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.]

Charles Edison Poyer (1892-1981) was the son of Edison's niece, Nellie Marion Edison (1858-1947), and her first husband, William Poyer. He entered the employment of Thomas A. Edison, Inc., in 1911, working on storage batteries and their applications in delivery wagons and country house lighting. By 1914 he was manager of the House Lighting Dept. of the Edison Storage Battery Co. (ESBCo). He was very sick around 1916-1917 and was confined during part of that time in a sanitarium. However, he eventually returned to work for the Edison. By September 1921 he was manager of the ESBCo sales office in Los Angeles.

This undated letter from Poyer to Charles Edison was probably written at the beginning of World War I. Poyer inquires about his cousin's plans for enlisting in the military, adding that "I don't think they would take me to carry water even." There is also discussion of the phonograph and battery businesses.

The letter is from a correspondence book, not on the Charles Edison Fund microfilm, bearing the title "Dear Charles Edison's Letters: Grandparents, Sisters/Brothers, Aunts/Uncles, Cousins, Friends' Letters." Click here for a list of boxes with correspondence not on the microfilm. Additional letters by Charles Poyer and other members of the Poyer family can be found in Book #17 on the Charles Edison Fund microfilm. Click here for a list of all the correspondence books on the microfilm.