Guide to the Alfred Vail (1807-1859), Inventor, Papers 1826-1918 MG 50

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary
Biographical Note
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Restrictions
Access Points
Related Material
Administrative Information
Bibliography

Series Descriptions and Container List

Series 1: Literary Productions, 1826-1858

Series 2: Research Papers, 1900-1913

Series 3: Correspondence, 1837-1912.

Series 4: Printed Material, 1848-ca. 1912.

Series 5: Miscellaneous, n.d.

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.

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.

Series 5: Miscellaneous, n.d.

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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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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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Series Descriptions and Container List

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