Correspondence
name: label: Collection Creator
content: United Telegraph Workers.
label: Collection Creator
content: Western Union Telegraph Company
setName: label: See more items in
content: Western Union Telegraph Company Records
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1837-1985
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0205, Series 5
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The correspondence is arranged into five subseries:

1. President Norvin Green, 1887

2. Vice President's and General Superintendent's, 1888-1923

3. Amos Kendall and Samuel F. B. Morse, 1837-1888

4. General Correspondence and forms, 1857-1935

5. Correspondence and forms, 1857-1935

6. Internal memos and forms, 1888-1948

7. Miscellaneous correspondence, 1890-1985

8. Employees correspondence, 1917-1919
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The vice presidential and general superintendent correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent. The correspondence of Charles Buckingham, General Counsel for Western Union, relates to patents, patent hearing dates, and some financial accounts. Included are typed Edison patents specifications, printed Essick specifications, Theodore M. Foote specifications, and correspondence from Morris S. Hopkins of Baldwin, Hopkins and Peyton, a law firm acting on patents for the Western Union Telegraph Company. Other correspondence to Buckingham relates to Edison patents, the manufacture of printers for Australia, requests from an auditor for review and approval and bills rendered, and lost or misplaced patents. Correspondence from and to A. A. Knudson, an electrical engineer deals with a patent for a printing telegraph and notes from Charles A. Judson about money owed him. The Judson and Hyland correspondence details a gift to Western Union of Cyrus Field's dining room furniture on which the charter for the original Atlantic cable was signed. R. Harris correspondence details the collecting of message forms, the use of less expensive copier paper, and specifications for customer bill heads. 

Letters from H.C. Nicholson are concerned with experiments, including the "Quad" telegraph and several about a proposal of the Postal Telegraph regarding the trunk line from New York to Chicago. 

A partial letter of October 7, 1896, to the Smithsonian Institution describes the original Morse telegraph. An extensive report to the Spanish Legation, 1872, describes problems in connection with retrieving and repairing an underseas cable from Key West to Havana and includes expense accounts. The miscellaneous correspondence, 1848-1949, contains references to many types of equipment, cables, the line between New York and Chicago, the Telegraphone, and trials on the Telegraplex system. Other subjects include Telegraphones on the P and R railroad, the Northern Pacific railroad, the L and N and D railroads, photographs of the Missouri Pacific office, the history of the underground cable, a description of the District of Columbia time service and of the Simmons unit; and telegrams of congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the first public demonstration of the Morse telegraph. 

The correspondence of Amos Kendall (1789-1869), a lawyer, politician and former U.S. Postmaster General and Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872) is arranged chronologically and is primarily outgoing correspondence from Kendall to Morse. 

The employee correspondence, 1917-1919, consist of letters written by Western Union employees serving in the military during World War I. Letters are arranged alphabetically.