEE several years ago, a great article with many details about him developing his CW, including the generator, or go to Wikipedia, whose article on him is not bad either.

But he was a phenomenal guy.
And even though he reaped little from his inventions (RCA settled with him for enough money for him to comfortably live in the estate he bought) I think one of the sweetest revenge moments on his rivals like Marconi, who laughed at him, was when Marconi had to buy the license from him for CW, therby admitting defeat.

 He had judgements and made settlements made with a number of big names of the era, including Lee DeForest, unlike Deforest though Fessenden, as you say, never ended up broke. I have more respect for Deforest then Marconi though, Marconi was basically just a tinkerer with some connections in the British government through his mother, whereas Deforest, as litigious as he was, was a fairly earnest researcher and experimenter into various notions for improved wireless detectors when he stumbled across the triode, what he called an "Audion". He even made his Audions available to radio amateurs and experimenters before he nailed down some contracts with the U.S Navy.
 What many people don't realize is that Fessenden held literally hundreds of patents, 350-400 or so by the time he was through, including some very important ones, but his name was never recited off by school children, nor was he given any heroic fanfare in movies. The difference being is that Tom Edison invented the phonograph, and bought the rights to the incandescent light bulb from Woodward and Evans (no I am not making that up), then credit was given to him for inventing it. As the guy on the street what a light bulb or phonograph is, they know, ask them what continuous wave or heterodyning is then they would not.
Regards
Arran