9781422277669

Thomas’s mother and father, Nancy Elliott Edison and Samuel Ogden Edison Jr.

Experimenting with fire one day, he burned down his father’s barn. Sam Edison called out all his neighbors and their children and thrashed his six-year-old son in the village square. Young Entrepreneur in Michigan Milan was bypassed by a new railway that took traffic from the canal and affected local trade. As a result, Sam Edison moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where he set up a lumber and grain business. Soon afterwards, he sent for his family. Young Edison did not start school until he was eight, perhaps because of scarlet fever and other illnesses. Three months later, he walked out when his teacher told him that his brain was “addled.” His mother was so indignant that she decided to teach him at home.

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