Thomas Augustus Watson (January 18, 1854 – December 13, 1934) was an assistant to Alexander Graham Bell, notably in the invention of the

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

in 1876.

Life and work

Born in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Watson was a bookkeeper and a carpenter before he found a job more to his liking in the Charles Williams machine shop in Boston in 1872. He was then hired by Alexander Graham Bell, who was then a professor at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. They were known for the invention of the

. As the recipient of the first telephone call – although coming from just the next room – his name became the first words ever said over the phone. "Mr. Watson – Come here – I want to see you", Bell said when first using the new invention, according to Bell's laboratory notebook. There is some dispute about the actual words used, as Thomas Watson, in his own voice, remembered it as "Mr. Watson – Come here – I want you", in a film made for Bell Labs in 1931 which is referenced below in "The Engines of our Ingenuity". Watson was an inventor of many accessories for the telephone. He tried to make a signaling device for the telephone, because no user could stand near the phone all day, waiting for the call. At first, he made a hammer, which had to hit the diaphragm, then he made a buzzer. After several experiments with signaling devices Watson made a ringer, and his polarized ringer has been manufactured for 60 years. Watson resigned from the Bell Telephone Company in 1881 at the age of 27. Using money from his royalties from his participation in the invention of the telephone, Watson first tried his hand at farming. He tried geology as well, he was even nominated for Massachusetts State Treasurer. In 1883 Watson founded the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company. He soon began taking bids for building naval destroyers and by 1901 the Fore River Ship and Engine Company was one of the largest shipyards in America. It would later become one of the major shipyards during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, after being purchased by

Bethlehem Steel Corporation The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succ ...

. When Watson sold his share in the shipyard, he decided to "turn boy again" and became an actor. On January 25, 1915, Watson was at 333 Grant Avenue in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

to receive the

first transcontinental telephone call A telephone call, which for marketing purposes is claimed to be the ''first transcontinental telephone call'', occurred on January 25, 1915, a day timed to coincide with the Panama–Pacific International Exposition celebrations. However, the trans ...

, placed by Bell from the Telephone Building at 15 Dey Street in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

and the mayors of both cities were also involved in the call. Thomas Watson was married to Elizabeth Watson. After he died in 1934, she continued to live in

Pass-a-Grille Pass-a-Grille is a small beach neighborhood and former town at the south end of St. Pete Beach in Pinellas County, Florida. The community includes the Pass-a-Grille Historic District, Gulf Beaches Historical Museum, and Pass-A-Grille Beach. The n ...

during World War II and died in a local hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1949. Watson wrote an autobiography, ''Exploring Life: The Autobiography of Thomas A. Watson'' (New York: Appleton, 1926). He was portrayed by

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

in the film ''

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell ''The Story of Alexander Graham Bell'' is a somewhat fictionalized 1939 biographical film of the famous inventor. It was filmed in black-and-white and released by Twentieth Century-Fox. The film stars Don Ameche as Bell and Loretta Young as Mab ...

'', which was released in 1939. Late in his life, at the age of 77, upon being impressed with a meeting with Indian spiritual leader

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Watson was instrumental in helping to arrange for Meher Baba to come to the

for his first visit there in 1931. Upon meeting Baba, Watson is reported to have said, "In my seventy-eight years of life, today is the first time I have experienced what divine love is. I have come to realize this with just a touch from Meher Baba". Later, though, Watson became disenchanted with Baba. Watson died of heart disease on December 13, 1934 at his winter home on Pass-a-Grille, Florida. He is buried in the North Weymouth, Massachusetts cemetery. His family grave site sits on top and next to the cemetery road and has a vantage point that looks directly at the former ship yard. He wanted to see his greatest accomplishment in life and death.

Footnotes

References

NPR clip featuring Watson

External links

* ttp://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1177.htm Short biography of Thomas Watson
Associated Press obituary (December 15, 1934): "T. A. Watson Dead; Made First Phone"
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Thomas A. 1854 births 1934 deaths 19th-century American inventors 20th-century American people Alexander Graham Bell American inventors American businesspeople People from Salem, Massachusetts People from Braintree, Massachusetts History of telecommunications