In 1867 after getting dismissed from Western Union, Thomas Edison had made up his mind to invest his total time and efforts in research work and inventions. After patenting Vote Recorder Machine he had enough reason to believe in himself. But young Thomas was yet to set up his own research lab. He had only visualisation of it in his mind.
For one year Thomas carried on his research in New York. After being financially on better footing he set up his own lab in New Jersey. There he succeeded in upgrading
automatic ‘Repeater’ and telegraph gadgets. In October 1871 Thomas appointed a girl called Mary Stilwell in his ‘News Reporting Telegraph Co.’ Mary was an attractive girl. Her job was to select business news for New York. In less than two months Thomas and Mary were deeply in love with each other. Mary was a charming girl although she was not very good at her job. Then, Thomas Edison proposed to her and she readily accepted without any hesitation. On December 25, 1871 they became husband and wife. The marriage brought stability to the life of Thomas Edison. On the professional front he developed ‘Quadruple Telegraph System’.
Thomas Edison again was under financial pressure. He was a bit weak in the financial management at this level and the problems were bound to arise. To cut down on production costs it was essential to save on the rent of the lab building by having an own facility.
Thomas Edison wrote to his father Samuel Edison asking for some financial assistance to set up a lab and machine shop at Menlo Park, New Jersey. The father obliged and he arranged for the finances. In 1876 Thomas Edison shifted to the new building and lab plus workshop was set up. He was accompanied by two associates called Charles Bachelor and John Crusoe. In the Menlo Park lab Thomas Edison made several inventions and the people began to call him ‘Magician of Menlo Park’. In 1876 no one had imagined that the new resident of Menlo Park was going to surprise the world with his amazing invetions.
In 1877 Thomas Edison invented Carbon-Button Transmitter which is still used in the telephone speakers and microphones. In the last month of the same year he invented ‘Tinfoil Phonograph’. Before this in 1870 Thomas Edison had set up Electric Light Company through some financers. J.P. Morgan had assisted in this endeavour. Edison gave a public demonstration of the light bulb produced by that company in which a heated metal filament gave out bright light. It was a great gift to the mankind to light up its dark world. In 1883 first commercial central power system was established in Lower Manhatten under the direct supervision of Thomas Edison. Meanwhile, one of the engineers of Edison called William J. Hammer paved the way for basic research of ‘Electron Tube’ and later, it was patented as ‘Edison Effect’.
This period of achievements of Thomas Edison was shadowed by a personal tragedy. His wife Mary died on August 9, 1884 at their Menlo Park house. She had born three children to Thomas. Their family life lasted for 13 years only. Now he had the responsibility to bring up three motherless kids. It happened at a time when Edison was in the middle of his several ambitious projects or was about to undertake. The projects had to be postponed. The Menlo Park house had too many memories of Mary which sentimentally affected Thomas Edison.
So, to regain some emotional strength he bought a new house ‘Glenmont’ in Levelin Park, New Jersey. For better care and proper upperinging of children Thomas went for second marriage. On February 24, 1886 Thomas Edison married Mina Miller at Akron, Ohio. The family permanently shifted to Glenmont, the new house. The second wife Mina did a extremely good job of carrying out her duties and responsibilities. She adjusted to the new family, children and her husband. Tactfully, she emotionally rehabilitated the kids. She was a very intelligent and kind hearted lady. The family gradually again became a well knit happy lot. The children accepted her as their surrogate mother and had no complaints. Thus, here Thomas proved a lucky man and Mina proved his charm. She proved an indispensable asset to the Edison family.
Personal family
It will be appropriate here to give the brief details of Thomas Alva Edison’s family. The family details throw a special light on a very private aspect of the character of a person for the benefit of the readers.
The family is a person’s private world in which he does not wear any mask. He parades himself in his true form and colours. The family is where a person’s weaknesses can be easily spotted. 70% of the great achievers of the world drew inspiration to excel in their weak and disadvantaged circumstances visible in the family background. The great ones have will and they find a way somehow.
Thomas Alva Edison Family
Thomas Alva Edison
Born : 11-02-1847 Died : 18-10-1933
Mary Stilwell Mina Miller
(First Wife) (Second Wife)
Born : 06-09-1855 Born : 06-07-1886
Died : 09-08-1884 Died : 24-08-1947
Marion (Daughter) Medellian (Daughter)
18-02-1873 31-05-1888
Thomas Alva Edison Jr. Charles Edison (Son)
(Son)
10-01-1876 03-08-1890
William Leslie (Son) Theodor Edison (Son)
26-10-1878 10-07-1898
Thomas Alva Edison married twice.
The first was love marriage and the second an arranged one.
Each wife bore him two sons and a daughter.
Thus, Thomas Edison sired six children.
The time gap between the first child and the second was 25 years and 7 months. The first arrived in 1873 and the last one in 1898.
This clearly illustrates that Thomas Edison always had a flourishing family and he lived amongst near and dear ones.
