Cyrus West Field (November 30, 1819–July 12, 1892) was an American businessman and financier who led the Atlantic Telegraph Company, the company that successfully laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858. The cable broke down three weeks afterward. In 1866, Field laid a new, more durable cable which provided almost instant communication across the Atlantic. On his return to Newfoundland, he grappled the cable he had attempted to lay the previous year and which had parted in mid-ocean, reattached it to new wire, thus allowing for a second, backup wire for communication. In December 1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway named the community of Field, British Columbia, Canada in his honor. Bad investments left Field bankrupt at the end of his life.

Life

Field was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts to David Dudley Field, a clergyman. He was the brother of David Dudley Field, Henry Martyn Field, and Stephen Johnson Field. When he was 15 years old, he moved to New York City, but after three years he returned to Stockbridge. He moved to New York City again around 1840. Profits from his business ventures permitted him to retire at the age 33 with a fortune of $250,000. In the 1850s he financed the expeditions of Frederic Edwin Church that led the painter into the Andes and provided the painter with plenty of visual input. By commissioning some of Church's most well known paintings, Field hoped to lure investors into South America to support his ventures there.

On August 26, 1858, Field returned to a triumphant homecoming at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, saluting this Massachusetts boy made good. "This has been a great day here," trumpeted The New York Times. "The occasion was the reception of the welcome of Cyrus W. Field, Esq., the world-renowned parent of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable scheme, which has been so successfully completed."^[1]

Field and his wife Mary Bryan Stone had seven children.

Cyrus Field Road, in Irvington, New York, where he died, is named after Field.

See also

• Transatlantic telegraph cable

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Gordon, John Steele. A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable, Harper Perennial, 2003.

External links

• Cyrus Field Photographs, Portraits and Medals
• atlantic-cable.com, a comprehensive history of Atlantic telegraph cables
• PBS, American Experience: The Great Transatlantic Cable
• History Channel, Modern Marvels: Transatlantic Cable: 2500 Miles of Copper
• "Cable Ready" - Failure Magazine, December, 2002
• Harper's Weekly feature cartoon about the first attempt to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable, May 16, 1857.
• Descendants of Cyrus West Field by Diane Druin Gravlee
• Cyrus West Field biography in Encyclopedia Britannica
• The Planning of the Transatlantic Cable - Comic featuring Cyrus West Field

de:Cyrus W. Field es:Cyrus West Field fr:Cyrus Field id:Cyrus West Field

---

Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article