Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [Illustration: Portrait signed of Cyrus W. Field.] CYRUS W. FIELD HIS LIFE AND WORK [1819-1892] EDITED BY ISABELLA FIELD JUDSON ILLUSTRATED [Illustration: colophon] NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1896 Copyright, 1896, by ISABELLA FIELD JUDSON. _All rights reserved._ [Illustration] TO MY FATHER'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS THESE PAGES Are Dedicated CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME LIFE (1819-1835) 1 II. EARLY LIFE IN NEW YORK (1835-1840) 14 III. MARRIAGE AND BUSINESS LIFE (1840-1853) 27 IV. OUT OF DEBT--A VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA (1853) 42 V. THE FIRST CABLE (1853-1857) 59 VI. THE FIRST CABLE (CONTINUED) (1857) 74 VII. A FLEETING TRIUMPH (1858) 86 VIII. FAILURE ON ALL SIDES (1858-1861) 122 IX. THE CIVIL WAR (1861-1862) 131 X. CAPITAL RAISED FOR THE MAKING OF A NEW CABLE--STEAMSHIP "GREAT EASTERN" SECURED (1863-1864) 154 XI. THE FAILURE OF 1865 182 XII. THE CABLE LAID--CABLE OF 1865 GRAPPLED FOR AND RECOVERED--PAYMENT OF DEBTS (1866) 199 XIII. THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD (1867-1870) 232 XIV. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS--RAPID TRANSIT (1870-1880) 267 XV. THE PACIFIC CABLE--THE GOLDEN WEDDING (1880-1891) 303 XVI. LAST DAYS AND DEATH--IN MEMORIAM (1891-1892) 321 ILLUSTRATIONS CYRUS W. FIELD _Frontispiece_ SUBMIT DICKINSON FIELD _Facing page_ 2 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD " 6 THE PARSONAGE, STOCKBRIDGE, MASS. " 10 VALENTIA: LANDING THE SHORE-END OF THE CABLE, 1857 " 94 CYRUS W. FIELD, 1860 " 124 LAST TWO PAGES OF LETTER FROM MR. GLADSTONE, DATED NOVEMBER 17, 1862 " 148 ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE CHART, 1865 " 188 THE NIGHT-WATCH " 194 ARDSLEY, IRVINGTON-ON-HUDSON " 264