Jeptha H. Wade family papers

This collection comprises the papers of the family of Jeptha Homer Wade (1811-1890), a founder of the Western Union Telegraph Company. Wade's business papers are an excellent source of information pertaining to the telegraph industry, from its inception in the 1840s as a group of independent regional systems through the creation and operations of the Western Union Telegraph Company in the 1860s. These documents provide a day-to-day view of Wade's involvement in the development and construction of some of the first telegraph systems in the Midwest, evidencing his extraordinary entrepreneurial prowess throughout this period. Additionally, Wade's correspondence with Amos Kendall, attorney for Samuel F.B. Morse, and with Hiram Sibley, president of Western Union and the earlier New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company, provides a behind-the-scenes perspective of an emerging, unregulated industry in the mid-nineteenth century. In addition, this collection documents the Wade family's interest in spiritualism, particularly that of Jeptha Homer Wade after the death of his only son in 1876. Wade remained a devout spiritualist throughout the remainder of his life. Also included here are genealogical and personal papers of this prominent Cleveland family. The collection consists of correspondence, wills, diaries, autobiographical sketches, memoranda, deeds, contracts, drawings, financial records, passport documents, land grants, notes, receipts, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks.