Elisha Gray Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Elisha Gray invented a number of telegraphic devices and in 1869 was one of two partners who founded what became Western Electric Company. While experimenting in 1875 with the idea of sending musical notes by wire as a means of sending several messages simultaneously over the same wire, Gray hit upon the idea of transmitting the human voice and on February 14, 1876, filed with the patent office a caveat for such an invention. Alexander Graham Bell's final patent had been registered just a few hours before. From Lucent Technologies: "In his Western Electric years, Gray carried the simple title of electrician, but practically all of the company's early successes (the telegraph printer, the answer-back call-box of the A.D.T. System, the needle annunciator, to name a few) were the outcome of Professor Gray's invention and design."