Biography: The Life of the Inventor Thomas Alva Edison

On February 11, 1847 Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. Thomas’s parents were Samuel and Nancy Elliott Edison. Thomas was the youngest of his family, and the seventh child. Samuel and Nancy Elliott originally met in Canada. Thomas’s father was very good with trade, and his mother used to be a teacher. When Thomas was only seven years old he and his family left the town of Milan, because of the railroad line. Thomas’s family then moved to Port Huron, Michigan. There his father began to work in lumbering and investing. When Thomas was just a boy he was a very jocose person. Thomas enjoyed playing pranks and other mischievous jokes on people. When Thomas entered school he was only in for three months. The reason was, because Thomas over heard his teacher say a very sly remark about Thomas’s learning. Thomas then told his angry mother about the situation. Thomas’s mother then carried out his education by homeschooling him herself. His mother introduced chemistry to him, and Thomas became very interested in it. By the time Thomas was ten years old he had already began creating his own experiments at home. He even built his own lab in their home’s cellar. When Edison was twelve he went work at the Grand Truck railroad branch. As another job Thomas also sold many goodies and materials such as apples and newspapers. Edison loved the joy of reading science books.According to Student Resource Center-Gold," his reading led him to experiment with chemicals and to construct elaborate models." Edison soon grew up, and started his career as an inventor when he was twenty eight. By the year 1867, Thomas moved to Boston, Massachusetts for a job with the Union Telegraph Company. In 1869, Thomas earned his very first patent for his invention of a recorder. In June of 1869, Edison moved to New York City from Boston. While waiting for his interview at Law’s Gold Company something went wrong. The transmitting machine crashed. Until Edison knew what to do, and quickly fixed it! The following day Edison was offered a job as manager. Soon later Thomas moved to Newark, New Jersey where he opened the invention factory. During the time Thomas was in Newark he met a young lady named Mary Stilwell. On December 25, 1871 Thomas married Mary. They had three children: Marion Estelle, Thomas Alva Jr., and William Leslie. Mary then passed away thirteen years later in 1884. Thomas then married a girl named Mina Miller in 1886. Mina was only sixteen when she married Thomas. Edison and Mina had three children together; Madeline, Charles and Theodore. On October 18, 1931 in West Orange, New Jersey Thomas Alva Edison died in great honor. During Edison’s time he invented the phonograph, and improved the light bulb as his major successes. Thomas arose from the poor in his younger years to fame and wealth as an adult.