Facts You May Not Know About the Edison Family

The Thomas Edison Family name is well known. Everyone that has ever learned about electricity knows of Thomas Edison. However, how much does anyone really know about the entire Edison family? The facts below can bring the entire Edison family into the spotlight.

Thomas Edison Facts

Throughout his life, Thomas only spent 3 months in public school
His mother took him out of public school and homeschooled him
Also, at the young age of 11, Thomas was already a business entrepreneur
His nickname was Al when he worked on the train system
He also had a science lab on a train
Due to an accident with his lab on a train, Thomas Edison lost his hearing
Thomas saved a young boy from being run over by a train
Due to the rescue, Thomas become a telegraphist
Thomas Edison had a tattoo
After teaching Mina Miller Morse Code he proposed marriage. That is also how she answered him with “Yes”
Thomas had 6 children: 1 daughter and 2 sons from both of his wives

Mina Miller Edison’s Family Facts

Mina Miller’s father was a co-founder of Chautauqua Institute
All of the Miller children grew up visiting their Summer home in the institute
Education was very important to the Miller family
Therefore, after graduating high school Mina attended Miss Abby H. Johnson’s Home & Day School for Young Ladies in Boston
Mina owned the home at Glenmont along with calling herself the “home executive”
She also ran the household and staff
Furthermore, Mina Miller Edison was the daughter, wife, and mother of inventors
Mina Miller was less than 10 years older than Thomas Edison’s eldest child Marion

The Edison Children

Thomas Edison’s oldest daughter Marion was married to a German soldier during WWI
William, Thomas’s third child with his first wife, also fought in WWI for The United States
Edison’s two oldest children had nicknames for terms used in Morse Code: Dot and Dash
The three eldest Edison children assumed they could get what they wanted by dropping their famous father’s name
Also, Thomas Edison Jr. changed his name from Edison to Willard upon his father’s request.
Both of the eldest Edison boys (Thomas and William) turned to farming as professions
Madeleine Edison, Mina’s first child (Thomas’s fourth) was the only Edison child to have children of their own
The Edison family continued to vacation at Chautauqua Institute throughout their lives