Joseph Henry Testifies for Morse v. O'Reilly Telegraph Patent Case
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Date: September 7, 1849
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Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry is summoned to Boston and reluctantly provides a deposition in an appeal of a patent infringement case won the previous year by Samuel F. B. Morse. He provides a history of discoveries in electromagnetism upon which Morse's telegraph is based, including his own work, and credits Morse not with any original discovery but only with "the invention of a particular instrument and process for telegraphic purposes" (Annual Report 1857, p. 113).
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
September 7, 1849