He established a successful grain and lumber business in Milan that allowed him to bring his wife and four children to the United States in 1839. Eight years later, Thomas Alva was born.
Disaster struck Milan in 1854 when a new railroad line bypassed the city and isolated it from commercial traffic. Before long, eight percent of the city's population had left the area, including the Edison family. Samuel Edison relocated his family to Port Huron, Michigan, began again, and established a grain and lumber business that was soon very successful. In Port Huron, young Thomas began his education in a one-room school taught by the Reverend G. B. Engle and his wife. That schooling was to last only a few months, however, because young Tom heard Mrs. Engle refer to him as "addled." She had apparently become convinced that Tom's impatience with formal schooling was a sign of mental inferiority. Furious at her son's report of this remark, Nancy Edison withdrew him from school and from that point on, provided for his education at home.
Carries Out Chemical Experiments at Home
Nancy Edison introduced her son to natural philosophy, a mixture of physics, chemistry, and other sciences, among other subjects.
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