Arthur W. Page
Bernard M. Oliver

William Orton

Western Union President
American Speaking Telephone Co. · Western Union  |  Associates: Amos Dolbear, Thomas Edison, Elisha Gray, George May Phelps
From Wikipedia

William Orton (June 14, 1826 – April 22, 1878) was an American businessman who served as president of the Western Union Telegraph Company.

William Orton was born in Cuba, New York on June 14, 1826. He was trained as a printer and worked on a newspaper in the village of Cuba. He graduated from the State Normal School (now the State University of New York at Albany) in 1847, and received his certification as a teacher.
He taught at a school in Cuba, and then moved to Geneva to become a clerk in a bookstore. In 1852 Orton moved to Buffalo, where he became a partner in a publishing company… More on Wikipedia →

Timeline events (5)

Western Union's Orton testifies in Congress against Hubbard's proposed telegraph competitor
Gardiner Greene Hubbard William Orton
1874
Bell pitches his harmonic telegraph to Western Union's Orton, who declines
Bell pitches his harmonic telegraph to Western Union's Orton, who declines
1875
Orton engages Thomas Edison to investigate harmonic telegraphy for Western Union
Thomas Edison William Orton
1875
Western Union's Orton declines to buy Bell's patent for $100k
Gardiner Greene Hubbard William Orton
1876
Western Union sells its phone network to Bell
William Orton
1879

Related concepts (1)

Quadruplex telegraph
The Quadruplex telegraph is a type of electrical telegraph which allows a total of four separate signals to be transmitted and received on a single wire at the same time.…
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