Charles E. Alden
Charles E. Alden | |
|---|---|
 A picture of Alden in the April 29, 1906 issue of the New York World | |
| Born | Charles Edward Alden September 14, 1964 |
| Died | June 30, 1923 (aged 58) |
| Education | Fairhaven High School |
| Occupations | Inventor, sculptor |
| Known for | The invention of the "vest pocket telephone" in 1906 |
Charles Edward Alden[1][2] (September 14, 1864 – June 30, 1923) was an American inventor mentioned in a 1906 edition of the New York World who was claimed to have created the idea of a vest pocket telephone, a device that was the precursor of the cell phone. An article titled “Ingenious Yankee Invents Simple Telephone System” appeared in the May 24, 1907 edition of L’Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléans, a New Orleans newspaper. He envisioned the idea in 1906, 67 years before the first hand-held mobile phone was demonstrated by Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973.[3][4][5]
Early life and career
Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts on September 14, 1864,[6] Alden was the son of Maria (née Lewis) and John Alden.[7] He attended Fairhaven High School, graduating in 1877.[2] Some years later, he moved to New York and studied with sculptor Louis Saint-Gaudens.[6] Later still, he was hired by that sculptor's better-known brother Augustus, whom he would assist on some of the latter's most famous works, including the Admiral Farragut Monument and the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on Boston Common.[8]
In 1907, Alden invented and tested a wireless remote-controlled boat off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. This boat was said to have “lifted its own anchor, blows its own whistle, signals, fires a gun and steers” all while the operator is controlling it on shore.[9]
COTTAGE CITY, Mass. April 28 [1906]. "Charles E. Alden of New York has been pursuing experiments here since last fall in wireless telephoning. Has, he says, solved the problem of wireless telephoning and the result is so simple that is likely to create a sensation in the business world as well as in scientific circles."
— New York World, April 29, 1906
Death
Alden died on June 30, 1923, aged 58, in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.[10][11][12] A service was conducted three days later for family and friends at Waterman's Chapel,[10] located in Kenmore Square.[13]
References
- ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCPX-K2G : 15 January 2020), Charles Edward Alden, 1864.
- 1 2 "Home Matters". The Standard-Times. New Bedford, Massachusetts. February 27, 1877. p. 2. Retrieved May 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
FAIRHAVEN HIGH SCHOOL--The graduation exercises of the Fairhaven High School will take place tomorrow evening in Phoenix Hall. The graduating class is unusually large, as follows; Charles Edward Alden, Mauritia Annie Babcock, Myra Armington Barney, Mary Alice Butler, Alice Claire Butman, Emma Louise Church, Henry Alden Delano, Sarah Lewis Ewer, Sarah Elizabeth Fairchild, Carrie Howe Howard, Emma Maxwell Jenney, Edgar Webster Marston, Anna Barstow Robinson, Clara Almy Shaw, Charlotte Holt Stetwon, Olive Grey Stetson, Edwina Arlett Stowell, Julia Etta Bradford Swift. The school is very large for a town of the size of Fairhaven. The average attendance the past year having been 96, while the population of the town in 1875 was 2768.
- ↑ "TELEPHONE FOR YOUR VEST POCKET - Pilfers Messages from Wires Three Miles Off—is of the Wireless Variety" — New York World, April 29, 1906
- ↑ The Christian Work and the Evangelist, Volume 80. 1906.
- ↑ "Invents a telephone to be carried in pocket" ( May 21, 1906) Los Angeles Herald, Page 7, Columns 4-5. Article dated the previous day. Scanned by the University of California, Riverside. Preserved on the Internet by the Library of Congress.
- 1 2 "WIRELESS PHONE: Wonderful Invention of a Vineyard Resident "WIRELESS PHONE. (Continued on Second Page)"". The Standard-Times. New Bedford, Massachusetts. November 14, 1906. p. 11. Retrieved May 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
Mr. Alden, the inventor, is a short, thick set man, with forehead, large, a large bulging eyes ordinarily which are decidedly expressive when he is in conversation. In fact he talks fully as much with his eyes as with his tongue, and once launched on a subject in which he is interested, he is an entertaining conversationallst. He is a native of Charlestown, and was born September 14, 1864, the son of John Alden, seventh in line of direct descent from John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. After leaving school in Boston he studied art and later removed to New York, where he studied under St. Gauden
- ↑ ""Marriages and Deaths: Marriages"". New England Farmer. July 27, 1861. p. 3. Retrieved May 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
In Charlestown, 21st Inst., by Rev. Mr. Graves, Mr. John Alden to Miss Maria Lewis.
- ↑ "NUMBER FOUR (Continued from Page Four)". The Standard-Times. New Bedford, Massachusetts. July 7, 1923. p. 3. Retrieved May 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
To get in closer touch with subjects for modeling, Mr. Alden traveled with a circus for two or three years, finding some fine subjects there. A few years later he drifted back to Broadway and opened a studio there. He met St. Gaudens, then at the pinnacle of fame, and when the latter came to know Mr. Alden's work he took him into his employ as an assistant. Mr. Alden, in this capacity, had a chance work on several St. Gaudens's masterpieces, among which were the statue of Farragut and the Shaw memorial on Boston Common.
- ↑ Illustrated World. 1907. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
- 1 2 "DEATHS". Boston Evening Globe. July 2, 1923. p. 2. Retrieved May 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
ALDEN--In Dorchester. June 30th, Charles E. Alden of 10 Bodwell street, and of the Boston Papier Mache Company. Chapel, Funeral services at the Waterman Chapel, 2828 Washington street, Tuesday, July 3, at 12 o'clock. Relatives and friends are invited.
- ↑ "MESSAGES HEARD IN FIELDS; Charles E. Alden Conducted Experiments at Marthas Vineyard". The Standard-Times. New Bedford, Massachusetts. February 27, 1877. p. 2. Retrieved May 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
Reginald A. Fessenden in his testimony before the Federal Trade commission yesterday that the first radio message was broadcast at Marthas Vineyard 20 years ago, was probably referring to the wireless experiments conducted here by Charles E. Alden, who died June 30, 1923.
- ↑ "Massachusetts, State Vital Records, 1638-1927", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6PXD-2716 : Fri Jan 02 06:26:47 UTC 2026), Entry for Charles E Alden and John Alden, 30 Jun 1923.
- ↑ "DEATHS". The Christian Science Monitor. August 21, 1935. p. 2. Retrieved May 18, 2026 – via Archive.org.
ALDEN--Services were held at Waterman's Chapel at Kenmore Square, Boston, yesterday for Ernest Beaufort, a member of the radio-casting staff of The Christian Science Monitor, who passed on at his home in Brookline Sunday.