TABLE OF CONTENTS
Series Descriptions and Container List
Series 1: Literary Productions, 1826-1858
Series 2: Research Papers, 1900-1913
Series 3: Correspondence, 1837-1912.
Guide to the Alfred Vail (1807-1859), Inventor, Papers
1826-1918
MG 50
1826-1918
MG 50
© 2005 All rights reserved.
The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher
Inventory prepared by Irina Peris as part of the "Farm to City" project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Finding aid encoded by Julia Telonidis. August 2005. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finding aid written in English.
Descriptive Summary |
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| Creator: | Vail, Alfred, 1807-1859 | |
| Title: | Alfred Vail (1807-1859), Inventor, Papers | |
| Dates: | 1829-1918 | |
| Abstract: | Includes Alfred Vail's diaries, essays on religion and human behavior, correspondence; Vail family genealogy; transcriptions of the Alfred Vail manuscripts in the Smithsonian Institution; and Samuel F. B. Morse's patent for the electric telegraph. Vail worked with Samuel F. B. Morse from 1837 on development of the electric telegraph at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey, which his father, Stephen Vail, owned and operated. | |
| Quantity: | 1.5 linear feet (3 boxes) | |
| Collection Number: | MG 50 | |
Biographical Note
Alfred Vail, a co-inventor of the telegraph, was born in Morristown, New Jersey on September 25, 1807 to Bethiah Youngs (1778-1847) and Stephen Vail (1780-1864). After attending public schools, Alfred Vail became a machinist at Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey, a lucrative iron company owned by his father. In 1832, however, he entered the University of the City of New York (now New York University) as a theology student, and graduated in 1836. On September 2, 1837, while still at the university, he witnessed one of Professor Samuel F.B. Morse's (1791-1872) first telegraph experiments and became strongly interested in the project. By September 23, he had formed a partnership with Morse, which required him to construct a set of telegraph instruments at his own cost and to secure their patents in the United States and abroad in return for ¼ of the interest in the patents.
With his father's financial backing, Vail went to work on the telegraph in the machine shops of Speedwell Iron Works where he created the crucial dot-dash mechanism and means of communication that became known as "Morse Code." On January 6, 1838, the first successful experiment of the equipment took place over three miles of wire running around the machine shops at Speedwell. The message read, "A patient waiter is no loser." Within the next two months, successful demonstrations of the invention were held in New York City, at Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, and before Congress. After the latter, Morse and Vail gained another backer, Congressman Frances O.J. Smith, leaving Vail's share in the telegraph at 1/8 of the total interest. It wasn't until 1843, however, that Congress appropriated money to build a line between Baltimore and Washington D.C., and on May 24, 1844, a message reading, "What Hath God Wrought!" was sent between Vail in one city and Morse in the other. For the next four years Vail continued working with Morse in Philadelphia. He retired in 1848 and moved with his family back to Morristown, New Jersey where he spent the remaining ten years of his life researching Vail family genealogy.
Alfred Vail married Jane Elizabeth Cummings (1817-1852) on July 23, 1839. They had three sons together: Stephen (1840-1909), James Cummings (1843-1917), and George Rochester (1852-1931). After Elizabeth Vail's death, Alfred married Amanda O. Eno. Alfred Vail died on January 18, 1859, after which his son, Stephen, donated the original 1838 telegraph his father had created to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian also holds Alfred Vail papers in its collections.
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Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of three boxes of diaries and theological essays of Alfred Vail; research on Vail family genealogy and a typescript by S.W. Righter representing selective transcripts of those Alfred Vail papers held in the Smithsonian Institution; and a printed patent for the first electro-magnetic telegraph issued to Samuel F.B. Morse. The collection documents Vail's life before entering the City University of New York and the years subsequent to his active participation in the telegraph business. It also contains materials on the controversy of the invention of the telegraph and the telegraphic code. The papers have been arranged into the following series: Literary Productions, Research Papers, Correspondence, Printed Material, and Miscellaneous.
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Arrangement
This collection is organized into five series:
Series 1: Literary Productions, 1826-1858.
Series 2: Research Papers, 1900-1913.
Series 3: Correspondence, 1837-1912.
Series 4: Printed Material, 1848-ca. 1912.
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Restrictions
Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Photocopying of materials is limited and no materials may be photocopied without permission from library staff.
Use Restrictions
Researchers wishing to publish, reproduce, or reprint materials from this collection must obtain permission.
The New Jersey Historical Society complies with the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code), which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials.
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Access Points |
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| The entries below represent persons, organizations, topics, forms, and occupations documented in this collection. | ||
| Subject Names: | ||
| Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872. | ||
| Vail, Alfred, 1807-1859. | ||
| Subject Organizations: | ||
| Smithsonian Institution. | ||
| Speedwell Iron Works (Morristown, N.J.) | ||
| Subject Topics: | ||
| Communication and technology--New Jersey. | ||
| Inventions--New Jersey. | ||
| Inventions--Patents. | ||
| Inventors--New Jersey | ||
| Iron-works--New Jersey. | ||
| Morse code. | ||
| Telegraph cables. | ||
| Telegraph--Alphabets. | ||
| Telegraph--Patents. | ||
| Telegraph. | ||
| Theology. | ||
| Subject Places: | ||
| Morristown (N.J.) | ||
| Document Types: | ||
| Diaries. | ||
| Essays. | ||
| Genealogies. | ||
| Letters (Correspondence). | ||
| Patents. | ||
| Transcripts. | ||
| Subject Occupations | ||
| Inventors. | ||
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Related Material
Manuscript Group 1455, Stephen Ward Righter (ca. 1866-1842) Genealogy Collection
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Administrative Information
Custodial History
Gift of Sarah Tempe Leddel Davis; William Penn Vail, 1948; A.A. Marsters, 1922; and J. Cummings Vail, 1913.
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 50, Alfred Vail Papers, The New Jersey Historical Society.
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Bibliography
Malone, Dumas, ed. Dictionary of American Biography. Volume XIX, Troye-Wentworth.Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1936.
Vail, William Penn. Genealogy of Some of the Vail Family Descended from Thomas Vail at Salem, Massachusetts 1640 Together with Collateral Lines. (published 1937).
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