Edward H. Johnson
Encyclopedia
Edward Hibberd Johnson was an inventor and business associate of American inventor Thomas Alva Edison. He was involved in many of Edison's projects, and was a partner in an early organization which evolved into the General Electric Company, one of the largest Fortune 500
companies in the United States. When Johnson was Vice President of the Edison Electric Light Company, a predecessor of Con Edison, he created the first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree
at his home in New York City
in 1882. Edward H. Johnson became the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.
general named William Jackson Palmer
and his 21-year-old chief assistant Edward Hibberd Johnson headed west from their hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. General Palmer was the construction manager for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, mapping routes through New Mexico and Arizona to the Pacific coast.
The Kansas Pacific Railroad was an enterprise of the Philadelphia interests which controlled the Pennsylvania Railroad
(whose president John Edgar Thomson
had employed Palmer as his personal secretary before the War). Under General Palmer's direction the Kansas Pacific was extended from Kansas City, Missouri
, reaching Denver, Colorado
in August, 1870.
sent back East to manage the Automatic Telegraph Company. When Johnson hired 24-year-old Thomas A. Edison, the contracted employee quickly outshone the particular company, and Johnson brought his enormous talents to the attention of the principals of the company. Of Edison, Johnson later wrote:
The Philadelphians then backed Edison's evolution into a full-time inventor, established in his "invention factory" in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Johnson became Edison's trusted executive as his inventions and business developed in the 1870s and later.
, who he met at an International electrical exposition. Sprague became a brilliant electrical genius and inventor, and was responsible for major developments in electric railways
and electric elevators
which were instrumental in the growth of U.S. cities in the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
, and Francis Upton. In May 1881 the company changed its name to the Edison Lamp Company. A year later it moved its factory from Menlo Park to East Newark (Harrison), New Jersey
. The partnership became a corporation in 1884. The company merged with several other Edison companies in 1889 to become the Edison General Electric Company. The same year, it acquired the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company. On April 15, 1892, it merged with the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, another electrical manufacturer, in the consolidation forming the General Electric Company, which is today one of the largest Fortune 500
companies in the United States.
. Its first central station
, located on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan, opened on September 4, 1882. The company was the prototype for other local illuminating companies that were established in the United States during the 1880s, and was a predecessor of Con Edison, the electric utility
company which powers New York City today.
was the creation of Edward H. Johnson. While he was Vice-President of the Edison Electric Light Company, he had Christmas tree bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed his Christmas tree — hand-wired with 80 red, white, and blue electric light bulbs the size of walnut
s — on December 22, 1882, at his home in New York City
. The story was reported in the Detroit Post and Tribune by a reporter named Croffut. Croffut wrote "Last evening I walked over beyond Fifth Avenue and called at the residence of Edward H. Johnson, vice-president of Edison’s electric company". Although Johnson's address at that time is not known, he lived in one of the first areas of New York City wired for electric service. Edward H. Johnson became known as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.
From that point on, electrically illuminated Christmas trees, indoors and outdoors, grew with mounting enthusiasm in the United States and elsewhere. In 1895, U.S. President Grover Cleveland
proudly sponsored the first electrically lit Christmas tree in the White House
. It was a huge specimen, featuring more than a hundred multicolored lights. The first commercially produced Christmas tree lamps were manufactured in strings of nine sockets by the Edison General Electric Company of Harrison, New Jersey
and advertised in the December 1901 issue of the Ladies' Home Journal
. Each socket took a miniature two-candela
carbon-filament lamp.
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
companies in the United States. When Johnson was Vice President of the Edison Electric Light Company, a predecessor of Con Edison, he created the first known electrically illuminated Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
at his home in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1882. Edward H. Johnson became the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.
Protégé of William Jackson Palmer
In 1867, a very optimistic, eager 30-year-old retired Union ArmyUnion (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
general named William Jackson Palmer
William Jackson Palmer
William Jackson Palmer was an American civil engineer, soldier, industrialist, and philanthropist.-Overview:...
and his 21-year-old chief assistant Edward Hibberd Johnson headed west from their hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. General Palmer was the construction manager for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, mapping routes through New Mexico and Arizona to the Pacific coast.
The Kansas Pacific Railroad was an enterprise of the Philadelphia interests which controlled the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(whose president John Edgar Thomson
John Edgar Thomson
John Edgar Thomson was an American civil engineer and industrialist. Thomson was an entrepreneur best known for his leadership of the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1852 until his death 1874, making it the largest business enterprise in the world and a world-class model for technological and...
had employed Palmer as his personal secretary before the War). Under General Palmer's direction the Kansas Pacific was extended from Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, reaching Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
in August, 1870.
Hiring young Thomas A. Edison
In 1871 Edward H. Johnson, as the assistant to General William J. Palmer, wassent back East to manage the Automatic Telegraph Company. When Johnson hired 24-year-old Thomas A. Edison, the contracted employee quickly outshone the particular company, and Johnson brought his enormous talents to the attention of the principals of the company. Of Edison, Johnson later wrote:
- "He ate at this desk and slept in a chair. In six weeks he had gone through the books, written a volume of abstracts, and made two thousand experiments ... and produced a solution."
The Philadelphians then backed Edison's evolution into a full-time inventor, established in his "invention factory" in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Johnson became Edison's trusted executive as his inventions and business developed in the 1870s and later.
Recruiting Frank J. Sprague
Johnson apparently had a good eye for young talent. In 1883, he is also credited with recruiting into Edison's organization a naval officer Frank J. SpragueFrank J. Sprague
Frank Julian Sprague was an American naval officer and inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators...
, who he met at an International electrical exposition. Sprague became a brilliant electrical genius and inventor, and was responsible for major developments in electric railways
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
and electric elevators
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
which were instrumental in the growth of U.S. cities in the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
Partner in the Edison companies
Edward H. Johnson was a partner in the Edison Electric Lamp Company, a partnership formed in early 1881. Other partners were Thomas Edison, Charles BatchelorCharles Batchelor
Charles W. Batchelor was an inventor and close associate of American inventor Thomas Alva Edison during much of Edison’s career. He was involved in some of the greatest inventions and technological developments in history....
, and Francis Upton. In May 1881 the company changed its name to the Edison Lamp Company. A year later it moved its factory from Menlo Park to East Newark (Harrison), New Jersey
Harrison, New Jersey
Harrison is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 13,620. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark, New Jersey.-Geography:Harrison is located at ....
. The partnership became a corporation in 1884. The company merged with several other Edison companies in 1889 to become the Edison General Electric Company. The same year, it acquired the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company. On April 15, 1892, it merged with the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, another electrical manufacturer, in the consolidation forming the General Electric Company, which is today one of the largest Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
companies in the United States.
Heading the forerunner of Con Edison
Edward H. Johnson was also became president of Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York. This company was organized on December 17, 1880, to construct generating stations in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Its first central station
Pearl Street Station
Pearl Street Station was the first central power plant in the United States. It was located at 255-257 Pearl Street in Manhattan on a site measuring 50 by 100 feet, just south of Fulton Street. It began with one direct current generator, and it started generating electricity on September 4, 1882,...
, located on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan, opened on September 4, 1882. The company was the prototype for other local illuminating companies that were established in the United States during the 1880s, and was a predecessor of Con Edison, the electric utility
Utility
In economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....
company which powers New York City today.
First electric Christmas tree lights
The first known electrically illuminated Christmas treeChristmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
was the creation of Edward H. Johnson. While he was Vice-President of the Edison Electric Light Company, he had Christmas tree bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed his Christmas tree — hand-wired with 80 red, white, and blue electric light bulbs the size of walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
s — on December 22, 1882, at his home in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The story was reported in the Detroit Post and Tribune by a reporter named Croffut. Croffut wrote "Last evening I walked over beyond Fifth Avenue and called at the residence of Edward H. Johnson, vice-president of Edison’s electric company". Although Johnson's address at that time is not known, he lived in one of the first areas of New York City wired for electric service. Edward H. Johnson became known as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights.
From that point on, electrically illuminated Christmas trees, indoors and outdoors, grew with mounting enthusiasm in the United States and elsewhere. In 1895, U.S. President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
proudly sponsored the first electrically lit Christmas tree in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. It was a huge specimen, featuring more than a hundred multicolored lights. The first commercially produced Christmas tree lamps were manufactured in strings of nine sockets by the Edison General Electric Company of Harrison, New Jersey
Harrison, New Jersey
Harrison is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 13,620. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark, New Jersey.-Geography:Harrison is located at ....
and advertised in the December 1901 issue of the Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
. Each socket took a miniature two-candela
Candela
The candela is the SI base unit of luminous intensity; that is, power emitted by a light source in a particular direction, weighted by the luminosity function . A common candle emits light with a luminous intensity of roughly one candela...
carbon-filament lamp.