Businessman. He was a pioneer entrepreneur of stagecoach and telegraph lines. Born in Conway, Massachusetts, it was in the Utica, New York area in 1812 where he obtained a position as a stage driver quickly gaining respect for his teamster abilities along the old Mohawk Turnpike. Theodore soon became one of the proprietors of the Jason Parker and Company Stage Line. Samuel Morris, the inventor of the telegraph did much of his pioneering work in Utica. With him a consultant, Faxton and a group of associates formed the Buffalo, Albany and New York Telegraph Company in 1845. This was the world’s first commercial telegraph company. He accumulated a large fortune. A great humanitarian,Theodore founded and endowed Faxton hospital in 1875 which today stands on Sunset Avenue in Utica. He funded the public library enabling them to purchase books and equipment.  Going further, he established a home for the homeless and even a facility for old married couples. He is remembered today in Utica and the Mohawk Valley where countless facilities, lodges and landmarks are graced with his name.  The T.S. Faxton was a three-deck 1,200 passenger vessel, his namesake, which sailed the Thousand Islands area in the late 1870’s and 1880’s. It was removed from service and given new life as a freight hauler on Michigan’s Lake St. Claire where it caught fire and burned at dockside in 1901 at Marine City, Michigan. His health began to fail in 1881 and a heart attack took his life in Utica.  After a simple funeral, he was interred in historical Forest Hill Cemetery.  He had no children nor heirs and his entire wealth went to charity. (bio by: nickcunningham)