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]
CERTIFICATE OF DISCHARGE FROM THE MERCANTILE MARINE SERVICE “[296]
THE ANDRÉ MONUMENT, TAPPAN, NEW YORK “[302]

CYRUS W. FIELD
HIS LIFE AND WORK

CHAPTER I
PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME LIFE
(1819-1835)