PERSONAL LIFE
>>Thomas Edison's forebears lived in New Jersey until their loyalty to the British crown during the American Revolution drove them to Nova Scotia, Canada. From there, later generations relocated to Ontario and fought the Americans in the War of 1812. Edison's mother, Nancy Elliott, was originally from New York until her family moved to Vienna, Canada, where she met Sam Edison, Jr., whom she later married. When Sam became involved in an unsuccessful insurrection in Ontario in the 1830s, he was forced to flee to the United States and in 1839 they made their home in Milan, Ohio.
Birth of Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was born to Sam and Nancy on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. Known as "Al" in his youth, Edison was the youngest of seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Edison tended to be in poor health when young.
To seek a better fortune, Sam Edison moved the family to Port Huron, Michigan, in 1854, where he worked in the lumber business.
Addled Brain
Edison was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called Edison "addled," or slow. his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. Edison said many years later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had some one to live for, some one I must not disappoint." At an early age, he showed a fascination for mechanical things and for chemical experiments.
In 1859, Edison took a job selling newspapers and candy on the Grand Trunk Railroad to Detroit. In the baggage car, he set up a laboratory for his chemistry experiments and a printing press, where he started the "Grand Trunk Herald", the first newspaper published on a train. An accidental fire forced him to stop his experiments on board.
In 1859, Edison took a job selling newspapers and candy on the Grand Trunk Railroad to Detroit. In the baggage car, he set up a laboratory for his chemistry experiments and a printing press, where he started the "Grand Trunk Herald", the first newspaper published on a train. An accidental fire forced him to stop his experiments on board.
Loss of Hearing
Around the age of twelve, Edison lost almost all his hearing. There are several theories as to what caused his hearing loss. Some attribute it to the aftereffects of scarlet fever which he had as a child. Others blame it on a conductor boxing his ears after Edison caused a fire in the baggage car, an incident which Edison claimed never happened. Edison himself blamed it on an incident in which he was grabbed by his ears and lifted to a train. He did not let his disability discourage him, however, and often treated it as an asset, since it made it easier for him to concentrate on his experiments and research. Undoubtedly, though, his deafness made him more solitary and shy in dealings with others.
Death, Marriage & Birth
His personal life during this period also brought much change. Edison's mother died in 1871, and later that year, he married a former employee, Mary Stilwell, on Christmas Day. While Edison clearly loved his wife, their relationship was fraught with difficulties, primarily his preoccupation with work and her constant illnesses. Edison would often sleep in the lab and spent much of his time with his male colleagues. Nevertheless, their first child, Marion, was born in February 1873, followed by a son, Thomas, Jr., born on January 1876. Edison nicknamed the two "Dot" and "Dash," referring to telegraphic terms. A third child, William Leslie was born in October 1878.
Remarriage
Edison's wife, Mary, died on August 9, 1884, possibly from a brain tumor. Edison remarried to Mina Miller on February 24, 1886, and, with his wife, moved into a large mansion named Glenmont in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison's children from his first marriage were distanced from their father's new life, as Edison and Mina had their own family: Madeleine, born on 1888; Charles on 1890; and Theodore on 1898. Unlike Mary, who was sickly and often remained at home, and was also deferential to her husband's wishes, Mina was an active woman, devoting much time to community groups, social functions, and charities, as well as trying to improve her husband's often careless personal habits.
In 1887, Edison had built a new, larger laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. The facility included a machine shop, phonograph and photograph departments, a library, and ancillary buildings for metallurgy, chemistry, woodworking, and galvanometer testings.
In 1887, Edison had built a new, larger laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. The facility included a machine shop, phonograph and photograph departments, a library, and ancillary buildings for metallurgy, chemistry, woodworking, and galvanometer testings.
World War I
When Europe became involved in World War I, Edison advised preparedness, and felt that technology would be the future of war. He was named head of the Naval Consulting Board in 1915, an attempt by the government to bring science into its defense program. Although mainly an advisory board, it was instrumental in the formation of a laboratory for the Navy which opened in 1923, although several of Edison's suggestions on the matter were disregarded. During the war, Edison spent much of his time doing naval research, in particular working on submarine detection, but he felt that the navy was not receptive to many of his inventions and suggestions.
Health Issues
In the 1920s, Edison's health became worse, and he began to spend more time at home with his wife. His relationship with his children was distant, although Charles was president of Thomas A. Edison, Inc. While Edison continued to experiment at home, he could not perform some experiments that he wanted to at his West Orange laboratory because the board would not approve them. One project that held his fascination during this period was the search for an alternative to rubber.
October 18, 1931
For his last two years, a series of ailments caused his health to decline even more until he lapsed into a coma on October 14, 1931. He died on October 18, 1931, at his estate, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey.
Chronology of Edison
1847
11 February
Born at Milan, Ohio.
1847–1854
Lives in Milan.
1854–1863
Lives in Port Huron, Michigan.
1859–1862
Works as a newsboy and candy butcher on the trains of the Grand Trunk Railroad.
1863–1867
Works as an operator in telegraph offices in various Midwest cities and conducts experiments with telegraph apparatus.
1868
Works as an operator at the Western Union Telegraph Company's main office in Boston and receives support from local entrepreneurs for his electrical inventions.
13 October
Executes the patent application for his electric vote recorder, for which he later is issued his first patent.
1869
Devotes himself full time to inventing and to pursuing various telegraph enterprises.
Apr–May
Moves to New York City.
1870
Establishes two telegraph manufacturing shops in Newark, New Jersey, and works on inventions for printing and automatic telegraphy.
1871
9 April
Edison's mother, Nancy, dies in Port Huron.
25 December
Marries Mary Stilwell.
1872
Fall
Begins intensive work on duplex telegraphy.
1873
18 February
Edison's first daughter, Marion Estelle ("Dot"), is born in Newark.
May–June
Tests his automatic telegraph system in England.
1874
10 April
Discovers the electromotograph principle.
Summer
Invents the quadruplex telegraph, ownership of which is disputed by Western Union and Jay Gould's Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company.
1875
30 June
Conceives electric pen and autographic press copying system.
Summer
Ends his involvement in telegraph manufacturing to devote full time to inventing.
Fall
Experiments with acoustic telegraphy and conducts "etheric force" experiments.
1876
10 January
Edison's first son, Thomas Alva, Jr. ("Dash"), is born in Newark.
January–March
Has the Menlo Park laboratory constructed under the supervision of his father, Samuel.
1877
Winter
Begins experiments with carbon telephone transmitters, which he develops into a commercial device over the next year.
18 July
Conceives phonograph.
7 December
Demonstrates his cylinder phonograph at Scientific American office in New York.
1878
Winter–Spring
Gains international renown for inventing the phonograph.
July
Accompanies a scientific expedition to Rawlins, Wyoming, in order to observe the eclipse of July 29 and measure the heat of the sun's corona with his recently invented tasimeter, and then takes a western vacation.
27 August
Begins electric lighting experiments.
26 October
Edison's second son, William Leslie, is born in Menlo Park.
15 November
The Edison Electric Light Company is incorporated.
1879
2 January
Begins construction of his first generator.
Spring
Develops his standard bipolar dynamo design.
Begins a search for plentiful supplies of platinum in the mining regions of Canada and in the western and southern United States.
22 October
Conducts the first successful experiment with a high-resistance carbon filament.
1 November
Executes his first patent application for a high-resistance carbon filament (U.S. Pat. 223,898).
1880
25 March
Experiments with a process of magnetic ore separation.
late April
Installs the first commercial marine incandescent electric lighting plant aboard Henry Villard's SS Columbia.
Spring
Builds experimental electric railway at Menlo Park.
1 October
Begins the commercial production of electric lamps at the Edison Lamp Works in Menlo Park.
1881
c. 10 March
Moves his business operations to 65 5th Avenue in New York City, where he daily advises the managers of the various Edison light companies.
Winter
Organizes the Edison Electric Lamp Company, the Edison Machine Works, and other companies to manufacture lamps, generators, conductors, and other components for his electric lighting system.
17 May–25 June
Executes twenty-three patent applications on electric lighting.
September
Edison's ore separator is used by the Edison Ore Milling Company to separate iron ore from black sand at Quonocontaug, Rhode Island.
1882
12 January
Edison's central station on Holborn Viaduct in London begins operation.
Spring–Summer
Executes fifty-three patent applications covering electric lighting, electric railways, and secondary batteries.
4 September
Opens the Pearl Street central station in the Wall Street district of New York.
4 October–28 November
Executes thirty-four patent applications covering electric lighting and electric railways.
November
Closes his Menlo Park laboratory and establishes a laboratory on the top floor of the Bergmann and Company factory in New York City.
1883
c. 1 May
Forms the Thomas A. Edison Construction Department and spends the next year promoting and building central stations in the United States.
1884
14 May
Is elected a vice president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, an organization of which he is a founding member.
9 August
Mary Stilwell Edison dies at Menlo Park.
October
Reorganizes the Edison Electric Light Company.
1885
Winter–Spring
Executes seventeen patent applications covering telegraph and telephone inventions.
June–July
Spends several weeks at Woodside, Ezra T. Gilliland's beach house near Boston, where he sees Mina Miller and keeps a personal diary.
1886
January
Purchases Glenmont, his home in Llewellyn Park, New Jersey.
24 February
Marries Mina Miller at Akron, Ohio.
23 June
Announces that the Edison Machine Works will relocate to the former site of the McQueen Locomotive Shop in Schenectady, New York.
October
Begins experiments on an improved phonograph.
November
Moves his laboratory to the Edison Lamp Works in East Newark (Harrison), New Jersey.
1887
Winter
Purchases fourteen acres of land in West Orange, New Jersey, near his home in Llewellyn Park; plans to construct a new laboratory.
January–April
Conducts experiments on squirted cellulose filaments for incandescent lamps at the Edison Lamp Works; continues this work at the West Orange laboratory.
February–April
Recuperates from pleurisy at his winter home in Fort Myers, Florida.
3 May
Hires H. Hudson Holly as the architect for the West Orange laboratory; Holly is dismissed at the end of July and replaced by Joseph Taft.
Summer
Rents a factory in Bloomfield, New Jersey, for phonograph manufacture.
Summer–Fall
Charles Batchelor oversees construction and outfitting of the West Orange laboratory, which opens in early December.
October
Organizes the Edison Phonograph Company, appoints Ezra T. Gilliland as general sales agent, and reaches agreement with George E. Gouraud for the international marketing of the phonograph.
Reaches agreement with Lowell Briggs and William W. Jacques for the rights to manufacture and market dolls with Edison phonographs.
15–20 November
Makes extensive notes on experiments to be conducted at his new laboratory in West Orange, mostly involving electric lighting research, which is the primary work of the laboratory in its first years.
1888
17 January
Executes a patent application (U.S. Pat. 484,582) for the electroplating process of duplicating phonograph cylinder records. Experimentation continues throughout the next decade.
January
Jonas W. Aylsworth begins experiments on the composition of phonograph cylinders. These experiments continue until his resignation in January 1891.
January–February
Renews the search for bamboo, grass, and other fibers to be used in the incandescent lamp filament; sends Frank McGowan and Charles F. Hanington to South America and James Ricalton to Asia.
3 May
Organizes the Edison Phonograph Works and begins construction of a factory in West Orange. Small-scale production of phonographs begins in the Fall.
31 May
Edison's second daughter, Madeleine, is born.
May–October
Executes twenty-two patent applications for phonographs and cylinder records.
June
Engages in an intensive campaign, including several overnight efforts, to produce the "perfected" cylinder phonograph.
8 October
Executes the first of four major patent caveats for the kinetoscope and kinetograph and puts William Dickson in charge of experiments.
27 December
Organizes the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works to engage in the large-scale magnetic separation of iron ore in Sussex County, New Jersey.
1889
10 January–1 February
Executes twelve patent applications for improvements in phonographs and cylinder records.
January
Files suit against his former associates John C. Tomlinson and Ezra T. Gilliland for alleged fraud in negotiations with Jesse Lippincott and the North American Phonograph Company.
March–July
Constructs an ore milling plant at Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
24 April
The Edison General Electric Company is organized.
23 July
Testifies regarding electric power and electrocution in William Kemmler v. Charles F. Durston.
August–October
Attends Paris Exposition and tours Europe with Mina Miller Edison
December
Organizes the Edison Manufacturing Company to manufacture and market the Edison-Lalande battery.
1890
February
The Automatic Phonograph Exhibition Company is organized to market the coin-in-the-slot phonograph.
30 April
Closes the experimental ore milling plant at Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
May
The Edison Phonograph Works suspends the manufacture of talking dolls.
3 August
Edison's third son, Charles, is born.
August
Purchases property in Silver Lake, New Jersey (now the Bloomfield-Belleville area); locates the plant of the Edison Manufacturing Company on the site.
Summer
Completes construction of his iron concentration plant in Ogden (later Edison), New Jersey. Full-scale operations begin the following April.
October
Reaches agreement with the Edison General Electric Company for support of his research on electric light and power.
1891
20 May
Demonstrates the kinetoscope at the West Orange laboratory for the Federation of Women's Clubs.
June–December
Spends most of his time at the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works plant in Ogden.
14 July
The primacy of Edison's lamp patents is upheld in the decision of Edison Electric Light Co. v. U.S. Electric Lighting Company.
24 August
Executes patent applications (U. S. Pats. 493,426 and 589,168) for the kinetoscope and kinetograph.
1892
15 April
The General Electric Company is organized.
14 November
Closes the Ogden plant for repairs and modifications—the first of many such shutdowns.
1893
February
Completes construction of the Black Maria motion picture studio, which becomes fully operational in May.
August–September
Joins members of the Miller family for a visit to Chicago during the Columbian Exposition.
29 December
Executes a patent application (U. S. Pat. 567,187) for the "Giant" ore crushing rolls.
1894
The bank panic of 1893 and the ensuing depression result in the discharging of numerous "old hands" and the suspension of many activities at the laboratory.
For the next four years spends most of his time at the Ogden plant, which he shut downs repeatedly for repairs and design modifications. Sell blocks of his General Electric stock and railroad bonds to finance these activities.
January
William K. L. Dickson produces "Edison Kinetographic Record of a Sneeze," the first motion picture to receive a copyright. Dickson and Theodore Heise go on to copyright approximately seventy-five motion pictures in 1894.
14 April
The first commercial viewing of the peephole kinetoscope is held by the Holland Brothers at 1155 Broadway, New York City.
April
John F. Randolph succeeds Alfred O. Tate as Edison's private secretary.
21 August
The North American Phonograph Company enters receivership.
1895
Summer
Experiments in the mass production of iron ore briquettes suitable for shipping and use in blast furnaces; development continues through early 1897.
October
Resumes work on squirted cellulose lamp filaments under contract with General Electric Company.
1896
27 January
Organizes the National Phonograph Company.
January–March
Experiments with x-rays and sends a completed x-ray fluoroscope to Columbia University physicist Michael Pupin.
26 February
Edison's father, Samuel, dies in Norwalk, Ohio. Edison attends the funeral.
March–July
Closes the Ogden plant for modifications.
23 April
The Edison Vitascope, a motion picture projector invented by Thomas Armat, has its commercial debut at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City.
April
Tests his gold ore separation process on placer samples sent from the Ortiz Mine in Dolores, New Mexico.
November
Introduces the Edison Home Phonograph, an inexpensive, spring motor driven phonograph.
1897
16 July
Executes a patent application (U. S. Pat. 644,746) for the three-high crushing rolls in his ore milling process.
Summer
The Ogden plant is again closed for repairs and modifications.
30 November
Edison's own motion picture projector, the projectoscope or projecting kinetoscope, has its first commercial exhibition.
December
Begins a series of lawsuits alleging patent infringement by his competitors in the motion picture industry.
1898
10 July
Edison's fourth son is born; is named Theodore Miller Edison after Mina Edison's brother, who died two days earlier in the Spanish-American War.
20 December
Shuts down his ore milling plant at Ogden; plans to repair the machinery, build additional employee housing, and start up the mill in the Spring.
1899
January
Designs a long rotary kiln for making cement.
17 February
Edison's father-in-law, Lewis Miller, dies. Edison attends his funeral in Akron, Ohio.
15 April
Organizes the Edison Portland Cement Company.
Summer
Begins experimental work on storage batteries.
1900
March
Vacations with his family in Florida. The following year, visits Seminole Lodge, his winter home in Fort Myers, for the first time since 1887. Thereafter, takes frequent winter vacations in Fort Myers.
June 16
Executes a patent application on a method of mass producing cylinder phonograph records.
Summer
Edison's experimental mill for the concentration of gold ore begins testing at the Ortiz Mine in Dolores, New Mexico but is shut down in November due to poor quality ore.
1901
Winter
Supervises construction of the Edison Portland Cement Company works at Stewartsville, New Jersey, using some equipment from the nearby New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works.
14 May
Receives threatening letters demanding $25,000 in gold, "or we will kidnap your child." Hires Pinkerton detectives and the plot is foiled.
27 May
Organizes the Edison Storage Battery Company.
1902
January
Introduces "moulded" records commercially.
May
Successfully conducts the first road tests of electric vehicles equipped with Edison storage batteries.
August
Begins commercial production of cement at his mill in Stewartsville.
1903
January
Initiates production of his "E" type alkaline storage battery.
2 March
An explosion at the Edison Portland Cement Company's coal grinding plant results in the death of eight workers, including chief engineer Edward A. Darling, and the shut-down of the plant for redesign.
8 June
Signs an agreement with his son Thomas A. Edison, Jr., whereby the younger Edison will not use his own name in any business enterprise in exchange for a weekly allowance of $35.
December
The Edison Manufacturing Company releases its hit film The Great Train Robbery, directed by Edwin S. Porter.
1904
30 September
Authorizes longtime associate Sigmund Bergmann to organize a corporation for the manufacture of storage batteries in Germany; nominally becomes a director of the Deutsche Edison Akkumulatoren Gesellschaft in April 1905.
2 October
Laboratory employee Clarence M. Dally dies as the result of radiation burns sustained during x-ray experiments.
1 November
Suspends the manufacture of his alkaline storage battery in order to investigate the loss of electrical capacity and leaking cans.
1905
23 January
Undergoes an operation to remove or drain a mastoidal abscess.
Winter
Forgoes his annual vacation in Florida because of work on the storage battery.
Summer
Begins a series of experiments using perforated tubes holding nickel flake as the positive electrode in his storage batteries. Tests continue for a decade.
1906
25 January
Wins a thirty-year lawsuit against Jay Gould's Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Company for infringement of his automatic telegraph patents; receives only one dollar in damages. The decision is reversed on appeal by both parties in February 1911.
October
Conceives and announces a plan to develop molds whereby an entire house can be made of poured concrete.
1907
11 February
Announces his intention to "give up the commercial end and work in my laboratory as a scientist."
5 March
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals finds for Edison in Thomas A. Edison v. American Mutoscope & Biograph Company, affirming the validity of his reissued camera patent and increasing his control of American film production.
1908
8 January
Signs a cross-licensing agreement with the North American Portland Cement Company for mutual use of important cement patents.
17 January
The Edison Business Phonograph Company is incorporated.
17 February
Private secretary John F. Randolph dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound; he is succeeded by Harry F. Miller.
23 February
Enters New York hospital and has two additional operations on his left ear.
1 October
Introduces Amberol cylinder records. With approximately 200 threads each, these records increase playing time from two to four minutes.
December
Agreement achieved among motion picture manufacturers results in the organization of the Motion Picture Patents Company.
1909
April
Receives a gold medal from the Royal Academy of Sciences in Sweden for his inventions in connection with the phonograph and the incandescent light.
June
Dictates personal reminiscences to Thomas C. Martin in order to provide additional material for Edison: His Life and Inventions (1910), the authorized biography prepared by Martin, Frank L. Dyer, and William H. Meadowcroft.
1 July
Begins commercial manufacture of his new "A" type alkaline storage batteries.
December
Begins to develop a disc record and phonograph.
1910
1 January
Edison's former associate and longtime friend Charles Batchelor dies.
January
Plans to establish an Engineering Department at the West Orange laboratory in order to centralize research and development for the numerous Edison companies.
May
Exhibits a scale model of his poured concrete house at the Real Estate and Ideal Homes Exhibit at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Continues to receive international attention for his idea.
26 August
Demonstrates his kinetophone or "speaking pictures" to members of the press at the West Orange laboratory.
17 Septemer
Two electric vehicles equipped with Edison storage batteries leave New York on a promotional "ideal tour," ending with an ascent of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire.
October
Receives national attention after making statements to the press revealing his unorthodox religious beliefs, including his skepticism regarding the existence of an immortal soul.
1911
28 February
Organizes Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
August-September
Tours Europe with his wife, Mina, and their children, Charles, Madeleine, and Theodore.
11 November
Makes Miller Reese Hutchison his personal representative at the West Orange laboratory. Appoints him chief engineer the following August
1912
Fall
Introduces the Diamond Disc phonograph, Blue Amberol cylinder records, and the Home Projecting Kinetoscope.
1913
17 February
Introduces talking pictures to American theatergoers by attending a performance of his Kinetophone (a phonograph connected by pulleys to a film projector) at the Colonial Theater in New York City.
May
Is named "most useful" man in America by a survey of readers of Independent magazine.
1914
8 September
Five weeks after the outbreak of war in Europe, announces the erection of a plant in Silver Lake, New Jersey, for the manufacture of phenol and other chemicals in short supply. Later erects other plants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Alabama.
9 December
An explosion in the Film Inspection Building triggers a conflagration that destroys or damages more than half of the buildings in the West Orange laboratory complex.
1915
1 March
Announces his new divisional policy for Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Three days later, Steven B. Mambert is named efficiency engineer in charge of implementing the policy.
7 July
Is invited by U.S. Secretary of Navy Josephus Daniels to head the newly established Naval Consulting Board.
October
Travels by train to California and attends events in his honor at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco with Mina Miller Edison and Henry Ford.
1916
15 January
Learns of an explosion aboard the U.S. Navy's E-2 submarine in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The accident, which kills five men and injures ten others, is attributed to the hydrogen gas emitted by the Edison batteries installed a few weeks earlier.
28 August
Leaves West Orange for a camping trip in the Adirondack and Berkshire mountains with Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs. They are joined by Henry Ford in Plattsburgh, N.Y., on 6 September.
1917
8 February
Two months before the entry of the United States into World War I, begins devoting nearly all of his time to experiments for the U.S. government in a laboratory established in a large casino on Eagle Rock Mountain in West Orange.
9 April
U.S. Supreme Court decides against Edison in Motion Picture Patents Company v. Universal Film Manufacturing Company, making the Motion Picture Patents Company's licensing agreements illegal.
1918
30 March
Ends his involvement in the motion picture business by selling his studio in the Bronx to the Lincoln & Parker Film Co.
1920
October
In the wake of the postwar economic downturn, initiates an "economy campaign" that leads to the dismissal or resignation of several top managers and a drastic reduction in the manufacturing labor force.
1921
25 January
Resigns from Naval Consulting Board following a prolonged debate over the location and mission of the proposed naval research laboratory.
July
Takes a camping trip in Maryland with Harvey Firestone and President Warren G. Harding.
1924
28 August
Consolidates the Edison Phonograph Works into Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
1926
2 August
Steps down as president of Thomas A. Edison, Inc., in favor of his son Charles; becomes chairman of the board.
1927
July
Organizes the Edison Botanic Research Corporation to develop a process for producing rubber from plant substances native to the United States.
1928
28 October
Receives a special Congressional Medal for "illuminating the path of progress through the development and application of inventions that have revolutionized civilization in the last century."
1929
21 October
Is honored at Light's Golden Jubilee.
28 October
Stops production of phonograph records; shifts production emphasis from phonographs to radios.
1931
6 January
Executes his last patent application (U.S. Patent 1,908,830)
18 October
Dies at Glenmont.