Field_1

Field, Cyrus West, was born in Massachusetts in 1819. After starting a prosperous paper factory, he took up the idea of having an Atlantic telegraph cable, and having obtained a concession for fifty years from the Government of Newfoundland, he (with others) founded in 1854 the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, and the Atlantic Company in 1856. He worked hard to arouse interest in the enterprise on both sides of the Atlantic, and the first cable was laid in 1858. This, however, was soon broken, and then the Civil War caused a temporary cessation of operations. But in 1866 final success attended his efforts, and he received a gold medal and the thanks of the nation. He also interested himself greatly in the New York elevated railway. He died in 1892.