| 1840-1872
| 1791-1839 |
Pages from Morse's daguerreotype notebook, 1840, Notebooks---Photography,
art, and miscellaneous (Series: Diaries and Notebooks) |
| 1840 |
|
Morse is granted a United States patent for his telegraph. |
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Morse opens a daguerreotype portrait studio in New York with
John William Draper. Morse teaches the process to several others, including
Mathew Brady, the future Civil War photographer. |
| 1841 |
Spring |
Morse runs again as a nativist candidate for mayor of New
York City. A forged letter appears in a newspaper announcing that Morse
has withdrawn from the election. In the confusion, he receives fewer than
one hundred votes. |
| 1842 |
October |
Morse experiments with underwater transmissions. Two miles
of cable is submerged between the Battery and Governor's Island in New York
Harbor and signals are sent successfully. |
|
| 1843 |
March 3 |
Congress votes to appropriate $30,000 for an experimental
telegraph line from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Maryland. Construction
of the telegraph line begins several months later. Initially, the cable
is placed in lead pipes underground, using a machine designed by Ezra Cornell;
when that fails, above-ground poles are used. |
Worksheet showing cost estimates of telegraph poles, ca. 1843, Bound volume---13
September 1843-13 January 1844 (Series: General Correspondence and Related
Documents) |
| 1844 |
May 24 |
Morse sends the telegraph message "What hath God wrought?"
from the Supreme Court chamber in the Capitol in Washington, D.C., to the
B & O Railroad Depot in Baltimore, Maryland. |
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First telegraph message, 24 May 1844 (Series: Miscellany) |
| 1845 |
January 3 |
In England, John Tawell is arrested for the murder of his
mistress. He escapes by train to London, but his description is wired ahead
by telegraph and police are waiting for him when he arrives. |
|
| |
Spring |
Morse selects Amos Kendall, former U.S. Postmaster-General,
to be his agent. Vail and Gale agree to take on Kendall as their agent as
well. In May, Kendall and F. O. J. Smith create the Magnetic Telegraph Company
to extend the telegraph from Baltimore to Philadelphia and New York.. |
|
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Summer |
Morse returns to Europe to promote and secure his telegraph
rights. |
|
| 1846 |
Summer |
The telegraph line is extended from Baltimore to Philadelphia.
New York is now connected to Washington, D.C., Boston, and Buffalo. |
|
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Different telegraph companies begin to appear, sometimes
building competing lines side by side. Morse's patent claims are threatened,
especially by the telegraph companies of Henry O'Reilly. |
|
| 1847 |
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Morse buys Locust Grove, an estate overlooking the Hudson
River near Poughkeepsie, New York. |
|
| 1848 |
August 10 |
Morse marries Sarah Elizabeth Griswold, a second cousin twenty-six
years his junior. |
|
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The Associated Press is formed by six New York City daily
newspapers in order to pool the expense of telegraphing foreign news. |
|
| 1849 |
July 25 |
Morse's fourth child, Samuel Arthur Breese Morse, is born. |
|
| 1850 |
|
There are an estimated twelve thousand miles of telegraph
lines run by twenty different companies in the United States. |
|
| 1851 |
April 8 |
Fifth child, Cornelia (Leila) Livingston Morse, is born. |
|
| 1852 |
|
A submarine telegraph cable is successfully laid across the
English Channel; direct London to Paris communications begin. |
|
| 1853 |
January 31 |
Sixth child, William Goodrich Morse, is born. |
|
| 1854 |
|
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds Morse's patent claims for
the telegraph. All U.S. companies that use his system begin to pay Morse
royalties. |
Patent Commissioner's extension of Morse's telegraph patent, 19 June 1854,
Bound volume---28 March-11 August 1854 (Series: General Correspondence and
Related Documents) |
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|
Morse runs unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate for Congress
in the Poughkeepsie district, New York. |
|
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Morse's telegraph patent is extended for seven years. |
|
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The British and French build telegraph lines to use in the
Crimean War. The governments are now able to communicate directly with commanders
in the field, and newspaper correspondents are able to wire reports from
the front. |
|
| 1856 |
|
The New York and Mississippi Printing Telegraph Company unites
with a number of other smaller telegraph companies to form the Western Union
Telegraph Company. |
|
| 1857 |
March 29 |
Morse's seventh and last child, Edward Lind Morse, is born. |
|
| 1857-1858 |
|
Morse serves as an electrician for Cyrus W. Field's company
during its attempts to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable. The
first three tries end in failure. |
Letter from Morse to his wife describing attempts to lay the transatlantic
cable, 12 August 1857, Bound volume---9 July 1857-2 April 1858 (Series:
General Correspondence and Related Documents) |
| 1858 |
August 16 |
The first transatlantic cable message is sent from Queen
Victoria to President Buchanan. However, while this fourth attempt to establish
an Atlantic cable is successful, it stops working less than a month after
its completion. |
| |
September 1 |
The governments of ten European countries award Morse four
hundred thousand French francs for his invention of the telegraph. |
| 1859 |
|
The Magnetic Telegraph Company becomes a part of Field's
American Telegraph Company. |
|
| 1861 |
|
The Civil War begins. The telegraph is used by both the Union
and Confederate forces during the war. Stringing up telegraph wires becomes
an important part of military operations. |
[Petersburg, Va. U.S. Military Telegraph battery wagon, Army of the Potomac
headquarters].
Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction number: LC-B8171-7934 DLC |
| |
October 24 |
Western Union completes the first transcontinental telegraph
line to California. |
| 1865 |
|
The International Telegraph Union is founded to set rules
and standards for the telegraph industry. |
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Another attempt at laying the transatlantic cable fails;
the cable breaks after two-thirds of it is laid. |
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Morse becomes a charter trustee of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie,
New York. |
|
| 1866 |
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Morse sails with his second wife and their four children
to France, where they remain until 1868. |
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The Atlantic Cable is finally successfully laid. The broken
cable from the previous year's attempt is raised and repaired; soon two
cables are operational. By 1880, an estimated one hundred thousand miles
of undersea telegraph cable have been laid. |
Last letter Morse wrote before his death, to F. J. Mead, 14 March 1872,
Letterbook---24 June 1871-14 March 1872 (Series: Letterbooks) |
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Western Union merges with the American Telegraph Company
and becomes the dominant telegraph company in the United States. |
| 1867 |
|
Morse serves as a United States commissioner at the Paris
Universal Exposition. |
| 1871 |
June 10 |
A statue of Morse is unveiled in Central Park in New York
City. With much fanfare, Morse sends a "farewell" telegraph message around
the world from New York. |
| 1872 |
April 2 |
Morse dies in New York City at eighty years of age. He
is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn. |
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1791-1839 |
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