Chapter Seven 
CYRUS FIELD CARRIES ON 
MORE TROUBLE WAS in store for Cyrus W. Field & Company. 
Another of America’s recurrent panics swept the country. 
The firm made a brave fight but in December, 1860, was 
obliged to suspend payment once again. Two days after 
Christmas, Field addressed a frank letter to his creditors, 
offering to give up “every dollar of property I have in the 
world.’ The creditors accepted twenty-five cents on the dol- 
lar and permitted him to manage the firm, rather than call 
in trustees. 
In ‘order to make this payment and continue his subscrip- 
tions due upon stock in the two telegraph companies, he 
placed a mortgage upon everything he owned, including 
even the portraits of his father and mother. His chief assets 
were the house in Gramercy Park, the equity in his firm, and 
the stock holdings in the two telegraph companies. He even 
listed among his assets a pew in the Madison Square Presby- 
terian Church. While he arranged these matters, the Civil 
War flamed on the horizon—a new interruption to cable- 
laying, but destined to be an ultimate stimulus. David Dud- 
ley Field, who was influential in politics, worked to prevent 
the war. When Lincoln, as a candidate for president, spoke 
in New York, he appeared on the platform at Cooper Union 
with David Dudley Field and William Cullen Bryant as 
escorts. 
During the course of the War, Cyrus Field was often in 
Washington. He assisted the Government officials by advice 
and suggestions, particularly in regard to telegraphic in- 
formation and spying. He emphasized the need for tele- 
graphic or cable communication to forts and military posts, 
87 
