George May Phelps (March 19, 1820 – May 18, 1888) was a 19th-century American inventor of automated

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

equipment. He is credited with synthesizing the designs of several existing printers into his line of devices which became the dominant apparatus for automated reception and transmission of telegraph messages.

Biography

George May Phelps was born in

Watervliet, New York Watervliet ( or ) is a City (New York), city in northeastern Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 10,375 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Watervliet is north of Albany, New York, Albany, the capital city, ...

, in 1820. As a youth, he went to work for his uncle Jonas H. Phelps, who made

mathematical instrument A mathematical instrument is a tool or device used in the study or practice of mathematics. In geometry, construction of various proofs was done using only a compass and straightedge; arguments in these proofs relied only on idealized properti ...

s in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

. During the 1850s, the Morse system of telegraphy was in competition with the Bain chemical system and the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

printing system. Phelps' first business endeavor appears to be as Phelps and Dickerman in Troy, New York, building the House printing telegraph instruments. By this time his machinist skills had expanded into areas involving work in light machinery, paper sorting machines, and safe locks. Some of his earliest patents were designs on speed governors.

Printing telegraph

In 1855, David E. Hughes, a music professor, designed a new printing telegraph system. The Hughes system was purchased by the newly formed American Telegraph Company, a

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

competitor, and given to Phelps for refinement. Phelps made two important changes to the printer. He invented a device to re-synchronize both the transmitting and receiving printer after the completion of each character. He also combined both drive mechanisms together to increase the number of characters reaching the

platen A platen (or platten) is a platform with a variety of roles in printing or manufacturing. It can be a flat metal (or earlier, wooden) plate pressed against a medium (such as paper) to cause an impression in letterpress printing. Platen may al ...

in the shortest possible time. These improvements made the Hughes printer design viable for commercial use.

Further career

In 1856, the recently organized American Telegraph Company purchased the Phelps and Dickerman shops and made Phelps plant superintendent of its most significant manufacturing operation. Western Union purchased American Telegraph Company following the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in 1866 and positioned Phelps as superintendent of the mechanical department, first in Troy, later in Williamsburg and finally in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Phelps continued to work on printing telegraph systems for many years with full support from Western Union management, who sought any competitive advantage. He also developed stock quotation printers, or ' tickers'. In the mid-1870s, Western Union's president

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Orton assigned Phelps to experiment with the harmonic telegraph in hopes of extended it to a working

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

. He tried to improve the construction of telephones. In August 1886 he helped Mr. Franklin Leonard Pope to conduct "The Electrician", and "Electrical Engineer". He acquired an interest in that journal. George Phelps was a charter member of the

American Institute of Electrical Engineers The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States–based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Inst ...

, and was elected one of its managers on May 19, 1885. At first, he served on the council, and he became a treasurer on May 17, 1887.

References

External links

George Phelps
at Telegraph-History

at The Telegraph Office
George Phelps
in ''Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography'' 1820 births 1888 deaths 19th-century American inventors Engineers from New York (state) {{US-inventor-stub