Alfred Vail

Alfred Vail
Born25 September 1807
DiedJanuary 18, 1859(1859-01-18) (aged 51)
Morristown, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
OccupationEngineer
ChildrenStephen Vail
Engineering career
DisciplineMechanical and electrical engineering
InstitutionsMagnetic Telegraph Company
Projectstelegraph, Morse code
Significant designtelegraph key, recording telegraph, ‘dot-and-dash’ telegraph alphabet

Alfred Lewis Vail (September 25, 1807 – January 18, 1859) was an American machinist and inventor. Along with Samuel Morse, Vail was central in developing and commercializing American electrical telegraphy between 1837 and 1844.[1][a]

Vail and Morse were the first two telegraph operators on Morse's first experimental line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and Vail took charge of building and managing several early telegraph lines between 1845 and 1848. He was also responsible for several technical innovations of Morse's system, particularly the sending key and improved recording registers and relay magnets. Vail left the telegraph industry in 1848 because he believed that the managers of Morse's lines did not fully value his contributions.

His last assignment, superintendent of the Washington and New Orleans Telegraph Company, paid him only $900 a year, leading Vail to write to Morse,

"I have made up my mind to leave the Telegraph to take care of itself, since it cannot take care of me. I shall, in a few months, leave Washington for New Jersey, ... and bid adieu to the subject of the Telegraph for some more profitable business."[2]
  1. ^ a b "Invention of the Telegraph". parks.morris.nj.us. Historic Speedwell – Morristown, New Jersey. The Speedwell Village, Joint Free Public Library of Morristown, and Morris Township. 1981. Archived from the original on 21 March 2005.
  2. ^ Morse, Edward L., ed. (1914). Samuel F. B. Morse, his Letters and Journals. New York, NY.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)


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