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 E.H. Sanford

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04236 Author/Creator: Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872) Place Written: Poughkeepsie, New York Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 12 May 1854 Pagination: 1 p. ; 25 x 19.6 cm. Order a Copy

States that Amos Kendall is his agent for the management of his telegraphic business and he cannot answer Sanford's inquiry about the sale of telegraph patent rights in Oregon and California until consulting with Kendall. Comments that he believes that no definite sale has been made yet but advises on Kendall's whereabouts and states he will send Sanford's letter to him.

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.

Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872
Sanford, E. H., fl. 1854
Kendall, Amos, 1789-1869

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