# Anson Stager > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Anson_Stager > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Anson_Stager.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson_Stager > Source revision: 1351625095 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox military person |name= Anson Stager |birth_date= {{birth date|1825|4|22}} |death_date= {{death date and age|1885|3|26|1825|4|22}} |birth_place= [Ontario County, New York](/source/Ontario_County%2C_New_York) |death_place= [Chicago](/source/Chicago), Illinois |burial_place= |burial_label= Place of burial |image= General-Anson-Stager.jpg |caption= Anson Stager |allegiance= [United States of America](/source/United_States)
[Union](/source/Union_(American_Civil_War)) |branch=[Union Army](/source/Union_Army) |service_years= 1861 - 1866 |rank= 35px [Colonel](/source/Colonel_(United_States))
35px [Brevet](/source/Brevet_(military)) [Brigadier General](/source/Brigadier_general_(United_States)) |commands= [Military Telegraph Department](/source/U.S._Military_Telegraph_Corps) |unit= |battles= [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) |awards= |other_work= President of [Western Electric Manufacturing Company](/source/Western_Electric) }} '''Anson Stager''' (April 20, 1825 - March 26, 1885) was the co-founder of [Western Union](/source/Western_Union), the first president of [Western Electric Manufacturing Company](/source/Western_Electric) and a [Union Army](/source/Union_Army) officer, where he was head of the [Military Telegraph Department](/source/U.S._Military_Telegraph_Corps) during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War).{{Cite web |url=https://soyankee.blogspot.com/2006/04/anson-stager.html |title=Biography at soyankee.blogspot.com |access-date=2008-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827163045/http://soyankee.blogspot.com/2006/04/anson-stager.html |archive-date=2011-08-27 |url-status=dead }} ==Biography== He was born in [Ontario County, New York](/source/Ontario_County%2C_New_York).{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Stager, Anson|year=1900}} At age sixteen, Stager began working as an apprentice on the ''Rochester Daily Advertiser'' [http://ansonstagerresearch.pbwiki.com/BioGraphy Biography at pbwiki.com] for a printer and [telegraph](/source/Electrical_telegraph) builder named Henry O'Reilly of [Rochester, New York](/source/Rochester%2C_New_York). After the latter had a telegraph line constructed from [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) to [Harrisburg](/source/Harrisburg) he placed Stager in operator positions in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and then at age 21 he was put in charge of the first [Lancaster, Pennsylvania](/source/Lancaster%2C_Pennsylvania), office in 1846. In the spring of 1848, he was made chief operator of the "National lines" at [Cincinnati](/source/Cincinnati), Ohio, where he made several improvements in battery and wire arrangement. In 1852, Stager was promoted to superintendent and also served as the first general superintendent of [Western Union Company](/source/Western_Union_Telegraph_Company), newly consolidated in 1856.[https://www.fulltextarchive.com/page/Cleveland-Past-and-Present10/#p2 Cleveland Past and Present] at fulltextarchive.com After the Civil War broke out in April 1861, Stager was requested by Ohio governor [William Dennison, Jr.](/source/William_Dennison%2C_Jr.) to manage the telegraphs in southern Ohio and along the [Virginia Line](/source/Virginia_Line). Stager obliged and immediately prepared a [cipher](/source/cipher) by which he could securely communicate with those who had the key (notably the governors of [Illinois](/source/Illinois) and [Indiana](/source/Indiana)). In October, he was called to [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), and appointed head of the Military Telegraph Department, which oversaw government telegraphs in all departments.[http://www.gordon.army.mil/ocos/ac/Edition,%20Winter/Winter%2002/stager.htm Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119101639/http://gordon.army.mil/ocos/ac/Edition,%20Winter/Winter%2002/stager.htm |date=2009-01-19 }} at gordon.army.mil He remained in service until 1866, continuing to lead the department as civilian until September 1868; and was made a [brevet](/source/Brevet_(military)) brigadier general of volunteers for his war service. In 1869, Stager moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he served as president of [Western Electric](/source/Western_Electric). He was also president of the [Chicago Telephone Company](/source/Chicago_Telephone_Company) and president of the [Western Edison Company](/source/Commonwealth_Edison), and secured a consolidation of the two.{{cite book|title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography|year=1910 |publisher=J. T. White Co.|location=[New York City](/source/New_York_City), [New York](/source/New_York_(state))|page= 110}} Anson Stager died in Chicago on March 26, 1885, and was survived by three daughters. His daughter [Ellen Stager](/source/Ellen_Stager) would marry [Arthur Butler, 4th Marquess of Ormonde](/source/Arthur_Butler%2C_4th_Marquess_of_Ormonde) in 1887 and had four children. ==See also== {{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}} *[List of American Civil War brevet generals](/source/List_of_American_Civil_War_brevet_generals_(Union)) *[Stager, Michigan](/source/Stager%2C_Michigan) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *Robert Luther Thompson, Wiring A Continent, The History of the Telegraph Industry in the United States, Princeton University Press, 1947 ==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}} * {{findagrave|68017391}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Stager, Anson}} Category:1825 births Category:1885 deaths Category:People from Ontario County, New York Category:People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Category:Union army colonels Category:Telegraphists Category:Western Union people --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Anson Stager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson_Stager) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anson_Stager?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.