A History of Telegraphy

Abraham Lincoln is one of America’s most famous presidents for many reasons but it is a little known fact that he was a big fan of communication technology; spending many hours of the Civil War in the War Offices, writing and receiving telegrams. His first State of the Union Speech in December 1861 was sent via telegraph to many US cities, at a remarkable rate of 82 words per minute.

The word telegraphy simply means ‘message from afar’.