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[X018B1-F] Edison, Thomas Alva, Jr., and Beatrice Heyzer

Edison Family Papers

Title: [X018B1-F] Edison, Thomas Alva, Jr., and Beatrice Heyzer
Description: [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 1886-1931 and 1935-1936, consists primarily of correspondence from Thomas A. Edison, Jr. (1876-1935) to his stepmother Mina Miller Edison. Also included are letters to his father Thomas A. Edison and his brother William L. Edison. Some of the letters are by Beatrice Heyzer Edison (ca. 1882-1950), whom Thomas married in 1906. There are numerous references to the work, health, and travel of Thomas A. Edison, as well as to his parental role and his troubled relationship with his son. Some of the letters from the 1890s are difficult to read due to faint ink.
Included are approximately 50 letters from the years 1890-1893, most of which were written while Thomas was attending St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. Beginning in the fall of 1891, the letters contain many references to recurring health problems (including a bout of chicken pox in October), difficulties in studying, and Thomas's desire to return home. A letter from January 18, 1893, announces his intention to drop out of school and go to work for his father. Frequently mentioned in the correspondence is Thomas's younger brother William, who stayed at St. Paul's until the end of 1893. There are also references to John V. and Theodore M. Miller, younger brothers of Mina Edison, who also attended St. Paul's in the early 1890s. In addition, there are letters pertaining to the Edison brothers' stay in Akron, Ohio, during the summer of 1890 and in Port Huron, Michigan, during the summer of 1891. A series of fragmentary notes and drawings involving motors and cars, one of which bears the date of August 14, 1890, appears to be related to a project on which Thomas and William were working with John and Theodore Miller during their Akron visit.
Approximately 65 letters date from the period 1893-1896, when Thomas was working for his father at the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works in Ogden (Edison), New Jersey. Included are comments about progress at the mill and Thomas's expectations that his father's ore milling venture would eventually prove successful. There are also numerous letters written from Chautauqua, where Thomas spend part of the summer in 1893-1896 and struck up a friendship with George and Edward Redington, sons of a publisher in Syracuse, New York. An undated letter from the summer of 1893 describes his visit to Chicago World's Fair, which was preceded by a visit to Oak Place, the Miller family home in Akron, and a quarrel with his step-aunt Mary. Two letters from the summer of 1895 refer to Tom's unsuccessful attempt to interest his father in a camping trip with the Redingtons and other friends. One undated letter from September 1895 was written on board the SS Furst Bismarck on the day that Thomas sailed for Europe to attend the wedding of his sister Marion.
The letters from this period contain several references to Thomas's health problems, particularly recurring headaches and his feelings of sadness and depression after the death of a close female friend in December 1894. Other topics mentioned in the correspondence include Thomas's growing interest in painting; his intention to study French and German while working at the mill; the bad feelings between his stepmother and his sister Marion; and several accidents at the mill involving Thomas, including an eye injury sustained during his first month on the job. There are also comments by Thomas regarding his father's celebrity, his own feelings of inadequacy on being the son of a famous inventor, and his frustration that he had not been able to please his father.
There are 29 letters dating from the thirteen-
Identifier: X018B1-F
uri: https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/folder/X018B1-F
Alternative Title: Edison Family Papers -- Edison, Thomas Alva, Jr., and Beatrice Heyzer
Is Part Of: Edison Family Papers
Rights: Charles Edison Fund Collection, Newark, N.J.

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