Thomas Eckert
Encyclopedia
Thomas T. Eckert was an officer in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, Chief of the War Department Telegraph Staff
U.S. Military Telegraph Corps
The U.S. Military Telegraph Corps was formed in 1861 following the outbreak of the American Civil War. David Strouse, Samuel M. Brown, Richard O'Brian and David H. Bates, all from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, were sent to Washington, D.C. to serve in the newly created office. In October of...

 from 1862–1867, United States Assistant Secretary of War
United States Assistant Secretary of War
The United States Assistant Secretary of War was the second-ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940...

 from 1865–1867 and an executive at Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...

.

Eckert's Early Life

Thomas Thompson Eckert was born April 23, 1825 in St. Clairsville, Ohio
St. Clairsville, Ohio
St. Clairsville is a city in Belmont County, Ohio in the United States. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,057 at the 2000 census. This county seat of Belmont County has been nicknamed "Paradise on the Hill." St. Clairsville was named after...

. At a young age Eckert became interested in the use of the telegraph and the actions of Samuel F.B. Morse. Reading The National Intelligencer he became fascinated with the proceedings between Morse and Congress in which Morse was granted money to construct an experimental telegraph line. In 1847, after telegraph lines were built from New York to Washington D.C., Eckert decided to travel to New York in order to see the Morse telegraph in action and became an operator with the Morse Telegraph Company. Eckert then returned home to Ohio and learned how to telegraph. When Eckert returned home, he took a job as an operator at the Wade Telegraph Company, which was owned by J.H. Wade. While working as one of Wade's operators in Wooster, Ohio, in 1849 Eckert was appointed local postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...

 as well. Eckert combined these two jobs by connecting the telegraph wire to the post office. In 1852, Wade appointed Eckert to superintend the construction of a telegraph line between Pittsburg and Chicago on the Fort Wayne route. The lines under Eckert's management became part of the Union Telegraph Company, and his jurisdiction was substantially enlarged.

Eckert held this position as superintendent until 1859, when he moved to Montgomery County, North Carolina
Montgomery County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 26,822 people, 9,848 households, and 7,189 families residing in the county. The population density was 55 people per square mile . There were 14,145 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile...

, to manage a gold mine. In 1861, Eckert returned to Ohio to bring his wife Emma D. Whitney and his children to North Carolina. But upon returning to the mines, Eckert found he had been accused of being a Northern spy. When his case was heard before a judge, the judge acquitted Eckert due to lack of proof. After the case, Eckert and his family escaped back north to Cleveland with the help of influential friends in 1861.

Service During the Civil War

After arriving in Cleveland, Eckert telegraphed Assistant Secretary of War Thomas A. Scott that his services were available. Eckert was ordered to Washington D.C. and assigned to General George B. McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...

's headquarters as captain and aide-de-camp in charge of military telegraph operations, and accompanied him on the Peninsula Campaign
Peninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...

 as superintendent of the military telegraph for the Department of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

. His service on the battlefield did not last long because in September 1862 he was sent to Washington D.C. to organize and administer the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

's military telegraph (a position he held until 1866) under the rank of major. Eckert was well respected by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War from 1862–1865...

 and President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 for his organizational skills. Both Stanton and Lincoln charged him with important missions that went above Eckert's formal duties. In 1864 Eckert was brevetted lieutenant colonel and then later was granted the rank of brigadier general of volunteers in 1865. Later, Stanton went on to appoint him Assistant Secretary of War in 1866, a position Eckert held until 1867.

After the war

Eckert resigned as Assistant Secretary of War and established himself as a major figure in the American telegraph industry. His first job after his resignation was managing the eastern division of Western Union. In 1875 he became president of the Atlantic and Pacific telegraph company, and then in 1880, Eckert became president of the American Union Telegraph, Western Union's main competitor. When Western Union and American Union Telegraph merged in 1881, Eckert was named vice president and general manager of the expanded Western Union. Eckert, in his role as vice president, was an integral part of Western Union's management and growth. In 1893, Eckert succeeded Dr. Norvin Green to become president of Western Union. He retired from this position in 1900 to become chairman of the board of directors. Eckert held this position until close to his death on October 20, 1910.

External links

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