About Thomas A. Edison
Thomas Alva Edison grew up in Michigan with little formal schooling and began working at a young age. He became deaf as a child and taught himself through books and tinkering. Working as a railroad telegrapher, he invented improvements to telegraph systems. By age 22 he had sold several early inventions and moved to New York to focus on engineering. He married Mary, and they had three children, though he was often neglectful and she died at 29. With friends’ help he attracted investment and expanded his business, and by age 29 he owned a telegraph recorder factory in Newark that employed over one hundred workers.
