Historical and Background Information

The corporate history of Western Union consists of a bound volume which contains the history and organization of the Western Union Telegraph Company and of all subsidiaries which have been consolidated, merged, purchased, leased or controlled by Western Union. A corporate genealogy can be found within the corporate history volumes. These genealogical charts depict Western Union as it existed on December 31, 1914. The charts are lettered A though Q, showing the development of the present company through the acquisition of subsidiary telegraph companies. For each subsidiary the record indicates the date of incorporation, and whether the subsidiary was leased or sold to Western Union. See Series 2: Subsidiaries, 1844-1986 and Series 7: Secretary's Files, 1844-1987, for additional information about the subsidiary companies. Volumes titled A Brief Outline of Technical Progress Made by Western Union detail the technological development and progress of the company between 1910 and 1950, and other small histories include the Story of Western Union, the Short History of Western Union and the Western Union Telegraph Company A Retrospect, 1851-1901. These narratives provide brief sketches and historical background of the company. Included in this series are two narratives handwritten by Charles Brown. Of note is Brown's work titled "My experiences in the plains in 1861 in assisting the construction of the first telegraph lines across the continent."