Jeptha Wade

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Born in Romulus, New York, youngest of nine children of Jeptha and Sarah (Allen) Wade. Made Daguerreotypes, was a portrait painter, moved to Adrian, Michigan, in 1840, before developing an interest in the telegraph. In 1847, he was subcontractor for J.J. Speed and constructed a telegraph line from Detroit to Jackson, Michigan. Then Detroit to Buffalo, Cleveland to Cincinnati, and others. Wade moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1856 and built a mansion on Euclid Avenue along Millionaires' Row. In the same year he helped Hiram Sibley consolidate most of the telegraph industry by forming Western Union through a series of acquisitions and mergers. [ [http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=WJHI "Wade, Jeptha Homer I."] The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. July 23 1997. Accessed April 9 2007.]

In 1861, Jeptha Wade joined forces with Benjamin Franklin Ficklin and Hiram Sibley to form the Pacific Telegraph Company. With it, the final link between the east and west coast of the United States of America was made by telegraph. Wade became president of Western Union in 1866, and a year later he resigned because of ill-health, and sold his interests to Jay Gould.

He was an incorporator of the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company and the Citizens Savings and Loan Association becoming its first president, president of National Bank of Commerce, served on the board of directors of eight railroads.

Wade used his vast wealth to benefit the city of Cleveland. In 1882, he donated 63 acres of land east of the city for the purpose of creating a park, which was named in his honor. [ [http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=WP "Wade Park"] The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. July 23 1997. Accessed July 10 2008.] Wade Park is Cleveland's cultural center surrounded by the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Western Reserve Historical Society and the Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Wade also was heavily involved with the establishment of Hathaway Brown School, a private academy for young girls and women. He also co-founded the Case School of Applied Technology, part of Case Western Reserve University. In addition, Wade served as the first President of the Board of Trustees for Lake View Cemetery on Cleveland’s east side.

Wade married Rebecca Louiza Facer in 1832, who bore his first son, Randall Palmer Wade, later that year. Rebecca Wade died November 30 1836 at the age of 24. [ [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Wade&GScty=106342&GRid=11116595& "Gravestone of Rebecca L. Wade"] FindAGrave.com] He re-married in 1837 to Susan Maranda Fleming, with whom they adopted 4 more children. All are buried in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland.

References

Robert Luther Thompson, "Wiring A Continent: The History of the Telegraph Industry in the United States, 1832-1866", Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947.

Jan Cigliano, "Showplace of America: Cleveland's Euclid Avenue, 1850-1910", Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1991.

Dictionary of American Biography, 1928. Who Was Who in American Art, 1985, Who's Who in America, 46th edition, 1990.