Anson Stager (1825-1885)

Brig.-Gen. Anson Stager, of Cleveland & Chicago; Co-Founder of Western Union

He was born at Rochester, New York, and at age sixteen found work with the Rochester Daily Advertiser owned by Henry O'Reilly who was also contracted to lay out a telegraph line from Philadelphia to the Midwest. Stager became an operator and then manager of the first line between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. In 1847, he became General Superintendent of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, & Louisville Telegraph Co. In 1852, he was appointed General Superintendent of the New York & Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Co. and four years later came to Cleveland as Co-Founder and General Superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Co. During the Civil War, he served as Chief of the U.S. Military Telegraph Department devising and implementing the military cipher system used throughout the war. He remained in Cleveland until 1869 when he moved to Chicago where he remained until his death. In Chicago, he became the first president of Western Electric Manufacturing Company (then the largest manufactory of its kind in the United States); Vice-President of the Babcock Manufacturing  Co.; President of the Chicago Telephone Co.; and, President of the Western Edison Company.

The mansion he built on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland (see images) became home to the University Club and still stands, known as the Stager-Beckwith Mansion. In Chicago, he lived at 1733 S. Michigan Avenue, on the corner of 18th Street. In 1847, he married Rebecca, daughter of William Sprague of Buffalo. They had five children, two of whom died in early childhood. They were survived by three daughters including Ellen, 4th Marchioness of Ormonde, of Kilkenny Castle, and Annie Hickox of Paris, France.
Contributed by Mark Meredith on 03/04/2022 and last updated on 03/04/2022.