The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1873-02-27
THE TRUE STORY OF THE
FIRST TELEGRAM.

The bill met with neither sneers
nor opposition in the Senate, but
the business of the House went on
with discouraging slowness. At
twilight on the last evening of the
session (March 3, I843) there were
1l9 bills before it. as it seemed
impossible for it to be reached in
regular course before the hour of
adjournment should arrive, the Pro-
lessor, who had anxiously watched
the tardy movements Of business
all day from the gallery of the SEN
ate chamber, went with sad heart
to his hotel and prepared to leave
for New York at an early hour the
next morning. While at breakfast,
a servant informed him that a young
lady desired to see him in the par
lor.
There he met Miss Annie Ellis
worth, then young school girl
the daughter of his intimate friend,
Hon. Henry j.. Ellsworth. the first
Commissioner of Patents-who
said, as she extended her hand to
him; Il have come to congratulate
you"
Upon what - inquired the Pro
fessor.
Upon the passage of your bilI,''
she replied.
Impossible Its fate was sealed
at dusk last evening. You must be
mistaken
Not at ALL" she responded.
"tather sent me to tell you that
your bill was passed. He remained
until the session closed, and yours
was the last bill but one acted upon,
and it was passed just five minutes
before the adjournment; and | am
so glad to be the first one to tell
you. Mother says, too, THAT you
must come home with me to break
fast.
The invitation was readily accept
ed, and the joy in the household
was unbounded. Both Mr.. and
Mrs. Ellsworth had fully believed
in the project, and the former, in
his confidence in it and in his warm
friendship for Prof. Morse, had
spent all the closing hours of the
session in the Senate chamber,
doing what he could to help the bill
along, and giving it all the influence
of his high personal and official po-
sition.
Grasping the hand of his young
friend, the Professor thanked her
again and again for bearing him
such pleasant tidings, and assured
her that she should send over the
wires the first message, as her re-
ward. The matter was talked over
in the family, and Mrs. Ellsworth
suggested message which Prof.
Morse referred to the daughter, for
her approval ; and this was the one
which was subsequently sent.
A little more than a year after
that time, the line between Wash
ington and Baltimore was complet-
ed. Prof. Morse was in the former
city, and Mr., Alfred Vail, his as
sistant, in the latter the first in
the chamber of the Supreme Court,
tie last in the Mount Clare depot,
when the circuit being perfect, Prof
Morse sent to Miss Ellsworth fol
her message, and it came.
"WHAT HATH GoD WROUGHT p
1t was sent in triplicate in the
dot-and-line language of the instru
ment to Baltimore, and was the
first message ever transmitted By q
recording telegraph.
The story of this first message
has been often told with many ex
aggerations. 1t has roamed abou
Europe with various romantic ma
terial attached to it, originating
mainly in the French imagination,
and has started up anew from time
to time in our own country under
fresh forms, but the above story i.
simply and literally true. An in.