Dale’s Daily Data: Telegraph

Checking our history journal – it was on this date in 1838 that Samuel Morse demonstrated his telegraph system for the first time in Morristown, New Jersey. Most history books will tell you that Morse invented the telegraph and revolutionized communication.  The real story though is a guy by the name of Joe Henry who studied the work of Benjamin Franklin and enjoyed experimenting with electricity was the one who invented the telegraph.  He even showed Morse how the telegraph worked.  But it was Morse who invented the system of dots and dashes representing numbers and letters.  He spent 6 years working on the system and he went to Congress to convince them to spend the money to build the first telegraph line in the United States connecting Washington and Baltimore.

 When it was ready to go, Morse sent the first official message over the telegraph line – typing in “What hath God wrought”.  In the end, it was Morse who got the patent and all the credit, even though he tried to convince people Joe Henry was the one who invented the telegraph. 

The telegraph system continued to grow across the Northeast with what was originally called the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company shortening its name to Western Union.   In 1861, Western Union completed the first telegraph line across the United States.  Five years later the first communication line was laid across the Atlantic Ocean. 

Eventually Western Union was replaced by long distance phone service, faxes and e-mail.  The final Western Union telegram was delivered in January, 2006. 

Source:  History Channel