Thomas Edison

Edison met his first wife, Mary Stilwell, in 1871. She was 16 years old and working in one of his companies when the inventor first met her. Edison married Stilwell on Christmas Day of that year. They had a daughter, Marion, born in 1873, and two sons, Thomas, Jr., born in 1876, and William, born in 1878.

Soon after his first wife's death in 1884, Edison met and fell in love with Mina Miller, the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer. The two married in February 1886. They had a daughter, Madeleine, born in 1888, and two sons, Charles and Theodore, born in 1890 and 1898.

Edison focused on his work so much that he spent little time with his family. He avoided most social situations, and he often wore dirty shirts and shabby working clothes. Many of his associates also spoke of Edison’s virtues, however, such as good humor, even disposition, honesty, and genuine affection for his family.

Edison worked on his experiments with extraordinary intensity. He lived in his laboratory, getting along on four hours of sleep a day and eating meals brought to him by an assistant. He often kept vigils of 48 and even 72 hours when an experiment neared completion. Often, as in the cases of the electric light, the storage battery, and the experiments on synthetic rubber, success or failure depended on the discovery of a suitable material. In each case, he conducted thousands of experiments to find the right materials.

Before starting an experiment, Edison tried to read all the literature on the subject to avoid repeating experiments that other people had already conducted. Perhaps the best illustration of Edison's working methods is his own famous statement: 'Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.'

During Edison's lifetime, he received honors from all parts of the world. In 1881 he was awarded the French Legion of Honor for developing electric power distribution systems. Italy made him a Grand Officer of the Crown in 1889, and he received awards from the governments of Chile, Britain, Japan, Russia, and many other nations. American businessman Henry Ford spent several million dollars to erect a museum of industry in Dearborn, Michigan. The museum consisted largely of a collection of Edison's inventions. In 1929 the museum held a celebration, called Light's Golden Jubilee, to mark the 50th anniversary of the invention of the electric light.

When Edison died, the U.S. government considered turning off all electric current in the country for a minute or two as a tribute to him. It became apparent, however, that the operation of the great electrical distribution systems of the nation could not be interrupted even for a moment without possibly disastrous effects. Within Edison’s lifetime, the system that he had pioneered had become essential to the nation's way of life.