Telegraph Service in 1800s United States by Zina Abbott

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message.

Although there were optical forms of telegraphy used starting in the late 1700s, the first use of of telegraphy, as we know it today, began in the mid-19th century.

Early Cooke and Wheatstone double-needle railway

Telegraphy was first taken up in Britain in the form of the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, which used five magnetic needles that could be pointed around a panel of letters and numbers by using an electric current. Initially, it was used primarily to aid railway signaling. A different system, developed in the United States by Samuel Morse, soon followed.

Samuel Morse was born in Massachusetts and educated at Yale University. After learning about electromagnetism during a voyage from Europe to the United States, he later learned more from American physicist, Joseph Henry. He collaborated with Gale and Vail, Morse to produce a single-circuit telegraph that worked by pushing the operator key down to complete the electric circuit of the battery. This action sent the electric signal across a wire to a receiver at the other end. All the system needed was a key, a battery, wire, and a receiver.

Samuel Morse also developed a code for universal telegraphy communication.

Western Union became the giant in telegraph communication. In the following is a timeline of telegraph development, although a few other telegraph companies are mentioned, much of it follows the progress made by Western Union.

A Morse key c. 1900

1843 – Morse and Vail received funding from the U.S. Congress to set up and test their telegraph system between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland.

1844 – On May 24, 1844, Morse sent Vail the historic first message: “What hath God wrought!” From there, aided by continuing innovations, the telegraph system spread across America and the world.

1851 – Western Union was initially founded as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York. The company changed its name to the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1856 after merging with several other telegraph companies.

1856 – The Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York. The company changed its name to the Western Union Telegraph Company after merging with several other telegraph companies.

1857 – Western Union participated in the 'Treaty of Six Nations', an attempt by six of the largest telegraph firms to create a system of regional telegraphy monopolies with a shared network of main lines.

1865 – Morse Code was adopted internationally.      

1860 – Western Union expanded through purchasing smaller companies until its lines ranged from the Mississippi River to the Ohio River.

 

Distributing poles for First Transcontinental Telegraph

1861 – Western Union had completed the first transcontinental telegraph line, which connected the Union from the West Coast to the East Coast. The first telegram was sent to President Abraham Lincoln. This provided rapid communication during the Civil War. Western Union had laid enough wire to become the first international telegraph company.

1866 – Western Union moved its headquarters from Rochester to New York City. It introduced stock tickers as a method to speed New York Stock Exchange quotes to brokerage firms.

Also in 1866, Western Union acquired the American Telegraph Company & the United States Telegraph Company, its two main competitors. For a time, this gave the company a virtual monopoly over the American telegraphy industry.

1867 – While pursuing its goal of connecting North America to Europe by Telegraph, Western Union also sponsored an expedition to survey a route across Russian-owned Alaska and Siberia. As a result of their negotiating for land rights with the Russian government, Western Union helped broker the sale of Alaska to the United States on March 30, 1867.

1870 – Since prior to 1870 time was not yet standardized across the country, Western Union developed its own time service.

1871 - Starting in February, Western Union’s network grew exponentially, allowing customers to send money between New York, Chicago and Boston using the Western Union money transfer services.

1874 – Thomas Edison developed the Quadruplex system, which allowed for four messages to be transmitted simultaneously using the same wire.

 

1877 – The nation's tallest building was built by Western Union. It had a time ball at the top, which dropped at noon on a signal telegraphed from the United States Naval Observatory.

1879 – Western Union briefly dabbled in the telephone field when it attempted to launch a rival telephony system before settling a patent lawsuit with Bell. After it lost a legal battle with Bell Telephone in 1879, it ceased pursuing telephone technology and concentrated solely on telegraphy.

1881 – Financier Jay Gould orchestrated a merger of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company with Western Union. By doing so, he ended up with a controlling share of the merged company.

1883 – Overall, the public considered Western Union to oversee the most reliable regulation of time. In 1883, the official start of Standard Railway Time was signaled from the descent of the Western Union time ball.

1884 – Western Union gradually absorbed more than 500 telegraph companies throughout the nation, growing so much by 1884 that it was included in the original 11 stocks tracked in the first Dow-Jones Average. When the Dow Jones Railroad Average stock market index for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was created in 1884, Western Union was one of the original eleven companies to be included.

1893 telegram about astronomical event

1900 –a Western Union operated a million miles of telegraph lines and two international undersea cables.

 

In my recent book, Jocelyn’s Wedding Dilemma, one chapter in particular involves numerous exchanges of telegrams. This book is available for sale in ebook and paperback, plus it is also available at no additional cost with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICKHERE

 

 

In next book, just barely announced, is Wyatt’s New Bride, is now on pre-order and will be released on September 26, 2024. To find the book description and purchase options, please CLICK HERE

 

 

 

Sources:

https://www.zippia.com/western-union-careers-11543/history/#

https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/telegraph

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Union

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraphy