William Henry Heiss

[Rsmyth]

Over on Dave's blog he has a piece on Dr. Mudd's canes. Dave shows a picture of one cane on display at the Mudd House/museum that has a tag that says it was given to William Henry Heiss. There was a William Henry Heiss living in DC at the time. Early in 1862, William was appointed Assistant Superintendant of the United States Military Telegraph and was at this position on April 14th. William also went to Fords that night to see his brother Courtland Van Rensaller Hess, perform in the role of Lieutenant Vernon. However, Courtland had taken ill and the part that fateful night was instead played by William Ferguson. I wonder what the connection was between Heiss and Mudd.

[Laurie Verge]

I believe that Art Loux did a lot of work on Heiss when he was disproving the old saw that all telegraph lines went down at the time of the assassination. Maybe Art knows of the Mudd/Heiss connection.

[Laurie Verge]

Art Loux covered the Mudd/Heiss connection in an article that he did for the Surratt Courier back in 1986. In that article, he says that William Henry Heiss, Sr. became acquainted with Dr. Mudd while employed in installing telegraph cables in the Florida Keys. His job took him to Fort Jefferson on several occasions. Dr. Mudd subsequently presented Heiss with one of his canes, which Heiss used for the rest of his days. In 1981, Harold R. Heiss, a grandson, donated the cane to the Dr. Mudd House for display.

Art did wonderful work in disspelling the notion (established by our friend Eisenschiml) that all telegraph operations were shut down in Washington at the time of the assassination. Thomas Eckert, Chief of the War Department Telegraph, had testified before the House Judiciary Committee in 1867, that the military telegraph was up and running throughout the night of April 14 and that only the commercial lines were interrupted - and those for just two hours. He explained that those were interrupted by throwing a ground wire over the main line which, when removed, would restore service.

The man responsible for the commercial line's interruption was William Henry Heiss, Sr., superintendent of the People's Line of Telegraph in Washington. Heiss was so experienced in telegraphy that he had been offered, and turned down, a position as officer in charge of communications for the Confederate Army. In 1862, he had supervised the laying of an underwater cable to Fortress Monroe, which was installed just in time to transmit a description of the battle between the Monitor and Merrimac (Virginia).

On the night of the assassination, Heiss decided he should interrupt the service of the commercial telegraph in order to prevent conspirators from using his telegraph to coordinate further activities, to stop news of the assassination from spreading into the South and causing an uprising , and to stop Union soldiers in the South from seeking reprisals before the commanders might receive orders through the military telegraph lines.

Art also explained in his article how Heiss came to shut down the telegraph so quickly after the assassination. Heiss' brother, Courtland V. Hess (who dropped the "i" in the family name) was a member of the stock company at Ford's Theatre. He was not scheduled to be in the play, but was supposed to sing a patriotic song at the conclusion of the show. William Heiss had gone to the theatre to hear his brother - and Ford's was only one block from his telegraph office. Heiss was arriving just in time to see Booth cross the stage and the attending confusion. He hurried out to his office on 9th Street and shut down his system.

Courtland Hess is the one who set the record straight about someone (John Surratt?) supposedly calling out the time in front of the theater - "ten minutes past ten." Hess had been in front of the theater with Louis Carland, the costumer at Ford's. Hess asked for the time, and Carland was the one who checked the clock in the vestibule and called out the time. Hess then went back into the theater. Carland also testified that he was still in front of the theater when a man came rushing out, announced that the President had been shot, and hurried down the street. This was probably William Heiss, hurrying to his shop.

One interesting point is that Stanton had arrived at the Petersen House and had the first military telegrams going out around midnight. It took ten minutes for his couriers to get to the War Department telegraph near the White House. Heiss' telegraph service was only a block from Petersen's.

Special thanks to Art Loux for his great research and communication on the subject of Heiss and the telegraph on April 14, 1865. Hopefully, he'll read this post and offer even more information.

[Rsmyth]

Thank you very much Laurie for this info on the story behind the relic!

[Laurie Verge]

I have met many wonderful researchers and authors over the years, and so many have contributed their work to the Surratt newsletter so that others can benefit from their studies. Whenever I see an opportunity to increase the sharing and honor those who have done our work for us, I try to do so.

I guess I've been in the business so long now that I know how many people have contributed from the wings to help others who have gone on to publish and take the glory. Unfortunately, I guess that's human nature.

[Art Loux]

(11-06-2012 11:32 AM)Laurie Verge Wrote:  Art Loux covered the Mudd/Heiss connection in an article that he did for the Surratt Courier back in 1986. In that article, he says that William Henry Heiss, Sr. became acquainted with Dr. Mudd while employed in installing telegraph cables in the Florida Keys. His job took him to Fort Jefferson on several occasions. Dr. Mudd subsequently presented Heiss with one of his canes, which Heiss used for the rest of his days. In 1981, Harold R. Heiss, a grandson, donated the cane to the Dr. Mudd House for display.

Art did wonderful work in disspelling the notion (established by our friend Eisenschiml) that all telegraph operations were shut down in Washington at the time of the assassination. Thomas Eckert, Chief of the War Department Telegraph, had testified before the House Judiciary Committee in 1867, that the military telegraph was up and running throughout the night of April 14 and that only the commercial lines were interrupted - and those for just two hours. He explained that those were interrupted by throwing a ground wire over the main line which, when removed, would restore service.

The man responsible for the commercial line's interruption was William Henry Heiss, Sr., superintendent of the People's Line of Telegraph in Washington. Heiss was so experienced in telegraphy that he had been offered, and turned down, a position as officer in charge of communications for the Confederate Army. In 1862, he had supervised the laying of an underwater cable to Fortress Monroe, which was installed just in time to transmit a description of the battle between the Monitor and Merrimac (Virginia).

On the night of the assassination, Heiss decided he should interrupt the service of the commercial telegraph in order to prevent conspirators from using his telegraph to coordinate further activities, to stop news of the assassination from spreading into the South and causing an uprising , and to stop Union soldiers in the South from seeking reprisals before the commanders might receive orders through the military telegraph lines.

Art also explained in his article how Heiss came to shut down the telegraph so quickly after the assassination. Heiss' brother, Courtland V. Hess (who dropped the "i" in the family name) was a member of the stock company at Ford's Theatre. He was not scheduled to be in the play, but was supposed to sing a patriotic song at the conclusion of the show. William Heiss had gone to the theatre to hear his brother - and Ford's was only one block from his telegraph office. Heiss was arriving just in time to see Booth cross the stage and the attending confusion. He hurried out to his office on 9th Street and shut down his system.

Courtland Hess is the one who set the record straight about someone (John Surratt?) supposedly calling out the time in front of the theater - "ten minutes past ten." Hess had been in front of the theater with Louis Carland, the costumer at Ford's. Hess asked for the time, and Carland was the one who checked the clock in the vestibule and called out the time. Hess then went back into the theater. Carland also testified that he was still in front of the theater when a man came rushing out, announced that the President had been shot, and hurried down the street. This was probably William Heiss, hurrying to his shop.

One interesting point is that Stanton had arrived at the Petersen House and had the first military telegrams going out around midnight. It took ten minutes for his couriers to get to the War Department telegraph near the White House. Heiss' telegraph service was only a block from Petersen's.

Special thanks to Art Loux for his great research and communication on the subject of Heiss and the telegraph on April 14, 1865. Hopefully, he'll read this post and offer even more information.

Attached is a picture of Harold Heiss, grandson of William Henry Heiss and of the cane on display in his home. Shortly after this picture was taken he donated the cane to the Dr. Samuel Mudd House Museum.