first American telegraph cable mounted on wood stand
Date: 1844
Inventory Number: 1997-1-0318
Classification: Telegraph Cable
Subject:
Maker: Samuel F. B. Morse (1791 - 1892)
Maker: Alfred L. Vail (1807 - 1859)
Associate Name: Charles W. Eliot (1834 - 1926)
Cultural Region:
City of Use:
Dimensions:
wire: 0.2 × 0.2 × 5.4 cm (1/16 × 1/16 × 2 1/8 in.)
stand: 12.8 × 12.8 × 5.2 cm (5 1/16 × 5 1/16 × 2 1/16 in.)
Accessories: letter to President Eliot with envelope; card with historical description
Bibliography:
Description of the American Electro Magnetic Telegraph: Now in Operation Between the Cities of Washington and Baltimore
Description:
A piece of wire from the first telegraph line which transmitted the first practical telegraph message, according to an accompanying letter.
The wire is 11 cm. long, and is wrapped in string insulation. It is accompanied by a plain wooden stand, made of two boards, one mounted at a right angle to the other, supported by a wooden brace. The stand and wire are accompanied by a thumb tack and a push pin.
The wire and stand are accompanied by an original letter from Stephen Vail to Harvard's President Charles W. Eliot dated Dec. 24, 1924 describing the gift of the wire to Harvard and its historical significance. Stephen Vail is the son of Alfred Vail, who, together with inventor Samuel F.B. Morse, tested the first working telegraph line from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. in 1844.
The wire is 11 cm. long, and is wrapped in string insulation. It is accompanied by a plain wooden stand, made of two boards, one mounted at a right angle to the other, supported by a wooden brace. The stand and wire are accompanied by a thumb tack and a push pin.
The wire and stand are accompanied by an original letter from Stephen Vail to Harvard's President Charles W. Eliot dated Dec. 24, 1924 describing the gift of the wire to Harvard and its historical significance. Stephen Vail is the son of Alfred Vail, who, together with inventor Samuel F.B. Morse, tested the first working telegraph line from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. in 1844.
Signedunsigned
Inscribedwritten on card: (front in ink) a piece of the wire over which/passed the first practical/Telegraph Mess. / (reverse in pencil) Baltimore to Washington 1844
Historical AttributesThe first practical telegraph message was passed over this wire on July (?) 6, 1844.
Primary SourcesAlfred Vail, Description of the American Electro Magnetic Telegraph: Now in Operation Between the Cities of Washington and Baltimore (Washington, D.C.: J. & G. S. Gideon, 1845). In CHSI library: LIB.3014.
ProvenanceDonated by Stephen Vail to Harvard University on Dec. 24, 1924.