The leaders of the Convention desired to nominate Senator Silas Wright of New York, who was then in Washington, as running mate to James K.Polk, but they must know first whether Wright would consent to run as Vice-President.

So they posted a messenger off to Washington but were persuaded at the same time to allow the new telegraph to try what it could do.

The telegraph carried the offer to Wright and carried back to the Convention Wright's refusal of the honor.

The delegates, however, would not believe the telegraph, until their own messenger, returning the next day, confirmed its message.
For a time the telegraph attracted little attention.

But Cornell stretched the lines across the country, connecting city with city, and Morse and Vail improved the details of the mechanism and perfected the code.