Person:Samuel Morse (28)

PROFESSOR SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE.

Professor Morse, son of Rev. Jedediah Morse, D.D., was born as given above [April 27, 1791]; graduated at Yale college, Connecticut in 1810; and went to England with Washington Allston in 1811 to study painting under him and Benjamin West. In 1813 he received the gold medal of the Adelphi Society of Arts at the hands of the Duke of Norfolk, for an original model of a “Dying Hercules,” his first attempt at sculpture.

He returned to the United States in 1815, and in 1824-'25, with other artists of New York, organized a drawing associa­tion, which after two years’ struggle against various obstacles, resulted in the establishment in 1826 of the present National Academy of Design. In 1829 he visited Europe a second time, to complete his studies in art, residing for more than three years in the principal cities of the continent. During his absence he had been elected to the professorship of the literature of the arts of design in the university of the city of New York; and in 1835 delivered a course of lectures before that institution on the affinity of those arts.

While a student in Yale college Mr. Morse had paid special attention to chemistry, under the instruction of Professor Silli­man, and to natural philosophy under that of Professor Day; and these departments of science, from being subordinate as a recreation, at length became a dominant pursuit with him.

In 1826-27 Professor J. Freeman Dana had been colleague lecturer in the city of New York with Mr. Morse at the Atheneum; the former lecturing upon electro-magnetism, and the latter upon the fine arts. They were intimate friends, and in their conversation the subject of electro-magnetism was made familiar to the mind of Morse. The electro-magnet, on Stur­geon’s principle (the first ever shown in the United States), was exhibited and explained in Dana’s lectures, and, at a later date, came into Morse’s possession. Dana even then suggested, by his spiral volute coil, the electro­-magnet of the present day. This was the magnet in use when Morse returned to Europe, and is now used in every Morse telegraph throughout both hemispheres.

He embarked in the autumn of 1832, at Havre, on board the packet-ship Sully; and, in a casual conversation with some of the passengers on the then present discovery in France of the means of obtaining the electric spark from the magnet, show­ing the identity or relation of electricity and magnetism, his mind conceived, not merely the idea of an electric telegraph, but of an electro-magnetic and chemical recording telegraph, substantially and essentially as now exists.

Testimony to the paternity of the idea in Morse’s mind, and to his acts and drawings on board the ship, is ample. His own testimony is corroborated by all the passengers (with a single exception), who testified with him before the courts, and was considered conclusive by the judges; and the date, 1832, is therefore fixed by this evidence as the date of Morse’s concep­tion, and realization also, so far as drawings could embody the conception of the telegraph system, which now bears his name.

But though thus conceived and devised as early as 1832, in the latter part of which year, on reaching home, he made a portion of the apparatus, yet circumstances prevented the complete construction of the first recording apparatus in New York city until the year 1835; and then it was a rude single appa­ratus-sufficient, indeed, to embody the invention, and enable him to communicate from one extremity of two distant points of a circuit of half a mile, but not back again from the other extremity. The first instrument was shown in successful operation to many persons in 1835 and 1836. For the purpose of communicating from as well as to a distant point, a duplicate of his instruments was needed, and it was not till July, 1837, that he was able to have one constructed to com­plete his whole plan. Hence, early in September, 1837, having his whole plan thus arranged, he exhibited to hundreds the operation of his system at the university of New York...

From the greater publicity of the exhibition of his electric apparatus, the date of Morse’s invention has by some been given as autumn of 1837. Whereas, the single instrument was operated successfully in 1835, and the general conception of the idea was made known in 1832. Mr. Morse first applied to Congress at the session of 1837-’38, asking for aid to construct an experimental line from Washington to Baltimore, to show the practicability and utility of his invention. Although its operation before a com­mittee of that body excited much interest, yet there was so much doubt as to its usefulness, if it even proved all the in­ventor claimed for it, that there was a strong apprehension, if a favorable report was presented, that a majority of Congress would not vote the sum necessary for its test. Thus this Con­gress adjourned without any favorable result for Mr. Morse’s efforts. He now visited both England and France, hoping to enlist attention in its favor; but no exclusive privilege could be gained, or any remuneration for his invention. He returned home down-spirited, but not without faith in ultimate success. Four years more of struggle passed, with much persistent effort before Congress; the session of l842-'43 had nearly closed, and he had retired late on the evening of its last day to his lodgings, despairing of any favorable action in his behalf, expecting to leave for home the next day; but, on the morning of March 4, 1843, he was cheered and surprised by the report that the desired aid by Congress had been ob­tained at the midnight hour of the expiring session, placing $30,000 at his disposal for an experimental line, to be run from Washington to Baltimore. The work was completed in 1844, and demonstrated to the world both the practicability and utility of his system of electro-magnetic telegraph.

At this day, in 1872, there are no doubt more than 100,000 miles of these telegraph lines in operation throughout the different countries in the world...

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 McCabe, James D. (James Dabney). Great fortunes. (New York, New York: [s.n.], 1870).
2. ↑ Ammidown, Holmes. Historical collections: containing the reformation in France; the rise, progress and destruction of the Huguenot Church : the histoires of seven towns: six of which are in the south part of Worcester County, Mass., namely: Oxford, Dudley, Webster, Sturbridge, Charlton, Southbridge, and the town of Woodstock, now in Connecticut. (New York, New York: H. Ammidown, 1877)
   Vol. 1 pp. 380-390.

   See Personal History