By Feb. 15, 1852, Ezra Cornell, though president of the New York and Erie Telegraph, was still uncertain about his financial affairs. He wrote to Orrin S. Wood:

"In regard to my affairs, it is difficult for me to place an estimate upon them. I may be worth an hundred thusand [sic] dollars if I live a year or two longer or I may not be worth a cent -- it all depends upon the manner in which the Telegraph war which has raged so fiercely in the states the past three years is ended. ... I however do not despair my confidence is as firm as ever in the future of my enterprises. ..."

In April, he was even more bereft, as these letters to friend and business associate J.J. Speed reflect:

"I was never so poor in my life as now, I am barely able to supply the necessaries of life. This position weighs heavily on my spirits, and I must get relief soon or it will drive me crazy. I have not contributed a dollar to the support of my family in two years, they suffer for the ordinary comforts of life. [F.O.J.] Smith and [Amos] Kendall are both as heartless as adamant and as selfish as the devel [sic]." (April 7).

"My clothes are getting so ragged I am ashamed of my appearance. ... I learn this evening that my wife has presented me with another daughter and I feel guilty of abusing the best of women by not being with her during her confinement, but my embarassments [sic], poverty & sickness altogether has prevented. ..." (April 27).

But then, Cornell wrote to his wife on April 30: "I can disern [sic] a streak of light, the clouds of adversity appear to be braking, and the sunshine of hope glimmers through the fractured darkness."

By Dec. 27, 1852, there were pending business deals, but Cornell remained discouraged. He wrote to his wife: "I am homesick, and can't write, I want to go home and stay there. I am sick of telegraphing, sick of business - sick of everything except my wife and I wish I could live with her, but I can't, I have got into the scrape and must stick to it manfully until I can work out."

Adapted by Susan S. Lang from the Web site, "Invention and Enterprise: Ezra Cornell, a Nineteenth-Century Life."