ALSO BY KENNETH SILVERMAN HOUDINI!!! Edgar A Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance The Life and Times of Cotton Mather A Cultural History of the American Revolution Timothy Dwight For Benjamin Berkman and Eve Silverman Contents FINLEY ONE: Geography TWO: No One Uninspired by the Muses May Enter THREE: A Terrible Harum-Scarum Fellow An Affection of the Heart FOUR: MORSE Il Diavolo FIVE: SIX: Anomalous, Nondescript, Hermaphrodite SEVEN: High Attribute of Ubiquity EIGHT: Traveling on a Snail’s Back NINE: TEN: Beware of Tricks Hurrah Boys Whip Up the Mules SAMUEL F B MORSE ELEVEN: Mere Men of Trade TWELVE: Tantalus Still THIRTEEN: The Great Telegraph Case A True Social Fraternity FOURTEEN: FIFTEEN: Can’t! Sir, Can’t! SIXTEEN: Forward COMMANDADOR SEVENTEEN: EIGHTEEN: Is This Treason? Is This Conspiracy? Visions of Receding Glory Coda: 1872–2000 Documentation Acknowledgments Illustration Credits FINLEY The value and rank of every art is in proportion to the mental labour employed in it, or the mental pleasure produced by it As this principle is observed or neglected, our profession becomes either a liberal art, or a mechanical trade —Sir Joshua Reynolds, “Fourth Discourse on Art” (1771) We are a people essentially active I may say we are preeminently so Distance and difficulties are less to us than any people on earth Our schemes and prospects extend every where and to every thing —John C Calhoun, speech in the U.S Senate, June 24, 1812 Samuel F B Morse, Self Portrait (1812-13) (Addison Gallery of American Art) ONE Geography (1789–1811) O 30, 1789, Jedediah Morse was installed as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Charlestown, Massachusetts The occasion was triply signi cant to him Twenty-seven years old, he had come to his vocation by study at Yale and graduate work in theology He felt eager to promote the interests of religion but awed to contemplate the degenerate state of his fellow mortals, who every day cruci ed their Redeemer anew The labor now to be undertaken by him was worthy but daunting, “a good work,” he said, “but alas who is sufficient for these things.” The place mattered to Jedediah no less than the occasion The First Church was one of the oldest in America, a t pulpit for a man whose ancestors had emigrated to the New World in 1635, among the rst settlers of Puritan New England The church stood, too, in the shadow of Bunker’s Hill Just fourteen years earlier, armed provincials had defended the hill against three assaults by British infantry and marines And for Jedediah, the date was no less symbolic than the place On the same day, on the balcony of New York City’s Federal Hall, George Washington was inaugurated as the rst President of the United States and called on the new nation to preserve “the sacred re of liberty.” Jedediah revered him as an epitome of republican virtue—selfsacri cing, pious, restrained, great because he was good, indeed, Jedediah said, “the greatest Man alive.” Two weeks after the momentous day of his settlement, Jedediah married twenty-threeyear-old Elizabeth Finley, a granddaughter of the president of Princeton College In appearance they were unlike, to judge from a later family portrait: Jedediah tall, slender, old-fashioned-looking in his knee breeches and black silk stockings; Elizabeth stoutish, buxom, jowly—“no dwarf,” she said of herself Their personalities di ered, too Jedediah’s well-bred manner and sweet voice set him o from his wife’s no-nonsense practicality and tart wit Just the same they made a close, a ectionate couple In letters home he addressed her as “My dearest Life & Love.” He borrowed the salutation, he explained, from a letter of George Washington to Martha Washington: “as he is an excellent pattern in almost everything, so in this I would imitate him, believing that my Love for you is as great as his for Mrs W.” On April 27, 1791, two years after marrying, the couple had their rst child, a son whom they named after Elizabeth’s father and grandfather: Samuel Finley Breese Morse Finley, as the family called him, spent his rst seven years in the parsonage, a two-story wooden building near the First Church The household included a pious Baptist servantnurse, Nancy Shepherd For a time, a black boy named Abraham also lived with the N APRIL family, tending the horse and cow Jedediah ministered to the black population of nearby Boston and publicly condemned the slave trade as inconsistent with republican principles Few details of Finley’s early childhood remain When about a year and a half old he contracted smallpox during an epidemic that struck a thousand people in Boston At the age of four he began attending a dame school near the parsonage Nancy Shepherd sometimes took him to Bunker’s Hill and recounted its historic battle, which she had witnessed During the rst ten years of their marriage Jedediah and Elizabeth had six more children Only two survived, Finley’s younger brothers Richard and Sidney In the same period Jedediah became a national gure While writing sermons and preaching about mankind’s fallen state, he issued atlases, school texts, and travel guides with such titles a s The American Universal Geography (1793) and The American Gazeteer (1797) He put the books to press, arranged for British editions, looked after sales and distribution, each year publishing a new geography or revision of some earlier one Jedediah’s geographies became second in popularity only to Noah Webster’s spelling books and the Bible Producing them put him in touch with notable men at home and abroad He dined in Philadelphia with Benjamin Franklin and at Mount Vernon with George and Martha Washington His many, far- ung correspondents included John Adams; the Bishop of London; and the French foreign minister, Talleyrand, who also visited him in Charlestown His publications brought him an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh and fame as America’s pre-eminent geographer He did not hide his renown On the title page of American Universal Geography he identi ed himself as a Doctor of Divinity, Fellow of the American Antiquarian Society, and Fellow of the Historical Society—as “Jedediah Morse, D.D.F.A.A.S.H.S.” Jedediah became prominent in political life as well Like the rest of the Congregationalist clergy he allied himself with the Federalist party Against the more liberal, capitalistic social order taking shape in the wake of the American Revolution, he upheld the Calvinistic faith of his New England forebears, whose piety and sense of human dependence on God he considered essential to republican life He hoped that the new United States would be left to itself, “kept out of the Whirlpool of European Politicks.” But there was no insulating the country from the long war for supremacy between Great Britain and Napoleon’s France As the eighteenth century closed, Jedediah like most other Federalists viewed with growing alarm French interference in American a airs: use of American seaports as bases for privateering, attempted bribes to American envoys, manipulation of the American press—especially the export to America of deism, skepticism, Voltairean atheism, and other forms of French Infidelity Such ominous political-religious issues brought out a combative side of Jedediah’s personality, at odds with his usual mildness He fought the French Antichrist from his historic pulpit, raging against France as the “destroyer of nations” that had enslaved millions and now menaced the independence of the United States He sermonized against all the other enemies of Christian Republicanism as well: Masons, Illuminists, Roman Catholics—the last being not Christians but idolators, with a libertine priesthood All were leagued with the French Imperium, Jedediah warned, in trying to foment revolution in America and ultimately seize the country Jedediah’s ery sermons had no political e ect As the new century opened he grimly watched the nation choose for its president the galli ed Thomas Je erson, a man unaccustomed to attending public worship, a professed In del: “Unhappy indeed must that Christian people be,” Jedediah re ected, “whose Chief Magistrate is an Atheist.” George Washington had mercifully not lived to see it all: “Ever since his death the clouds seem to have been gathering for a storm.” In 1799, as Jedediah thundered from his pulpit, Finley was sent from home for schooling Now eight years old, he would spend most of the next decade living apart from his family Jedediah enrolled him at Phillips Academy, in the isolated village of Andover, Massachusetts, some twenty miles from Charlestown The well-regarded Academy had about sixty students Its curriculum stressed classical languages, mathematics, and religious instruction suited to the sons of New England Congregationalists The school’s Overseers included Jedediah himself Concerned above all with Finley’s growth in piety, Jedediah tried to board him with a prayerful family He also wrote out a daily routine for his son to follow It aimed at fashioning a Christian Gentleman—reverent, well mannered, and frugal, but aspiring to personal distinction: Rise Early in the morning—read a chapter in the Bible, & say your prayers—Read the Bible in course The Old Testament in the morning The New Testament at night— After a serious performance of these religious duties,—comb your head & wash your face, hands & mouth—in cold water, not hastily & slightly but thoroughly— Next came instructions for Finley’s behavior at school: Get your morning lesson well—Behave decently at breakfast Go regularly & seasonably to the Academy—While there, in study hours, attend to your lesson, & get it thoroughly, & try to be the best scholar in your class In play hours, while at play, behave manly & honorably Avoid every thing low, mean, indecent, or unfair—And endeavour to play in such a manner as that all may wish to have you on their side … “Take care to read your rules every day & observe them strictly,” Jedediah said Settled in the Academy’s preparatory school, Finley hastened to show his father that he understood and would obey Probably only weeks after arriving in Andover, he sent home a scrawled reply: “I retire always by my self and say my prayers I learn a hymn every sabbath.” Lest Finley forget his routine, Jedediah repeated the rules in nearly the same words week after week And Elizabeth in her homelier voice repeated them, week M19 Morse reboarded/ Harbors: SFB to Sarah Morse, 28 Jul 1857, M33 Scholars: M33, fr 705 News that the historic/ Fleet: Herald, 18 Aug 1857 For the sake of compression, I have connected parts of closely related sentences from two adjoining paragraphs Glory: ELM, II, 376 An immense coil/ Steam-engines: ELM, II, 378 The squadron had moved/ Occur: SFB to SM, Aug 1857, M1 Operations resumed/ Rumbling: ELM, II, 380 Morse telegraphed/ 214: SFB to [Edward Whitehouse], 10 Aug 1857, M33 Littleness: P, p 659 As the Niagara steamed/ Thread: SFB to Sarah Morse (draft), 12 Aug 1857, M33 Also lost overboard/ Herculean: Tribune, 27 Aug 1857 Sanguine: M33, fr g6 Disagreeable: Scientific American, Oct 1857, 29 Morse contributed/ Fatal: Scienti c American, 19 Sep 1857, 13 Demur: Briggs and Maverick, 114 In fact, Morse’s/ Engage: SFB to John Mullaly, 23 Oct 1857, Morgan Library Meanwhile the company’s/ Providential: SFB to George Saward (draft), 18 Aug 1857, M19 Having sent his recommendation/ Tomorrow: SFB to Sarah Morse, 14 and 20 Aug 1857, M19 Kendall gave Morse/ De ant: AK to SFB, Jul 1857, M18 See also Proceedings of the Principal Telegraph Companies in the United States (1857) Morse was already peeved/ Adverse: SFB to Sarah Morse, Sep 1857, M19 A little relieved/ Posted: SFB to Cyrus Field (draft), Jun 1858, M19 Morse’s 140/Thinly: SFB to Sarah Morse, 19 Sep 1857, M19 SIXTEEN: FORWARD Kendall had obtained/ Existed: AK to SFB, Oct 1857, M19 Morse’s extant correspondence leaves it uncertain whether he learned of the events recounted in AK’s important letter of 27 Aug 1857 (M19) before he left England or after he returned to the United States My best judgment is that he learned of them after his return See also Thompson, 310 Morse had had/ Sacri ce: SFB to John Mullaly, 23 Oct 1857, MORGAN LIBRARY SUICIDE: SFB TO AK, 20 Oct 1857, M27 Field explained that/ Violating: SFB to SM, 15 Mar 1858, M19 Exculpate: SFB to J W Brett (draft), 27 Dec 1858, M19 Hurt and angry/ Imparted: SFB to Cyrus Field (copy), 12 Mar 1858, M19 PERFIDY: AK TO SFB, 27 Aug 1857, M19 Inordinate: New American State Papers, 196 Morse companies excluded/ Africa: AK to SFB, 27 Aug 1857, M19 Morse had always striven/ Intriguants: SFB to AK, 20 Oct 1857, M27 Field’s exact part/ Deserved: Cyrus Field to SFB (copy), [no day] May 1858, M19 Morse replied by recalling/ Blind: SFB to Cyrus Field (draft), Jun 1858, M1 “My faith in those/ Misplaced: SFB to SM, 2g Dec 1857, New-York Historical Society Contempt: AK to SFB, 5Jun and 18 May 1858, M19 Gratuity: ELM, II, 3g5 COLUMBUS: NY Times, g Sep 1858 Morse and Sarah sailed/ Right: SFB, “To the Conductors,” 27 Nov 1857, Samuel Morse Historic Site, Poughkeepsie Morse had rarely/ Pleasure: ELM, II, 3g7 Plants: SFB to Charles Morse, 10 Jan [185g but misdated 1858], M26 Severe: SFB to E D Apthorp, 26 Jan 1857, M27 Punish: SFB to Arthur Morse 1859, (copy), 27 Dec 1858, M26 Americans greeted/ Neighborhood: M33, fr 724 New Yorkers closed/ Orgasm: Strong, 412 On the celebration see the newspaper clippings gathered in M33, fr 727–30 Morse was not forgotten/ Forever: M33, fr 749 Uninspired: Western Episcopalian, 10 Sep 1858 In Paris, seventy- ve/ Mark: John Munro et al to SFB, [no day] Aug 1858, M19 Realized: Times, g Sep 1858 A week after Morse’s/ On the Board of Trade see Earl Shelbourne to Board of Trade, 21 Nov 1857, Public Record O ce, London The homage paid him/ Gratitude: ELM, II, 394–95 Lofty: M20, fr 157 On Sep 27, SFB attended the ten-hour exhibition at the Café de la Régence, in which the young American chess wizard Paul Morphy defeated eight of the best players in Paris while blindfolded Rejoicing curdled/ Solitary: Courier, 19 Jan 1859 Judgment: M33, fr 743 On the cable failure see Bright and Dibner The breakdown/ Ejected: SFB to J W Brett (draft), 27 Dec 1858, M19 Motive: SFB to [AK] (copy), 22 Dec 1858, M26 Morse and Sarah spent/ Claude: SFB to SM (copy), 12 Jan [185g but misdated 1858], M26 Morse was impressed/ Inferior: SFB to RM (copy), 28 Dec 1858, M26; see also Leila Morse Rummel, TS “Souvenirs of Samuel F B Morse,” Archives of American Art Swine: S “Souvenirs of Samuel F B Morse,” Archives of American Art Swine: “Souvenirs of Samuel F B Morse,” Archives of American Art Swine:: SFB to Cornelia Goodrich (copy), 26 Jan 185g, M26 After Morse’s ten-month/ Excellence: SFB to Robert Walsh, 28 Mar 185g, M26 Homage poured in/ Suspicious: SFB to Vice President and Directors of the Morse Insurance Company, 28 Oct 1860, M29 The invitation from the architects came later, in 1869 See Russell Sturgis to SFB, 12 Oct 1869, M23 Morse’s $80,000 indemnity/ Honor: SFB to George T Curtis (copy), Jul 1860, M29 Serious: SFB to FOJS, 24 May 1860, M20 Favor: SFB to AK (copy), Aug 1860, M29 The arbitration hearing/ Synonyms: ELM, II, 411–12 On the hearing see MS document of 31 Jul 1860, Y Morse saw in the situation/ Demands: see “General Release,” Jun 1862, WU Corpus: SFB to George Curtis (copy), Jul 1860, M29 Den: SFB to RM, Sep 1860, M29 The much-reduced/ Dyspeptic: ELM, II, 400 The various settlements/ Manifesto: see M20, fr 224–26 and documents included in AK to Charles Page (not in Kendall’s hand), Apr 1860, M20 Astonished, Morse/ Human: SFB to Leonard Gale, 12 Apr 1869, M31 Morse went to Washington/ See Decision of Hon Philip F Thomas, Commissioner of Patents, on the Application of Samuel F B Morse (1860) But then there was/ Libellous: Moyer, 272 But Henry replied/ See pamphlet entitled “Extracts from the Proceedings of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, in Relation to the ElectroMagnetic Telegraph” [1860?], copy in HORP The Smithsonian committee/ Pervert: Coulson, 232 Legal: see F M Baudouin to SFB, 27 Nov 1860, M20 The detailed case that Henry/ Superhuman: SFB to SM, 12 Jan [185g but misdated 1858], M16 Inculpate: SFB to RM, 16 Oct 1858, Y Morse began preparing/ Arraigned: M20, fr 161 Morse reasoned that/ Mixed: SFB to SM (copy), 23 Feb 185g, M26 Morse favored the idea/ Feeling: SFB to AK, Jul 185g, M27 Kendall handled/ Manger: Thompson, 329 On the negotiations see also Blondheim, 118–29 However much Morse/ Competence: SFB to FOJS, 24 May 1860, M20 Creeping: SFB to Taliaferro Sha ner, 27 Jun 1860, M27 Morse’s house was/ Consumer: SFB to H S Lansing (copy), g Aug 1860, M29 On New York City at the time see Burrows and Wallace, and Spann Morse continued to house/ Inglorious: RM to SM, 31 Jul 1851, Y Bounty: ELM, II, 421 With Morse’s ne/ Dishabille: SFB to Duke of Newcastle (copy), 18 Aug 1860, M29 Engaged: Duke of Newcastle to SFB, Oct 1860, M20; and see T Jones, 86 With a momentous/ Attraction: SFB to “Mr Reibart,” 10 Jun 185g, M26 Overboard: Potter, 485 SEVENTEEN: IS THIS TREASON? IS THIS CONSPIRACY? For Samuel F B Morse/ Scorn: SFB to S B S Bissell, 20 Sep 1861, M29 The breakdown/ Fellow: SFB to J L M Curry, 16 Mar 1860, M27 These connections/ Slaveholder: SFB to Robert Baird (copy), 16 Jul 1860, M29 Sword: SFB to George L Douglas (copy), 12 Jan 1861, M29 To what he could/ Praying: SFB to H G Ludlow (copy), 13 May 1861, M29 Slaughter: SFB, “The Letter of a Republican,” Papers from the Society for the Di usion of Political Knowledge, no [1863]: Morse’s group held/ Brethren: SFB to Cornelia Goodrich, 21 Apr 1861, New York Public Library On the opening events of the war see Potter Morse’s agony deepened/ Abuse: SFB to H G Ludlow (copy), 13 May 1861, M29 Prestige: SFB to James Wynne (copy), May 1861, M26 Morse recalled bitterly/ Anomaly: SFB to “Col Hamilton” (copy), 10 May 1861, M29 Instead of eeing/ Heart: SFB to [unidenti ed] (copy), Feb 1862, M29 As Morse pointed out/ Deplorable: SFB to Charles Mason (copy), 27 Jan 1865, M28, referring to a letter of 1862 Some other Unionists also suggested that North and South could overcome their di erences by joining to ght England, or England and Spain See McKay, 107 Morse’s alarums/ Aristocracy: Hyman, 66 Terror: Crook, 54–55 See also Davis, 44–46 Not surprisingly/ Charged: SFB to Edward Hyde (copy), [day illegible] Oct 1861, M29 Return: SFB to George L Douglass (copy), 21 Apr 1862, M29 See also Thompson, 377 The eruption of/Armies: SFB to Edward Lind (copy), 22 Sep 1861, M29 Gild: SFB to James Wynne (copy), 12 Aug 1861, M29 Battle gures based on Long Morse told Kendall/ Crow: SFB to AK (copy), 23 Jul 1862, M29 Prophecy: SFB to T R Walker (copy), 27 Oct 1862, M29 For Morse, as for/ Wicked: SFB to “Judge Caton” (draft), 18 Feb 1863, M21 Scheme: SFB to William Goodrich (copy), 17 Oct 1862, M29 On the Proclamation see McPherson, 118 Unless, Morse thought/ Elections: SFB to William Goodrich (copy), 17 Oct 1862, M29 Morse’s fantasy/ Rabid: SFB to Susan Morse, 12 Feb 1863, M29 Morse found some hope/ Support: Burrows and Wallace, 879 The paper gave a sinister/ Oligarchs: see Evening Post, 7, g, 10, 14 Feb 1863 Infamous: Mabee, 348 See also Katz, 120–21 The Society convened/ Treason: “The Constitution Addresses of Prof Morse, Mr Geo Ticknor Curtis, and Mr S J Tilden, at the Organization,” Papers from the Society for the Di usion of Political Knowledge, no [1863?] Retract: SFB to “Judge Caton,” 18 Feb 1863, M21 On the S.D.P.K see also Lee, 228–30, and McKay, 174–75 In trying to reach/ Mind: SFB to Charles Mason, 14 Oct 1863, M29 Morse himself had contributed/ Intended: SFB to H G Ludlow (copy), 13 May 1861, M29 Heresy: SFB to “Senator Bigler” (copy), Feb 1861, M29 Morse also studied but wrote little about the constitutional issues, considering the main one settled: “The United States are forbidden to touch [slavery] The States alone individually have the right to regulate the relation.” SFB to RM (copy), Nov 1864, M28 As Morse explained/ See SFB, An Argument, passim That this view/ Cursed: SFB to Martin Hauser (copy), 21 Sep 1863, M29 Relation: SFB to Charles Mason (copy), 14 Oct 1863, M29 Morse tried to account/ Rejecting: SFB to H G Ludlow (copy), 13 May 1861, M29 Despite his devotion/ Delusion: SFB to “Mr Luckey” (copy), 19 Nov 1862, M29 Declaration: SFB to H G Ludlow (copy), 17 May 1860, M27 Subjection: SFB, The Present Attempt to Dissolve the American Union, 40–41 Temples: SFB, An Argument, Nature as well/ Degraded: SFB, An Argument, 19 Baboon: SFB, Lectures on the A nity, 64 Superior: McPherson, 61 Caucasian: SFB to Gideon S Tucker (copy), 10 Apr 1863, M29 On the linking of pro-slavery biblical arguments with racialist arguments see Noll Morse emphasized/ Guidance: SFB, An Argument, 12 BARBAROUS: SFB, An Argument, 16 What distinguishes Morse’s/ Axiom: SFB to George Wood (copy), Mar 1865, M28 Remain: SFB to RM (copy), Jun 1865, M28 On the pro-slavery argument see especially Faust Sidney Morse shared/ Dei cation: SM, Premium (Questions on Slavery (1860), 13 Delusions: SFB to RM (copy), g Nov 1864, M28 It grati ed Morse/ Pious: SFB to Stuart Robinson, 23 Nov 1863, M29 Fitness: M33, fr 488 Demand: SFB to “Mr Shedd” (copy), 22 Jul 1864, M28 But Morse’s writing/ Repentance: H G Ludlow to SFB, May 1861, M20 Former: Times, 2g Mar 1863 Shallow: North American Review, Jan 1864, 122, 126 Morse’s telegraphs put/ Orders: Plum, II, 366 On the telegraph in the Civil War see also Bates The blare/ Skill: SFB to Peter Cooper et al (copy), Mar 1863, M29 Morse applauded/ See D Romano to SFB, Apr 1862, M20 The vastly long/ Ful lled: SFB to George Wood (copy), 25 Jun 1864, M26 As the war raged/ Repining: AK to SFB, 27 Dec 1861, M20 Union: AK to SFB, 12 Mar 1863, M21 Pride: see AK’s fourth letter of 22 Feb 1862, Amos Kendall Papers, Library of Congress Morse and Kendall/ Pro table: Tribune, Dec 1865 Wealthy already/ Words: SFB to T R Walker (copy), 16 Mar 1864, M28 Regal: Tribune, Dec 1865 To Morse’s delight/ Evidence: ELM, II, 443 At the time Southern/ Artlessness: SFB to Sarah Morse, 19 Feb 1854, M16 Lela also sometimes appears in Morse’s papers as Leila Position: SFB to Charles Morse (copy), 10 Jan [185g but misdated 1858], M26 Morse sent his sons/ Remember: SFB to Arthur Morse, [no day] Jul1862, M29 Obedient: SFB to Arthur Morse, 30 Oct 1866, M30; to Arthur Morse, [no day] Jul 1862, M29; to M Baudoin, 16 Oct 1866, M30 Paths: SFB to E S Salisbury, 11 Aug 1865, M21 Forever: SFB to his children, 10 May 1857, M18 Morse’s adult children/ Cares: SFB to Mrs H L Davis (copy), 11 May 1866, M28 Strange: SFB to Finley Morse (copy), 12 Mar 1870, M31 Whales: SFB to Arthur Morse (copy), Sep 1868, M30 Susan, now in her/ Mental: SFB to Edward Lind, 22 Sep 1861, M29 Nervousness: SFB to Charles Lind, ígDec 1867, M30 Su er: SFB to Edward Lind, 16 Jul 1861, M19 Charles, too/ Sharpers: SFB to SM, 2g Dec 1857, New-York Historical Society Defect: SFB to Charles Morse (copy), íoJan [185g but misdated 1858], M26 Charles was much/ Easy: SFB to Charles Morse, Jan 1866 and 15 Jun 1863, M29 To Morse’s displeasure/ Manly: SFB to Charles Morse (copy), Oct 1865, M28 Sea: SFB to SM, Aug 1867, XM Both Charles and his sister/ Favorite: SFB to Charles Morse (copy), 25 Jun 1864, M26 Standing: SFB to “Rev Dr Hamill,” Oct 1865, M28 Joy: SFB to Charles Morse, 17 Mar 1866, M28 Esteem: SFB to Charles Lind (copy), Nov 1865, M28 It may have been/ Eyes: SFB to Nathaniel Jocelyn (copy), 20 Jan 1864, M28 Revived: SFB to “Messrs Durand, Ingham & others,” [Mar 1861], M29 Morse’s duties/ Heart: SFB to Daniel Huntington (copy), 26 Dec 1864, M28 Scarcely ten days/ See McKay, 199–201 Spending the summer/ Illiterate: See various letters of SFB in 1863–64, M28 and M29 Brains: SFB to William Goodrich, g Jul 1863, Jacob Eliot Family Papers, Yale University Library Morse backed McClellan/ Devotion: SFB to A G Jennings (copy), 10 Aug 1864, M28 He looked ahead/ Dead: SFB to Edward Lind (copy), 19 Aug 1864, M28 Sealed: SFB to RM (copy), Nov 1864, M28 Throne: SFB to RM (copy), 2g Oct 1864, M28 As the election/ Immortal: N.Y Express, Nov 1864 Mass: ELM, II, 430–31 The hoopla/ Augur: SFB to [unidenti ed] (copy), Dec 1864, M28 Enemy: SFB to Charles L Chaplain, 15 Dec 1864, M28 Morse grieved for/ Applauding: SFB to E S Salisbury, 11 Aug 1865, M21 But as Morse soon/ Dark: SFB to Mrs C W Griswold, 22 Sep 1866, M21 Pupils: SFB to RM (copy), Jun 1865, M28 Avoided: SFB to Charles Lind (copy), 25 Nov 1865, M28 A week or so/ Adding: SFB to H L Davis (copy), 11 May 1866, M28 EIGHTEEN: VISIONS OF RECEDING GLORY It refreshed Morse/ Portrait: SFB to Edward Lind, i Nov 1863, M29 Gewgaws: SFB to his brothers (draft), 18 Jul 1832, M6 The Abrahamic/ Weaned: SFB to RM (copy), 29 Apr 1864, M28 Morse had always/Centre: ELM, II, 454 Cleanest: SFB to John Thompson (copy), Oct 1866, M30 Morse lent himself/ Comfort: SFB to SM (copy), Oct 1866, M30 Morse enjoyed playing/ Evil: SFB to C W Griswold (copy), Mar 1867, M30 Using the world/ Peaceable: SFB to Susan Morse (copy), Feb 1867, M30 Indebted: SFB to “Cousin Mother,” [Jan 1867], M30 From Paris, Morse/ Nerves: SFB to Cyrus Field, 12 Mar 1867, M30 Excluded: SFB to SM, Oct 1866, M25 As Morse had planned/ Powers: SFB to SM, Dec 1867, XM Morse took particular/ Branch: SFB to SM, 16 Aug 1866, XM Despite the seductions/ Irons: SFB to SM (copy), 27 May 1867, M30 Much other time/ Slander: SFB to SM (copy), 31 Jul 1867, M30 Conclusion: M23, fr 150 Infamous: see SFB’s annotations in his copy of the History of the Invention of the Electric Telegraph Abridged from the Works of Lawrence Turnbull, M.D (1853), Library of Congress Morse labored to set/ Hands: SFB to Charles Morse (copy), 11 Jul 1868, M30 SFB conceded, however, that Steinheil invented a genuine telegraph—that is, an electromagnetic recording device—in 1836, independent of himself The two men had stayed friendly over the years Morse had plenty/ Spot: SFB to SM, Jun 1867, M26 Epitome: ELM, II, 453 Lies: Mattelart, 123 On the Exposition see also Burchell, 123–38, and Levenstein, 90–91 Press reaction/ Supplant: M33, fr 473 King: Moniteur, Jun 1867 Cry: M22, fr 243 Excellent photographs of several European adaptations of SFB’s apparatus appear in Bergen Morse attended the award/ Original: SFB to Sidney Morse, Jr (copy), 18 Jun 1867, M30 Some Hughes telegraphs were in service in France Getting started on/ Load: SFB to SM, 31 Jul 1867, Library of Congress Morse did return/ Exile: SFB to H G Ludlow (copy), 30 Mar 1867, M30 Steady: SFB to “Dear Mother” (copy), 27 Feb 1868, M30 Never: ELM, II, 464 Although more than a quarter/ Proof: M33, fr 474 Emperor: N.Y Herald, 18 Nov 1870 On SFB’s telegraph in China see Baark, 80 , and Headrick, 57 Morse’s globe-circling/ Express: Horace Baker to SFB, 27 Mar 1871, M23 Four months later/ Mental: RM to Richard C Morse, 25 Sep 1856, Clements Library, University of Michigan Valley: SFB to SM, 26 Sep 1868, M26 The political situation/ Prison: SFB to “Col Leslie,” Nov 1868, M30 Even occasions/ A airs: N.Y Times, 30 Dec 1868 See also the many newspaper clippings about the event in M34 But the regal blowout/ On Western Union and the government see Thompson and Lindley Morse’s recollections/ Decoy: N.Y Herald, 30 Dec 1868 and Jan 1869 Bennett argued that the telegraph was too powerful an instrument to be wielded by a monopoly, which could use it to rule the press and the country’s business in general Whether Morse understood/ Advantage: SFB to AK, 19 Mar 1866, M28 Basket: SFB to SM, 25 Jan 1867, M30 Morse’s hefty report/ Task: SFB to W P Blake (copy), Feb 1869, M31 Disputed: SFB to RM (copy), 25 Mar 1867, M30 Morse’s claim, however/ Truth: SFB to A S Manton, Apr 1862, M29 Opinion: SFB to David Burbank, 30 Mar 1860, M27 System: SFB to Denison Cheseboro, 22 Aug 185g, M27 Sound: SFB to Edwin F Reynolds, 22 Mar 1860, M27 Morse completed/ Implies: W P Blake to SFB, Aug 1869, M23 Radical: W P Blake to SFB, 21 Aug 1869, M23 Morse conceded/ Weakly: SFB to W P Blake (draft), Aug 1869, M23 Father: SFB to AK (draft), 16 Sep 1868, M30 In August, having/ Filthy: SFB to Arthur Morse (copy), Apr 1867, M30 Rowdies: SFB to J R Leslie, 10 Sep 1868, M30 That August, Arthur/ Depressed: SFB to SM (copy), 14 Aug 1869, M31 Anxiety: SFB to William Morse (copy), 31 Dec 1869, M31 Secret: SFB to the Linds (copy), 17 Jan 1870, M31 Morse worried that/ Rinks: SFB to William Morse (copy), g Nov 1869, M31 Grief: SFB to William Morse (copy), 21 Feb 1870, M31 Strong: SFB to Adele Roch (copy), 17 Jul 1870, M31 In November 1869/ Marriage: Shoptaugh, 381 Kendall had been/ Skill: SFB to William Stickney (copy), 12 Nov 1869, M31 The record/ Arm: SFB to John Thompson, Mar 1871, M23 Morse tried to keep/ Rouze: SFB to J Scudder, Jul 1868, NYU Archives, Bobst Library, New York University Sunburnt: SFB to Arthur Morse (copy), 26 Jun 1868, M30; SFB to S B Bostwick, 22 Jan 1870, M 31 For many years/ Venerable: M34, fr 308 Manifested: SFB to the Linds (copy), 21 Jan 1871, M31 Western Union got/ Globe: ELM, II, 484 Bryant at first had been unwilling to speak, resentful of Morse’s Copperhead politics during the Civil War Responses to Morse’s/ On the two statue ceremonies see accounts in ELM; Hearth and Home, Jul 1871; Journal of the Telegraph, 15 Jun 1871; P; and Leila Morse Rummel, TS “Souvenirs of Samuel F B Morse,” Archives of American Art From the beginning of commercial service, the industry had employed a few women as operators Their number increased greatly during the Civil War, when they replaced male operators who entered the military By 1870 there were some 350 women operators, about percent of the total See Jepsen The tribute left Morse/ Strange: SFB to the Linds (copy), 14 Jun 1871, M31 Filled: Amanda Vail to John Horn, Aug 1871, V-NYHS Amanda Vail confronted/ See Amanda Vail’s MS account of her visit, 12 Jun 1871, V-NYHS, and the TS copy of her “My interview with Professor Morse,” V In two of Morse’s/ Projected: see F O J Smith, History Getting Right on the Invention of the American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph [n.d.], Frauds: HOR to L W Case, 12 Feb and g Nov 1872, V-NYHS During the war HOR also edited a collection of antislavery tracts Fog Smith needed/ Heartless: Ga ney, 488 Divided: FOJS to Amanda Vail, 2g Aug 1870, V-NYHS Sordid: FOJS to L W Case, Oct 1871, V-NYHS Vail was not through/ Gross: FOJS to L W Case, 18 Oct 1871, V-NYHS Pedestal: FOJS, History Getting Right, The results of this/ Spirit: SFB to Adiel Sharwood (copy), Jan 1872, M31 Began: unidenti ed newspaper clipping headed “Professor Morse’s Funeral,” Box 16, Y It was in this/ Invented: M34, fr 171 Spite: SFB to Leonard Gale, 25 Jan 1872, M31 Killed: Henry Rogers to Amanda Vail, Apr 1873, V Guilty: FOJS to Amanda Vail, ígJul 1872, V-NYHS In February/Vile: SFB to Aspinwall Hodge (copy), 26 Feb 1872, M31 See Great Industries, 1238–46 Case again and again/ See the correspondence between SFB and Case, M23 February brought another/ Retracted: M34, fr 173 During the same few/ Welfare: SFB to Howard Parmele (copy), 29 Jan 1872, M31 Liquor: SFB to William Morse (copy), 28 Feb 1872, M31 Ill and besieged/ Screw: SFB to Charles Morse (copy), 11 Jul 1868, M30 Now, having given/Anxiety: SFB to J P Lindsay (copy), 22 Jan 1872, M31 See account of Lindsay in M34, fr 172 In March, Morse/ Atrocious: SFB to F J Mead (copy), 14 Mar 1872, M31 According to his/SFB’s death certi cate is at the Samuel Morse Historic Site, Poughkeepsie Others also/ Attack: M34, fr 172 Overload: FOJS to Amanda Vail, Apr 1872, V-NYHS CODA: 1872–2000 The encomia/ Golden Age, 13 Apr 1872 On April 5/ Memorial, 238 The most imposing/ California: Memorial, g3–g4 The often cruel/ Resolved: Amanda Vail to C H Adams (copy), 18 Oct 1888, V-NYHS The feud survived/ Daughter: Unidenti ed newspaper clipping of Apr 1891, scrapbook entitled “Correspondence relating to Alfred Vail’s connection with the Electric Telegraph,” V See also Cavanaugh, 56 By that time/ Desire: Susan Morse to SFB, 18 Jun 1841, M7 Supposed: Times, Dec 1885 Morse’s son Charles/ See New Orleans Times- Picayune, 28 Jun 1900; New Orleans Health Department Death Certi cates, vol 122 Of Morse’s four children/ Crushing: Daily Picayune, 18 and 19 Jul 1876 Morse’s lightning survived/ On the centenary celebration see the documents and scrapbooks assembled by Leila Morse, Columbia University Library In the new millennium/ On the present state of telegraphy see the current journal Morsum Magnificat; T King, Modern Morse Code; and Morsels, the newsletter of the Morse 2000 Worldwide Outreach Acknowledgments My liveliest thanks to —the Library of Congress, the Maine Historical Society, the New-York Historical Society, the Olin Library of Cornell University, the Sterling Memorial Library of Yale University, and the Smithsonian Institution Archives, for preserving and allowing me to study their voluminous collections of the papers of Samuel F B Morse and his family and associates —the other unique libraries, historical societies, and museums that gave me access to their smaller but invaluable collections of Morse material, including the Académie des Sciences (Paris); American Antiquarian Society; Archives of American Art; Bobst Library of New York University; British Library (London); Century Association; Cincinnati Historical Society; Clements Library, University of Michigan; Columbia University Library; Duke University Library; Historic Northampton; Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Huntington Library; Institution of Electrical Engineers (London); Linda Hall Library; Maryland Historical Society; Massachusetts Historical Society; Metropolitan Museum of Art Library; Morgan Library; Morristown National Historical Park; Samuel Morse Historic Site; National Academy of Design; National Museum of American History (Western Union Collection); New Jersey Historical Society; New York Public Library; Phillips Academy Library; Princeton University Library; Public Record O ce (London); Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Library; University of Rochester Library; A S W Rosenbach Foundation; Vermont Historical Society; Woodru University Library, Emory —the many expert curators and librarians at these repositories, particularly Nancy Cricco and Joan Grant (Bobst Library), Margaret Heilbrun (New-York Historical Society), Bruce Kirby (Smithsonian Institution Archives), Jennifer Lee (New York Public Library), and Laura Linke (Olin Library) —New York University, my longtime second home, for a Research Challenge Fund Grant —Beth Phillips, for her photographs; Professors Richard R John, Jill Lepore, and Paul Magnuson, for helpful information about Morse’s activities; and especially Professor David Hochfelder, assistant editor of the Thomas Edison Papers, for reviewing a draft of this biography, giving me the bene t of his precise technical understanding of Morse’s telegraph system —friends and colleagues whose companionship has been a delight and a boost, both those I have thanked in previous books and those I acknowledge now: Stan Allen, Ann Birstein, Fred Brown, Ed Cifelli, Elam and Mary Lou Collins, Charles DeFanti, Michael Dellaira, Dr Stuart Feder, Judy Fei er, Diane Jacobs, Richard Kaufman, Herb Leibowitz, David Levering Lewis, Larry Lockridge, Bill Luhr, Patricia O’Toole, Arnold Rampersad, Carl Rollyson, Mark Rudman, Matthew Santirocco, George and Nina Schindler, Catharine R Stimpson, Arthur Tannenbaum, Brenda Wineapple, and Meier Yedid —my ace literary agent, Hugh Rawson, and my superb editor at Alfred A Knopf, Ann Close —Jane Mallison, gloriosa donna de la mia mente Kenneth Silverman Washington Square and Highland Lake Illustration Credits PAGE Samuel F B Morse, Self Portrait (1812–13) Oil on canvas, 30 X 25 in © Addi-son Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts All rights reserved Samuel F B Morse, Self Portrait (ca 1809) Watercolor on ivory, 3¼ X 5/8 in National Academy of Design, New York (accession #8g4-P) Gift of Samuel P Avery, John G Brown, Thomas B Clarke, Lockwood de Forest, Daniel Huntington, James C Nicoll, and Harry W Watrous, 1900 Washington Allston, Self Portrait (1805) Oil on canvas, 31V8 X 26 V2 in Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Bequest of Miss Alice Hooper Samuel F B Morse, Morse Family Portrait Group (CA 1809) Watercolor on paper, 12 X 15 in Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History MAH-34215; negative no 34215 Samuel F B Morse, The Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth (CA 1810–11) Oil on canvas, 36 X 48 in Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library Samuel F B Morse, Dying Hercules (1812) Oil on canvas, 96 /4X 78 /8 in Yale University Art Gallery Gift of the artist Samuel F B Morse, Reverend (1789–1869) and Mrs Hiram Bingham (Sybil Mosely, d 1848) (1819) Oil on academy board, 10 X in Yale University Art Gallery Gift of Hiram Bingham, B.A., 1898 Samuel F B Morse, Lucretia Pickering Walker Morse (ca 1818–19) Oil on canvas, 30/8 X 25/16 in Mead Art Museum, Amherst College (AC 1945 78) Bequest of Herbert L Pratt, class of 1895 55 Samuel F B Morse, James Monroe (1819–20) Oil on canvas, 29V2 X 24V8 in White House Collection Courtesy of the White House Historical Association Samuel F B Morse, The House of Representatives (1822–23) Oil on canvas, X 130 3/4 in Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C (accession #11.14) Sidney E Morse (ca 1860) New-York Historical Society, #72713 Lithographer unknown Samuel F B Morse, William Cullen Bryant (1828–29) Oil on canvas, 30 X 25 in National Academy of Design, New York (accession #892-P) Samuel F B Morse, DeWitt Clinton (1826) Oil on canvas, 30 1/16 X 25 3/16 in Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 190g (og.18) The Metropolitan Museum of Art All rights reserved Samuel F B Morse, The Marquis de Lafayette (1825–26) Oil on canvas, 94 X 64 in City Hall, New York Courtesy of the Art Commission of the City of New York Horatio Greenough, Samuel F B Morse (1831) Marble, 19 1/2 X 12 X 3/4 in Smithsonian Museum of American Art Samuel F B Morse, Contadina of Nattuno at the Shrine of the Madonna (1830) Oil on canvas, 21 1/2 X 17 1/2 in © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond The Adolph D and Wilkins C Williams Fund Samuel F B Morse, Grand Gallery of the Louvre (1831–33) Oil on canvas, 73 3/4 in Terra Foundation for the Arts, Daniel J Terra Foundation (1992.51) Photograph courtesy of Terra Foundation for the Arts, Chicago NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (CA 1835) New York University Archives, Bobst Library, New York University SAMUEL F B MORSE, ALLEGORICAL LANDSCAPE SHOWING NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (1836) Oil on canvas, 22ẵ by 36ẳ finches Collection of the NewYork Historical Society, #6326 Samuel F B Morse, The Reverend Thomas Harvey Skinner (ca 1836) Oil on paperboard, 29 1/2 X 24 5/8 in Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Gift of Maxim Karolik for the M and M Karolik Collection of American Paintings, 1815–1865 Samuel F B Morse, The Muse—Susan Walker Morse (ca 1835–37) Oil on canvas, 73 3/4 x 56 6/8 in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, bequest of Herbert L Pratt, 1945 (45.62.1) The Metropolitan Museum of Art All rights reserved Morse’s original telegraph apparatus, CA 1836 Samuel Irenaeus Prime, The Life of Samuel F B Morse, LL.D (1875) Reproduction of Morse’s original port-rule Smithsonian Institution, neg #26, 811 Chappe semaphore Musée de la Poste, Paris Page from Morse’s Sully sketchbook Smithsonian Institution, neg #17, 479C Alfred Vail New York University Archives, Bobst Library, New York University Morse’S 1837 relay plan Samuel Irenaeus Prime, The Life of Samuel F B Morse, LL D (1875) Speedwell factory building, Morristown, New Jersey Smithsonian Institution, neg #72-4315 Francis O J Smith Collections of the Maine Historical Society (Coll #30) Sir Charles Wheatstone Science and Society Picture Library, Science Museum, London Joseph Henry Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-10693) Photographer unknown Original register used in the Baltimore-Washington trials of 1844 Smithsonian Institution, neg #29, 651 Telegraph key of the 1840s Smithsonian Institution, neg #27, 979 Samuel F B Morse, ca 1850 Edward Julian Nally Papers Manuscript Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library Amos Kendall Prints and Photographs Division, The Library of Congress (LC-USZ62–10501) Ad for the Magnetic Telegraph Company Washington Republic, February 1, 185a Henry O’Reilly Courtesy of the Rochester Historical Society And Grace Cutler Rice Cooke-Wheatstone double-needle telegraph Science & Society Picture Library, Science Museum, London House printing telegraph Smithsonian Institution, neg #30, 396 Samuel Morse’s Wife and Daughter (1848) Daguerreotype by Samuel F B Morse Collection of the New-York Historical Society, #6878 Alexander Jackson Davis, plan for Morse home at Locust Grove (1851) Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1924 Cyrus W Field (ca 1860) Carte-de-visiteby Mathew Brady Collection of the New-York Historical Society, #40401A Landing of cable from the stern of the Niagara Illustrated London News, August 22, 1857 Sectional view of the Niagara (ca 1855) Engraving by unidentified artist New-York Historical Society, #3747! A Morse in his New York City study Prints and Photographs Division, The Library of Congress (LC-BH8201–963) Morse ca 1863 Prints and Photographs Division, The Library of Congress (LC-USZ62–11302) Christian Schussele, Men of Progress (1862) Oil on canvas, 51 3/8 X 76 3/4 in National Portrait Gallery (NPG 65 60), Smithsonian Institution Morse Statue in Central Park Edward Julian Nally Papers Manuscript Division, Department of Rare Books And Special Collections, Princeton University Library Morse Celebration at the Academy Of Music Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, JULY 1, 1871 A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born and raised in Manhattan, Kenneth Silverman is Professor Emeritus of English at New York University His other books include Timothy Dwight, A Cultural History of the American Revolution, The Life and Times of Cotton Mather, Edgar A Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance, and HOUDINI!!! He is the winner of the Bancroft Prize in American History, the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, the Edgar Award of the Mystery Writers of America, and the Christopher Literary Award of the Society of American Magicians THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A KNOPF Copyright © 2003 Kenneth Silverman All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions Published in the United States by Alfred A Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York www.aaknopf.com Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Silverman, Kenneth Lightning man : the accursed life of Samuel F B Morse / by Kenneth Silverman p cm eISBN: 978-0-307-43437-1 Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791–1872 Inventors—United States—Biography Artists—United States—Biography Telegraph Morse code I Title TK5243.M7S55 2003 621.383′o92—dc21 2002043613 [B] v3.0 ... Congregationalist clergy he allied himself with the Federalist party Against the more liberal, capitalistic social order taking shape in the wake of the American Revolution, he upheld the Calvinistic... insolent Englishmen how to respect us.” Jedediah and Elizabeth did not join in their son’s cheers Solid CongregationalistFederalists, they viewed England as the defender of the Christian civilization... When his younger brothers Sidney and Richard entered the Academy, he read them religious works Sometimes he adopted with them the godly manner of their pious elders When Elizabeth again gave