Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872) to John C. Spencer

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02113 Author/Creator: Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 15 March 1844 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Answers Spencer's questions about matters involving telegraphic conductors. Gives information on who will supply the pipe, pricing and payment, and delivery of it. States that he first found out about the deficiencies of the pipe on 6 December 1843. With an addition in a different ink at the end of the last paragraph.

Morse is credited with inventing the telegraph and Morse code. In 1844, he sent the first telegraphic message, from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., "What hath God wrought!" He was also an accomplished artist and politician. Spencer was the Secretary of the Treasury.

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872
Spencer, John C. (John Canfield), 1788-1855

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