By Jerry L. Ginther
NP Guest Columnist

I’ve been hard pressed to find anyone who has ever received an old fashioned Western Union Telegram. I have to admit that I have not seen one in many years, and I do not recall ever receiving one.
However, I do recall my grandparents receiving a couple of telegrams concerning the deaths of close relatives who lived in other states. At the time there was no telephone in their home, and telegrams were faster than the U.S. Postal Service. These messages were hand delivered by the station agent from the C&EI Railroad depot located on the west side of Sullivan, Ill.
I was a young boy, probably in the first or second grade, and happened to be present on one such occasion. The agent, knowing the contents of the telegram, expressed condolences and departed. He did not wait for a tip nor charge anything for the delivery.
Interestingly, later in life, that very same agent would become a good friend, mentor and teacher. When I was 14 years old and out for a bicycle ride one afternoon, I happened to stop by the depot. Having learned something about the inventor of the telegraph in school, Samuel F. B. Morse, I was curious to see this method of communication in operation. Also, in scouts we had learned a little bit about the Morse code.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.