{"id":9692,"date":"2015-02-18T16:21:53","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T16:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=9692"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:49:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:49:56","slug":"the-wizard-of-menlo-park-a-k-a-inventor-thomas-edison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-wizard-of-menlo-park-a-k-a-inventor-thomas-edison.html","title":{"rendered":"The Wizard of Menlo Park, a.k.a. Inventor Thomas Edison"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Play\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak searches old newspapers to learn more about the amazing life and accomplishments of the great inventor Thomas Edison. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

As you observe your family members enjoying conveniences such as talking on cellphones, downloading music, charging batteries and living in a well-lit house, remind them to give thanks to Thomas Edison. These modern devices wouldn\u2019t exist without him.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: Thomas Edison with his phonograph (second model), c.1878. Credit: Levin C. Handy; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edison\u2019s Early Years<\/strong><\/p>\n

Born on 11 February 1847 in Milan, Ohio, Thomas Alva Edison was the youngest of seven children born to Samuel and Nancy (Elliott) Edison. His mother died in 1871 and his father died in 1896 at the age of 91. According to Samuel Edison\u2019s obituary below, the family\u2019s ancestors arrived in North America long before the American Revolution. There\u2019s a good chance many of our readers, including myself through his Beach and Merriman lines, are distant cousins of Thomas Edison. (See famouskin.com<\/a> and Thomasedison.org<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
New York Tribune (New York, New York), 27 February 1896, page 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Home Schooling \u2013 and Deafness<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thomas Edison had little formal schooling. After his teachers reported him to be a slow learner, his mother decided that home schooling was a better method to educate her son.<\/p>\n

For someone who made so many inventions involving sound, it is startling to learn that Edison was almost completely deaf. At the age of 12, he either contracted scarlet fever or had an accident which left him severely hearing-impaired. The National Park Service\u2019s Thomas Edison<\/a> page reports that Edison once wrote: \u201cI have not heard a bird sing since I was twelve years old.\u201d Another story, which Edison himself told, was that he \u201cwas picked up by the ears to keep from falling out of a train\u201d and this caused something to pop inside his ears.<\/p>\n

The genius behind so many amazing inventions never attended college or technical school. He learned through his mother\u2019s home schooling, his own voracious reading, and constant experimentation. His inventions amazed our ancestors and they continue to impact us today. No wonder he was called the \u201cWizard of Menlo Park,\u201d the location in New Jersey where he built a laboratory in 1876.<\/p>\n

Inventions and Patents<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite his genius and remarkable inventions, however, most children today are not taught much about Thomas Edison other than a few lines in a history book. Nor can many young people identify his inventions, even though Edison achieved 1,093 or more patents (some report 1,368) in his lifetime.<\/p>\n

According to the History Channel\u2019s Thomas Edison page, many of his patents addressed telephony, telecommunications and electricity \u2013 so imagine where we\u2019d be without them.<\/p>\n

Here are some of his many achievements:<\/p>\n