The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

[This folder has not been completely edited. Letters are currently being added, and documents identified as "to be edited" may not have images or complete database information. In addition, the information in the folder target (editorial description) may not be up-to-date.]

These letters, which cover the years 1891-1897, are from Marion Edison Page to her brother, Thomas Edison, and her sister-in-law, Mina Miller Edison. Marion Wallace Edison (1829-1900) was the oldest of the seven children of Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr., and Nancy Elliott Edison. Born in Vienna, Ontario, she moved with her family to Milan, Ohio, and remained there for the rest of her life. She married Homer Page (1826-1897) on December 19, 1849. They had two children: Isobel W. (Belle) Page (1852-1917) and Henry Crass Page (1860-1862). Most of the letters are partially dated, bearing only a month and a day; the others are completely undated. An effort has been made to determine a complete date for each letter and to arrange them in chronological order. It is possible, however, that some letters are misdated and out of order.

Included are comments by Marion regarding the death of her brother, William Pitt Edison, in 1891, the declining health of Samuel Edison, and his death in February 1896. There are also references to the health problems of Marion and Homer. In addition, there are remarks regarding visits and planned visits with the Edison family and with Belle and her children, gifts from Thomas to Marion of cylinder phonographs and recordings, and Marion's gift to Mina of Thomas's baby cradle. Several letters contain comments about Marion's 1894 purchase of the home in Milan in which Thomas was born and her determination to keep it in the family. A persistent theme throughout the correspondence is Marion's complaint that her brother and father do not write or visit more often. Marion's dislike of Ellen Holihan Edison, the widow of her brother Pitt, is also evident in the letters.

The letters are from Books #17 and #29 on the Charles Edison Fund microfilm and from one box of correspondence not on the microfilm: "Mina's Relatives Letters." Click here for a list of all the correspondence books on the microfilm. Click here for a list of boxes containing correspondence not on the microfilm. Additional correspondence by Marion Edison Page and her daughter Isobel (Belle) Page Ristine can be found in the David E. E. Sloane Collection.