Jeptha Wade

He made the first Daguerreotypes west of New York, was a portrait painter,[1] and moved to Adrian, Michigan, in 1840 before developing an interest in the telegraph.

Eventually Randall would supervise the construction of two adjoining mansions with a shared driveway on Cleveland's Euclid Avenue, called Millionaires' Row.

His grandson, Jeptha H. Wade II (1811–1890) commissioned the Cleveland firm of Hubbell & Benes to design several residences, commercial and public buildings.

[2] In 1856 Jeptha helped Hiram Sibley consolidate most of the telegraph industry by forming Western Union through a series of acquisitions and mergers.

[3][4] In 1861, Jeptha Wade joined forces with Benjamin Franklin Ficklin and Hiram Sibley to form the Pacific Telegraph Company.

A year later he resigned because of ill-health and sold his interests to Jay Gould, and William Orton succeeded to the presidency of Western Union.

Wade also was heavily involved with the establishment of Hathaway Brown School, a private academy for young girls and women.

He volunteered as an assistant to retired Secretary of the Army John McCloy in the formation of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under the Kennedy Administration before returning to Choate, Hall & Stewart in 1961.