Cyrus West Field

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Cyrus West Field

Cyrus West Field c. 1858
Born November 30, 1819
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Died July 12, 1892 (age 72)
Irvington, New York
Occupation Businessman and financier
Spouse Mary Bryan Stone (m. December 2, 1840)
Children Four sons, three daughters
Parents David Dudley Field

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.

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[edit] Early life

He 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, and after three years he returned to Stockbridge. He moved back to New York City around 1840. Profits from his business ventures permitted him to retire at the age 33 with a fortune of $250,000. He and his wife Mary Bryan Stone had 7 children.

[edit] Fiction

[edit] Non-Fiction

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

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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