Delay in Completion of the Pelham Region's First Telephone Circuit in 1882

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Like so many other American inventions, the telephone changed life in the little Town of Pelham in the 19th Century.  Indeed, United States Patent No. 174,465 for "Telegraphy" was issued to A. G. Bell on March 7, 1876.  Within only a few short years, residents of Pelham began telephone installations throughout the region.

The telegraph, of course, pre-dated the telephone.  It was developed by Samuel Morse during the 1830s and 1840s.  Despite the earlier development of the telegraph, Pelham seems to have remained cut off from the rest of the world regarding electronic communications until June, 1878, when financier William Belden had a telegraph line installed by the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company to an office in his home on Belden's Point, City Island in the Town of Pelham.  The telegraph was manned by a private telegrapher employed by Mr. Belden.  See City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], May 31, 1878, Vol. IX, No. 454, p. 2, col. 5 (reporting that "Mr. Wm. Belden is having the A. & P. Telegraph wire extended as far as his house, and has an operator and an office of his own at his private residence.").  In 1882, the telegraph system was expanded when the Western Union Telegraph Company installed telegraph lines between Williamsbridge and City Island to connect with the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company.  See Fri., Nov. 27, 2009:  Telegraph Wires Connected Pelham to the Outside World in 1882.  The same year (1882), a telegraph office began operating in Pelham Manor daily (except Sundays) from 6:00 a.m. until 8:45 p.m. each day.  See Tue., Aug. 11, 2009:  News of Pelham Manor and City Island Published on July 14, 1882.

A Morse Telegraph from 1872-73 of the Type Likely

in Use at About the Time William Belden of City Island

Had a Telegraph Line Extended to His Residence There.

Source:  Wikimedia Commons. NOTE: Click to Enlarge.

I have written on numerous occasions of the histories of telegraph and telephone communications in the Town of Pelham.  See, e.g.:

Tue., Mar. 29, 2005:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham Manor? 

Tue., Aug. 11, 2009:  News of Pelham Manor and City Island Published on July 14, 1882.

Fri., Nov. 27, 2009:  Telegraph Wires Connected Pelham to the Outside World in 1882.

Mon., Dec. 21, 2009:  More on What May Have Been the First Telephone Installed in Pelham. 

Mon., Mar. 24, 2014:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham? When and Where Was it Installed?

Mon., Mar. 02, 2015:  The Telegraph in Pelham: Pre-Telephone Communications with the Outside World.

Tue., May 03, 2016:  More on the Earliest Installations of Telephones in the Town of Pelham.

By 1882, it seems, Pelham and the entire region were clamoring for installation of telephone lines and telephones.  There was talk of the creation of a telephone circuit through installation of telephone poles and wires throughout the City Island, Pelham, New Rochelle, and Larchmont region with a central office ("general office") to be located in New Rochelle.  The concept was to have merchants and residents in the region who wished telephone service to pay "monthly dues" to fund installation of the poles and wires as well as creation of the telephone circuit.  

By late summer of 1882, however, it became clear that the initiative would not proceed that year.  Residents of the lovely summer resort community of Larchmont did not want "ungainly" telephone poles erected along their streets.  Instead, they wanted telephone wires to be laid underground.  Additionally, the entire summer resort was more seasonal than residential.  Because most in Larchmont at the time closed their resort homes for the winter and departed to other locations including New York City until the spring, Larchmont residents did not want to begin paying "monthly dues" until the following spring season when they would return to their vacation homes.

New Rochelle merchants who wanted phone service raised similar concerns.  They noted "now that the season is so far advanced, [they] would rather commence paying the monthly dues for the same in the spring."

Given such concerns, on August 26, 1882 the New Rochelle Pioneer reported that "telephone managers at present are not making arrangements to erect poles about New Rochelle, Larchmont, Pelham and City Island, with a general office at New Rochelle."  It also reported that "From the present outlook the telephone circuit will not be perfected before the winter sets in."

Pelham would have to wait a little longer before its residents could install the latest technology:  the telephone.

1884 Telephone, From a Newspaper

Advertisement Published that Year.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"The telephone managers at present are not making arrangements to erect poles about New Rochelle, Larchmont, Pelham and City Island, with a general office at New Rochelle.  The Larchmont people do not care to have the ungainly poles erected about their streets, and there is a strong possibility that the wires will be laid under ground.  This will delay the work until late in the fall, and by that time Larchmont will be deserted.  We understand that a number of the New Rochelle merchants, now that the season is so far advanced, would rather commence paying the monthly dues for the same in the spring.  From the present outlook the telephone circuit will not be perfected before the winter sets in."

Source:  [Untitled], New Rochelle Pioneer, Aug. 26, 1882, Vol. XXIII, No. 20, p. 3, col. 2.  

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More on the Earliest Installations of Telephones in the Town of Pelham

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I have written on several occasions about my efforts to determine when the first telephone was installed within the Town of Pelham.  United States Patent No. 174,465 for "Telegraphy" was issued to Alexander Graham Bell on March 7, 1876.  Residents of the Town of Pelham seemed to recognize the importance and value of the new invention very early.

On July 19, 1884, the New Rochelle Pioneer reported that during the previous week City Island had been "connected with the outside world by the telephone" and that "Manager Deveau has been quite active the past few days in putting up telephones."  Source: LOCAL INTELLIGENCE, New Rochelle Pioneer Supplement, Jul. 19, 1884, p. 4, col. 2.  The same issue of the New Rochelle Pioneer elsewhere reported that "Several of the tradesmen of City Island concluded that they may as well be buried alive as be out of the fashion, so they have put in telephones in order to keep pace with the times. . . . "  Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, New Rochelle Pioneer Supplement, Jul. 19, 1884, p. 4, col. 6.

Clearly telephone technology was sweeping the lower Westchester region in 1884.  The September 19, 1884 issue of The Chronicle published in Mount Vernon, New York reported breathlessly:  "The office of the Westchester Telephone Company was moved into their new quarters in the rooms over Spicers harness shop, a few days ago.  The office is now kept open day and night.  Miss May Johnson is in charge during the day time, and Mr. James Brett at night."  Source:  LOCAL NEWS, The Chronicle, Sep. 19, 1884, Vol. XVI, No. 783, p. 3, col. 1.  

There were so few telephones in the region in 1884 that a local merchants in Mount Vernon who had a telephone encouraged prospective customers to call the business using phone number "18."  See MRS. D. FERGUSON First Street, Mr. Vernon Near the Depot - Stoves, Ranges, Furnaces, Etc. Hardware [Advertisement], The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], May 2, 1884, Vol. XV, No. 763, p. 2, col. 7.    

As I have noted before, records of the Pelham Manor Protective Club indicate that on June 2, 1884 the members of the organization authorized the Westchester Telephone Company to install a telephone in the Pelham Manor Depot on the Branch Line near the end of today's Esplanade. On July 9, 1884, the Club authorized payment of the first bill from the telephone company in the amount of $20.20. Although the bill likely was for use of the telephone, admittedly it is unclear precisely what the bill was for and whether, for example, it was for installation of the telephone at a later date.  It seems clear, however, that the telephone installed by the Pelham Manor Protective Club was installed before July 4, 1884.  See PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], July 4, 1884, Vol. XV, No. 772, p. 3, col. 5 (reporting that as of July 4, 1884, "The Protective Association of Pelham Manor, have connected themselves with the outside world by telephone.").

It seems, however, that the honor of installing the first telegraph line and telegraph communication system belongs to City Island, once part of the Town of Pelham.  According to one report, in June 1878, financier William Belden was involved in the installation of a telegraph line to an office in his home manned by a telegrapher.  See City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], May 31, 1878, Vol. IX, No. 454, p. 2, col. 5 (reporting that "Mr. Wm. Belden is having the A. & P. Telegraph wire extended as far as his house, and has an operator and an office of his own at his private residence.").

It seems likely that the tiny little hamlet of Pelhamville was just as active in pursuing the latest fad and installing the new telephone technology.  I have been unable, however, to locate any references to suggest that any telephone was installed in Pelhamville in July, 1884.  Below the image of the 1884 telephone, I have provided links to earlier postings addressing the issue of when the first telephone was installed within the Town of Pelham.

1884 Telephone, From a Newspaper

Advertisement Published that Year.

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Below are links to previous Historic Pelham blog postings that deal with the issue of the first installation of a telephone within the Town of Pelham.

Tue., Mar. 29, 2005:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham Manor? 

Mon., Dec. 21, 2009:  More on What May Have Been the First Telephone Installed in Pelham.

Mon., Mar. 24, 2014:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham? When and Where Was it Installed?

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Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

The Telegraph in Pelham: Pre-Telephone Communications with the Outside World

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"What hath God wrought!" were the words tapped out by Samuel F. B. Morse from the United States Supreme Court chambers in Washington, D. C. to his colleague, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore on May 24, 1844.  With those now-famous words, Morse made clear to the world that the telegraph was a viable means of virtually instant communication throughout the nation if not the world.  Within two years, the first commercial telegraph line was completed between New York City and Washington, D. C.  Soon, telegraph lines criss-crossed the entire United States.

The sleepy little Town of Pelham had little need for the new invention.  The area was not yet a business suburb of New York City.  The New York and New Haven Railroad did not reach Pelhamville until a single track was laid through the area in late 1848.  Likewise, the Harlem River branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad did not reach City Island and the Pelham Manor area along the Sound until 1872.  Most residents of the Town were oystermen, seamen, shipbuilders or local merchants on City Island or were farmers and local merchants on the mainland.  Despite a number of grand country estates owned by businessmen, artists, and financiers along the Sound, for the most part Pelham residents were perfectly content having no instantaneous communications with the outside world.

Things seemed to change shortly after the so-called Branch Line came to the area in 1872.  Efforts began to develop an area on the mainland as an exclusive suburban enclave for affluent business commuters who wished to live in a suburb of New York City.  Additionally, the City Island and Pelham Bridge areas of Pelham were becoming a regional tourist destination.

In 1878, millionaire banker, broker, and financier, William Belden, had a residence on City Island in the Town of Pelham.  Belden was one of the most colorful characters of 19th century Wall Street.  He is remembered as one of the three principal financiers, together with Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, who manipulated the price of gold upward until the bubble burst and caused the "Black Friday" stock market crash of September 24, 1869.  Thereafter bad business deals and years of prosecution for his misdeeds forced Belden into bankruptcy in the late 1880s.  In 1878, however, Belden had residences in Manhattan and City Island and continued to dabble in high finance.  According to one account, Belden was responsible for the first telegraph line ever strung to the Town of Pelham when he had the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company extend a private line to his house where he operated an office and had his own telegraph operator to man the line.  See City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], May 31, 1878, Vol. IX, No. 454, p. 2, col. 5 ("Mr. Wm. Belden is having the A. & P. Telegraph wire extended as far as his house, and has an operator and an office of his own at his private residence.").  When Belden had the A&P telegraph line extended to his residence on City Island in 1878, the company was controlled by Belden's fellow financier and acquaintance Jay Gould.  (See below.)

In early May, 1882, the Western Union Telegraph Company seems to have run another telegraph line from Williamsbridge to City Island and connected the line with the more extensive lines of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company.  Only a few years before, in 1875, financier Jay Gould had acquired sufficient shares of the company to take control and initiated a rate war with competing telegraph companies including Western Union.  By 1878, Gould sold the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company to Western Union at a profit, thereby enabling Western Union easily to arrange connection of its City Island telegraph line to the lines of its affiliate, Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company in early May, 1882.  See Fri., Nov. 27, 2009:  Telegraph Wires Connected Pelham to the Outside World in 1882.  See also COUNTY MATTERS, New Rochelle Pioneer, May 6, 1882, Vol. XXIII, No. 5, p. 2, col. 3 ("The Western Union Telegraph Company are putting up a wire between Williamsbridge and City Island, to connect with the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company.").

A Morse Telegraph from 1872-73 of the Type Likely

in Use at About the Time William Belden of City Island

Had a Telegraph Line Extended to His Residence There.

Source:  Wikimedia Commons.  NOTE:  Click to Enlarge.

It is not certain precisely when the tiny settlement of Pelham Manor was first connected to the local web of telegraph lines.  It certainly seems to have been at about the same time as the extension of the public line to City Island in early May, 1882, about two years before the first telephones were installed in Pelham Manor and on City Island.  A local newspaper reported on July 14, 1882 as follows:

"PELHAM MANOR.

The telegraph office at Pelham Manor will be open hereafter daily (Sundays excepted) from 6 A. M. till 8.45 P. M.

Messrs.  Cochran & Mulvey, the former the telegraph operator, have opened a grocery in the depot building.  The young men have put in a nice stock of selected groceries, and are deserving of liberal patronage. . . ."

Source:  PELHAM MANOR, The Chronicle [Mt. Vernon, NY], Jul. 14, 1882, Vol. XIII, No. 669, p. 2, col. 4. 

Thus, it would appear, by July, 1882, Pelham Manor had a telegraph office that likely was in the Pelham Manor Depot and was operated by one of the two men who operated a grocery in the same depot building.  

At the time these telegraph lines were run in 1878 and 1882, telephones were not yet available within the Town of Pelham.  Only a few years later (by mid-1884), however, telephones were beginning to be installed in the town.   See:

Mon., Mar. 24, 2014:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham? When and Where Was it Installed?

Tue., Mar. 29, 2005:  The Earliest Telephone in Pelham Manor?

Mon., Dec. 21, 2009:  More on What May Have Been the First Telephone Installed in Pelham.

Soon, with widespread installation of telephones, the days of the telegraph and its utility within the Town of Pelham were numbered.

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Telegraph Wires Connected Pelham to the Outside World in 1882

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A very brief reference contained in the May 6, 1882 issue of The Pioneer published in New Rochelle, New York, reflects the date that City Island in Pelham was first connected to the communications grid of telegraph wires that were beginning to cross the country.  The reference is quoted below, followed by a citation to its source:

"COUNTY MATTERS . . . The Western Union Telegraph Company are putting up a wire between Williamsbridge and City Island, to connect with the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company."

Source:  County Matters, The Pioneer [New Rochelle, NY], May 6, 1882, p. ?, col. 3 (no page number reflected on newspaper page).

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News of Pelham Manor and City Island Published on July 14, 1882

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The Chronicle, a newspaper published in Mount Vernon, NY, periodically included news from the Town of Pelham (including City Island, at the time).  On July 14, 1882, the newspaper reported news of Pelham Manor and City Island.  There were a number of interesting reports regarding the Pelham Manor Depot on the Branch Line.  The news items are transcribed below in their entirety.

"PELHAM MANOR.

The telegraph office at Pelham Manor will be open hereafter daily (Sundays excepted) from 6 A.M. till 8.45 P.M.

Messrs. Cochran & Mulvey, the former the [sic] telegraph operator, have opened a grocery in the depot building.  The young men have put in a nice stock of selected groceries, and are deserving of liberal patronage.

A week ago last Sunday night, the ticket office at Pelham Manor and the residences of Mr. W. E. Barnett and Mrs. Graham were broken into.  From the ticket office 126 tickets were stolen, but a little cash and the baggage were not disturbed.  At Mr. Barnett's the articles taken were of a trifling character, and at Mrs. Graham's the thieves were caught while in the cellar.    They proved to be Edward and Joseph, two sons of James Morgan, of Pelham Manor.  The tickets have been recovered and the boys are to be sent to the Catholic Protectory.

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CITY ISLAND.

A soiree was given at Flynn's pavilion on Wednesday evening last. 

Capt. Samuel Dayton has sold his sloop E. H. Dayton, to a gentleman of Staten Island for $1,800.

One of Benj. Barstow's children aged about two years died on Monday last of Cholera Infantum.  Three others of the family are seriously ill.

While hauling out the schooner Sam'l S. Thorpe on the large railways at Carll's on Monday afternoon, the chain broke.  The vessel was however held in place by a capstan.  The schooner Minnie Griffin is hauled out for overhauling.  The schooner W. H. Baily is expected at the yard for repairs."

Source:  Pelham Manor / City Island, The Chronicle, Jul. 14, 1882, p. ?, col. 4 (no page number is printed on the newspaper page).

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