Hiram Sibley

Hiram W. Sibley (February 6, 1807 – July 12, 1888), was an American industrialist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who was a pioneer of the telegraph in the United States. Early life Sibley was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, on February 6, 1807, and later resided in Rochester, New York. He was the second son of Benjamin Sibley (1768–1829) and Zilpha (née Davis) Sibley (1771–1824). Career Too poor to receive more than a country education, Sibley started training as a shoemaker's apprentice, but, unhappy with the career, went to Lima, New York, at age 17 to work in a cotton factory. The following year he became a wool carder in a shop where future president Millard Fillmore then worked. At age 21, he started a foundry and machine shop in Mendon, New York. Ten years later, the business was successful enough for him to sell and afford to move to Rochester, where he was elected Sheriff of Monroe County from 1844 to 1846. He became interested in the work of Samuel Morse involving the telegraph. In 1851, Sibley along with Ezra Cornell and others organized the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester. Sibley later served as first president of Western Union Telegraph Company.