The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

[These letters were added in January 2013.]

These documents consist of three letters by Mary Valinda Miller (1830-1912), the mother of Mina Miller Edison. The first letter, written in April 1897, is addressed to her two youngest sons, John and Theodore, who were both in the senior class at Yale University. The second letter, addressed to her husband Lewis and written during a visit to the Edison home at Glenmont in October 1895, comments that Mina "will try and be contented for a while longer" with her husband's work habits, but "then she wants Thomas to stop a little of his hard work and . . . stay with the Family more." Mary Valinda also mentions Thomas A. Edison, Jr.'s recent trip to Europe to attend the wedding of his sister Marion to Karl Oscar Oeser. The third letter, written in March 1906, is addressed to Mina and Thomas, who were vacationing at Seminole Lodge, their winter home in Fort Myers, Florida. Mary Valinda remarks on the Edisons' "beautiful home" in West Orange and recalls the "beautiful winter" she spent there. In addition, there are comments about Grace Miller and her students at Oak Place School, including Madeleine Edison, who were visiting the Edisons in Florida. Mary Valinda also expresses her hope that John, who had been working for Thomas Edison since 1899, would "cheer up laugh and enjoy life more" and that "Mr. Edison will have patience with . . . him and be a father to him." Also included is a comment about the health of Mary Valinda's son-in-law, Richard P. Marvin, who died three months later.