One of the most significant mergers in the development of Western Union came on June 12, 1866, when an agreement was reached whereby the American Telegraph Co. (of N. J.) "doth grant, lease and convey to the Western Union Telegraph Co. the right to take possession, use, management and control of all of the lines, telegraph, owned and leased, operated or controlled by the American Telegraph Company, wherever situated."

The American Telegraph Company had its origin in a charter granted under the general law of New York on November 1, 1855, with a franchise for 50 years "for the purpose of using under lease, purchase, construction or otherwise a line or lines of telegraph both within and beyond the limits of this state and of maintaining and operating the same and of purchasing such telegraph instrument patents as they may see fit." A number of consolidations took place while American's New York charter existed, but the greatest growth took place after March 23, 1859 when the company re-incorporated in New Jersey under the same name.

I'll look at several other segments of the American Telegraph Company in subsequent articles. This article will focus on the South-Western Telegraph Company which ultimately became part of the American Company as a result of a consolidation on December 20, 1865. The following companies were part of the South-Western conglomerate and ultimately became part of the Western Union family.

The Star State Telegraph Company was incorporated in Texas by special act of the legislature, approved April 8, 1861, for a period of 50 years. The lines of telegraph extended along the route of the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railroad, between the cities of Galveston and Houston, and along the route of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad between the cities of Houston and the town of Beaumont. On October 9, 1865, the Star State Telegraph Company declared itself to be identical with the Texas Telegraph Company and conveyed all of its property and interests to the South-Western Telegraph Company. 

The North Alabama Telegraph Company was incorporated in the state of Alabama and while information regarding its original formation is not available, it entered into a five year leasing arrangement with the South-Western Telegraph Company on November 26, 1861 for the telegraph line that it operated between Tuscombia and Stevenson in the state of Alabama.

The Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky Telegraph Company operated a telegraph line that began at Boliver, Tenn. and ran through the Tennessee cities of Jackson, Trenton and Troy, into Kentucky through the cities of Hickman and Columbus, terminating in Cairo, Illinois. This property was conveyed to the New Orleans and Ohio Telegraph Company (discussed below) on February 8, 1858.

The Peoples Telegraph Company was incorporated in Kentucky on March 1, 1848 with authority to construct and carryon an electro-magnetic telegraph through the state on a route leading "from Wheeling, through Maysville, Lexington, Frankfort and Louisville, to Nashville in Tennessee, and thence through Jackson, Miss., or any other route they may agree upon, to New Orleans with a branch to Cincinnati." On May 13, 1853, Peoples consolidated with the New Orleans and Ohio Telegraph Company, which itself had been incorporated in Tennessee on October 18, 1847 for the purpose of erecting a line "through the state of Tennessee on the route leading from the cities of Louisville, Cincinnati, Maysville and Pittsburg, to Lexington, Ky., and thence to Nashville, Tuscombia and Jackson to New Orleans. This consolidation became the South-Western Telegraph Company in 1859.

The final piece of the South- Western conglomerate appears to be the Mobile and Ohio Telegraph Company. It was incorporated on January 20, 1858 in the state of Alabama for the purpose of constructing a telegraph line "through this state on the route of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the mouth of the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois." No firm documentation has been found to link this company with the other mergers, but a letter dated March 12, 1858 was written by William H. Swain, then president of the Magnetic Telegraph Company (Md. - will be covered in a future article) to Zenus Barnum of Philadelphia, transmitting a certified copy of the charter of the Mobile and Ohio Telegraph Company. This, along with records of the Magnetic Company's board of directors' meeting indicate that Mobile was organized in the interest of the New Orleans and Ohio Telegraph Company and became part of the ultimate acquisition.