The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

[This folder has not been completely edited. Four documents have recently been added, and these documents do not have images or complete database information. In addition, the information in the folder target (editorial description) may not be up-to-date.]

These documents, which cover the years 1945-1965, consist primarily of correspondence to and from Marion Estelle Edison Oeser (1873-1965), daughter of Thomas A. Edison and his first wife, Mary Stilwell Edison. The 1945 letter was written by Mina Miller Edison during a visit to the farm of her niece Rachel Miller near Lyme, New Hampshire. In addition to describing Rachel's farm, Mina mentions the various friends from Llewellyn Park who have passed away in recent years. An undated letter written shortly after Mina's death mentions a $6,000-a-year trust fund bequeathed by her to Marion. In a letter from 1954 Marion tells her cousin Elizabeth Miller that her life on the whole has been happy and "I do not feel very much like dying . . . . The only real troubles were having a step mother and getting the smallpox at 16. Both were real afflictions. Good health, a good husband and a cheerful disposition made up though for my bad luck in other things." A letter written six months before Marion's death comments upon the recent death of her longtime servant Willford Farrell, as well as upon a recent operation undergone by her stepbrother Charles Edison and an impending operation for cancer on her stepcousin Marian Nichols de Marconnay. She also notes Charles' loneliness after the death of his wife Carolyn and his increasing deafness, which makes it difficult to hold telephone conversations with him. Also included is a clipping from the Norwalk [Conn.] Hour, April 29, 1965, regarding Marion's will and personal bequests. Three photographs of Marion at various stages of her life appear at the end.