Field, Cyrus West (1819–1892)

US businessman and financier. His great ambition was to provide the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic, and he eventually achieved a limited success in 1858. He then spent many years promoting the laying of submarine cables elsewhere in the world.

He was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the brother of David Dudley Field and Stephen Johnson Field. He organized the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company in 1854, and the Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1856. Queen Victoria's telegraph to President James Buchanan got through in 1858, but the cable broke within weeks. Criticized by many, and personally in debt, Field raised money for additional attempts that were made after the Civil War and finally resulted in a reliable service in 1866. Having bought control of the New York Elevated Railway Company in 1877, he served as its president for three years and helped to bring rapid-transit to New York City.