Antebellum Jefferson, Texas: Everyday Life in an East Texas Town

38. Telegraph

513 Communication in early Texas was slow and depended on transmission by word of mouth or by printed materials such as newspapers. Newspapers from outside the region were generally received in Jefferson by stagecoach and steamboat, sometimes weeks after they had been published. The telegraph offered the first technology for near-instantaneous transmission of information. In reviewing the advantages of the telegraph, the March 5, 1853, Texas Republican pointed out that one of its primary uses would be to obtain up-to-date information on the volatile cotton market. Merchants in interior towns like Marshall wanted to buy cotton but were deterred from doing so because they did not know the current market prices. Purchases under such circumstances were risky. New York and New Orleans were connected by telegraph by way of Mobile in July 1848. In January 1853, the contractors T. C. H. Smith and George Ward proposed a line from New Orleans to Shreveport, Marshall, Houston, and Galveston. Stock subscriptions were being taken for the line between New Orleans and Shreveport in April 1853. By July, posts had been completed to Shreveport and the wire was at Shreveport ready to be strung. However, these activities were interrupted by a yellow fever epidemic in Shreveport, and the telegraph between Shreveport and New Orleans was not reported in operation by the Texas Republican until February 11, 1854. 38. T eleGraPh 514 Antebellum Jefferson, Texas In the meantime, construction of the line was progressing in Texas. By July 1853, work was being done west of Shreveport, and another crew was commencing at Galveston to work toward the northeast, with completion between Galveston and Shreveport expected in October . By August, subscriptions were being sought in the affected towns, posts had been erected six miles beyond Henderson, and wire for the Texas portion of the line was being sent to Shreveport. On September 12, a Texas and Red River Telegraph Company, with W. R. D. Ward of Marshall as president, met in Crockett. Stock had been sold, but a charter had not yet been obtained. Wire was strung between Crockett and Shreveport in September, providing linkage between Marshall and Shreveport. The February 11, 1854, Texas Republican reports that there was already a telegraph office in Marshall and that the telegraph was expected to be in operation within the next few days. The line between Shreveport and Marshall had been completed by at least January 28, but was non-functional because of destruction by ox-wagon drivers, who used the poles for firewood. The February 18 Texas Republican reports that the telegraph office had become fully functional on Tuesday, February 14: The Magnetic telegraph is at length in operation between Marshall and New Orleans. We are no longer cut off from the balance of the world by low water and slow mails. But in the twinkling of an eye—in less time than it takes to talk about it—a dispatch can be sent and received from the most distant portions of the Union where this wonder-working machine is in operation. Who will now wait a week for intelligence from New Orleans, when by taking a Marshall paper they can get intelligence from that city of the day previous? We shall give weekly dispatches, and hope that for this additional expense we will be amply remunerated by an increase of our subscription list. On Tuesday the office commenced operations at this place, and throughout the day was thronged with visitors . In the course of two hours twenty dollars were re- 515 Telegraph ceived, and since then the Telegraph has done a thriving business. We had no idea that the office would pay expense; but we are now satisfied that the stock in this line will pay a handsome dividend. However, the same issue reports continuing destruction of the line between Shreveport and Mansfield, Louisiana. This is the first issue of the Texas Republican with a column of telegraphic dispatches, but the dispatches were obtained from the telegraph office at Alexandria, rather than directly from New Orleans. The line between Shreveport and Marshall was fully functional only in late February and during the month of March. The February 25 Texas Republican reports that “The Telegraph is working wondrously well, and our people begin to experience its advantages,” with emphasis on the recentness of cotton market information from New York and New Orleans. However, by April 1, the Texas Republican was obtaining its...