SAMUEL F. B. MORSE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/23/1849 - HFSID 36927
Price: $3,000.00
SAMUEL F.B. MORSE
The artist and inventor signs this letter recommending that Congress purchase letters
of General Henry Knox owned by a lady and wishing the courts would effectively put
an end to the pirating of his telegraph invention.
ALS: "Saml. F.B. Morse", 2p, 7¾x10. Po'keepsie, N.Y., 1849 July 23. To C.S. Daveis,
Esq., Portland, Me. Daveis (1788-1865) was a prominent Maine attorney. In full: "Yours
of the 17th inst I received on Saturday evening & this morning I called on Mrs Beekman
and read her your letter. She feels that she has (as she undoubtedly has) a valuable
deposit of papers, which ought to belong to the State or the United States Government.
She is well disposed towards accommodating you with the sight and use of the letters of
Gen. Knox. She says that the papers are contained in several boxes, and the search will
be attended with some labor but that she will select out those of Gen. Knox and lay them
by themselves. That she should be desirous of reaping pecuniary benefit from papers
possessing so much value to the state, is both natural and proper, and she felt gratefully
that part of your letter which promised her you did. Why cannot something be done at the
next session of Congress for their purpose? Should you be in Washington, please think of
it. In this you could aid her substantially, nor have I a doubt she would cheerfully gratify
you with an examination of Gen. Knox's letters. I regret both the fact and the cause of
the postponement of the Telegraph case at Canandaiga (sic). I long to see some decisive
action of the Courts, that shall paralize (sic)effectually (sic) these piratical attempts upon
my property, which leaves me but little enjoyment of my life."Samuel Finley Breese
Morse (1791-1872) was an American painter and inventor. While attending Yale College
Morse painted for a living and later studied art in Europe.His first wife died suddenly and
Morse, heartbroken, became determined to formulate a faster way to send messages long
distances.While returning by ship from Europe in 1832, Morse encountered Charles Thomas
Jackson of Boston, a man who was well schooled in electromagnetism. Witnessing various
experiments with Jackson's electromagnet, Morse developed the concept of a single-wire
telegraph. On May 24, 1844, using a code of dots and dashes that he developed, sent
the message, "What hath God wrought!" from the Supreme Court room in the Capitol
building to Baltimore, the first successful application of the telegraph. In time the Morse
code, which he developed, would become the primary language of telegraphy in the world. It is
still the standard for rhythmic transmission of data. The original Morse telegraph,
submitted with his patent application, is part of the collections of the National Museum of
American History at the Smithsonian Institution. Folds, not touching signature. Light show
through of ink. Address leaf shows hole from opening wax seal, remnant also present.
Otherwise, fine condition.
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