J.H. Vail's obit regarding Thomas Edison
Replies: 2
J.H. Vail's obit regarding Thomas Edison
 dvlwthin
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Posted: 7 Oct 2001 4:41PM GMT |
Classification: Query
This is the information I have on Jonathan H. Vail........any help is much appreciated!
1. JONATHAN HARNED1 VAIL was born May 28, 1852 in Near New Brunswick, NJ, and died March 12, 1926 in Rochester, NY. He married ANNA CORTELYOU BEEKMAN October 31, 1870, daughter of JOHN BEEKMAN and SARAH MANLEY. She was born January 10, 1853, and died January 03, 1938 in Plainfield, NJ.
Notes for JONATHAN HARNED VAIL:
Jonathan H. Vail, At His Home, 1295 Lake Avenue, Rochester, NY, March 12, 1926.
Mr. Vail was born at his grandfather's farm near New Brunswick, NJ, May 28, 1852, his early education being acquired in the New Brunswick local schools. The first records of the VAIL family in America began with the arrival from England of Sauel VAIL in 1642. Mr. Alfred VAIL, who as a co-worker with Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, was closely identified with the development of the original electric telegraph between Baltimore and Washington, was a cousin of Mr. Vail's father, whilst Mr. Theodore N. Vail, another relative, became President of the Bell Telephone Company.
Mr. Vail's first employment was with the Empire Machine Works, at New Brunswick, NJ, in 1870, and the practical knowledge here acquired led to his accepting a position with the Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Gulf Rail Road Company at their Kansas City, MO. Car Shops in 1874 where he remained until July, 1880, when returning East, he obtained his first employment in the machine shop of the Edison laboratory at Menlo Park, NJ, assembling and insulating small commutators. In October of that year he was assigned the task of assembling the parts of complete dynamo-electric machines and placing the assembled machines in actual operation, the successful carrying out of this work leading to his appointment as helper in the dynamo room. In December 1880, Mr. Vail was given entire charge of the fourteen dynamos that furnished current for the exhibition illuminations by the Edison system of electric lighting at Menlo Park during the hours of darkness, both in the laboratory and in the village, and during the daytime for supplying current to the original Lamp Works, the experimental circuits in the laboratory and to the electric railway. In February 1881, he installed and started two of these dynamos at the new Lamp Works at Menlo Park and in March 1881, prepared, erected and operated two similar dynamos at the office of the original Edison Electric Light Company, 65 Fifth Avenue, New York City, for exhibition purposes. In June 1881, Mr. Vail was transferred to the experimental laboratory of the Edison Machine Works, 104 Goerck Street, NYC, where he was ultimately destined to install. In the summer of 1881 he installed, and for a time operated, the Edison electric light on the S.S."City of Worcester," of the New York & Norwich Line, the first marine installation made, excepting only that of the S.S. "Columbia" in May 1880. In August 1881, he made one of the early installations of the Edison electric light at the woolen mill of James Harrison, Newburgh, NY and immediately thereafter similar installations at the Alfred Dolge Felt Mills, Dogleville, NY, the Prospect House, Blue Mountain Lake, Adirondacks, NY, the car shops of the U. S. Rolling Stock Company at Chicago, IL and Urbana, OH, also the Winona Flour Mills, Winona Minn. Upon his return to New York in November 1881, Mr. Vail was made General Superintendent of the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting with headquarters at 65 Fifth Avenue, NYC, where from 1882 to 1895 he was actively engaged in supervising the designing and installation of many contracts for isolated lighting plants on behalf of the Edison interests. In 1885 the work of designing and constructing central stations was placed in his charge, a duty previously carried out by the Edison Construction Company. The standardization of central station accounting and daily load diagrams was largely due to Mr. Vail's efforts to make the Edison system of electric lighting as complete as possible from a commercial and financial standpoint. Amongst some eighty-seven early Edison central stations whose construction was supervised by him may be mentioned those of Boston, New York, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, St. Paul, Toronto, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, and San Francisco. He was also keenly interested in the successful design and operation of electric railways, the application of central systems of distribution for railway and lighting purposes, electric panel boxes, electric switchboard panel units, flexible electric railway bonds, and is reputed to have been the originator of the once well-known Underwriter's wire so largely used in early installations. There appears to be but little doubt that to Mr. Vail is due the credit for the solution of many difficult problems arising from the use of electricity for light or power. He was versatile and well endowed with practical mechanical sense.
Mr. Vail was unusually active in the affairs of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies from its beginning, as shown by the minutes of that organization, and was its Secretary during the years of 1886-1889.
From 1900-1907, as a consulting engineer, he did much analytical work, designed and supervised the construction of a number of power stations, making a special study of utilizing anthracite culm and bituminous slack coal for steam production. At about this period Mr. Vail became interested in the electric vehicle business, but after some seven years of arduous work and the investment of practically all his available capital in the enterprise, he was compelled to admit its commercial and financial failure. In 1915 he obtained employment with the Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation of Rochester, NY, with whom he remained to the day of his death, though practically incapacitated and relieved from active duty since April 1924; for is was on Tuesday the 29th of that month that Mr. Vail suffered the first stroke of paralysis that presaged his end, as subsequent and more severe attacks rendered him helpless and sightless, confining him to his bed in September 1924 where he remained to the end, his many weary months of suffering being greatly alleviated through the kind assistance of generous hearts amongst the Edison Pioneers including that of Mr. Edison himself. He was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery, Rochester, NY, on Monday, March 15, 1926.
Mr. Vail was a Mason, a former member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is survived by his wife, a married son and two married daughters.
It is very difficult to disassociate the name of Jonathan H. Vail from the pioneer days of electric lighting by the Edison system, a fact that made him pre-eminently what he was, a pioneer member of the Edison PIONEERS.
More About JONATHAN HARNED VAIL:
Burial: March 15, 1926, Riverside Cemetery, Rochester, NY
Children of JONATHAN VAIL and ANNA BEEKMAN are:
2. i. EDISON BEEKMAN VAIL2 SR., b. March 27, 1891, Westfield, NJ; d. January 16, 1962, Hampton, VA.
ii. CLINTON H. VAIL, b. July 27, 1871; d. March 31, 1873.
3. iii. CATHERINE A. VAIL, b. September 26, 1874, East Brunswick, NJ.
4. iv. LILLIAN OLIVIA VAIL, b. December 11, 1888, New York.
I called Riverside Cemetery on Friday morning and the information I received was that they had but 1 VAIL buried there and in the register it read that the name was John Holden VAIL, died 03/12/1926 and buried 03/15/1926, last living address 1295 Lake Avenue, Rochester, NY. His birth location given was Jersey City, NJ and his age at death was 73 yrs. 9 mns. and 12 days. His wife was listed as Alice M. BUT in the obit it clearly states the exact same dates, same address, but his name was Jonathan H. Vail. I had all my information as his name being Jonathan HARNED VAIL and his wife clearly being Anna C. Beekman which has been verified through more than one source........What would be your recommendation from this point? I have requested copies of death, birth, and marriage certificates from NJ & NY under the name of Jonathan HARNED VAIL with dates of course, but I fear that regarding the information provided to me by the cemetery records, I will have no luck for the request of these records.
Thank you for your time and your insight is much appreciated!
Tami Castro
1. JONATHAN HARNED1 VAIL was born May 28, 1852 in Near New Brunswick, NJ, and died March 12, 1926 in Rochester, NY. He married ANNA CORTELYOU BEEKMAN October 31, 1870, daughter of JOHN BEEKMAN and SARAH MANLEY. She was born January 10, 1853, and died January 03, 1938 in Plainfield, NJ.
Notes for JONATHAN HARNED VAIL:
Jonathan H. Vail, At His Home, 1295 Lake Avenue, Rochester, NY, March 12, 1926.
Mr. Vail was born at his grandfather's farm near New Brunswick, NJ, May 28, 1852, his early education being acquired in the New Brunswick local schools. The first records of the VAIL family in America began with the arrival from England of Sauel VAIL in 1642. Mr. Alfred VAIL, who as a co-worker with Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, was closely identified with the development of the original electric telegraph between Baltimore and Washington, was a cousin of Mr. Vail's father, whilst Mr. Theodore N. Vail, another relative, became President of the Bell Telephone Company.
Mr. Vail's first employment was with the Empire Machine Works, at New Brunswick, NJ, in 1870, and the practical knowledge here acquired led to his accepting a position with the Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Gulf Rail Road Company at their Kansas City, MO. Car Shops in 1874 where he remained until July, 1880, when returning East, he obtained his first employment in the machine shop of the Edison laboratory at Menlo Park, NJ, assembling and insulating small commutators. In October of that year he was assigned the task of assembling the parts of complete dynamo-electric machines and placing the assembled machines in actual operation, the successful carrying out of this work leading to his appointment as helper in the dynamo room. In December 1880, Mr. Vail was given entire charge of the fourteen dynamos that furnished current for the exhibition illuminations by the Edison system of electric lighting at Menlo Park during the hours of darkness, both in the laboratory and in the village, and during the daytime for supplying current to the original Lamp Works, the experimental circuits in the laboratory and to the electric railway. In February 1881, he installed and started two of these dynamos at the new Lamp Works at Menlo Park and in March 1881, prepared, erected and operated two similar dynamos at the office of the original Edison Electric Light Company, 65 Fifth Avenue, New York City, for exhibition purposes. In June 1881, Mr. Vail was transferred to the experimental laboratory of the Edison Machine Works, 104 Goerck Street, NYC, where he was ultimately destined to install. In the summer of 1881 he installed, and for a time operated, the Edison electric light on the S.S."City of Worcester," of the New York & Norwich Line, the first marine installation made, excepting only that of the S.S. "Columbia" in May 1880. In August 1881, he made one of the early installations of the Edison electric light at the woolen mill of James Harrison, Newburgh, NY and immediately thereafter similar installations at the Alfred Dolge Felt Mills, Dogleville, NY, the Prospect House, Blue Mountain Lake, Adirondacks, NY, the car shops of the U. S. Rolling Stock Company at Chicago, IL and Urbana, OH, also the Winona Flour Mills, Winona Minn. Upon his return to New York in November 1881, Mr. Vail was made General Superintendent of the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting with headquarters at 65 Fifth Avenue, NYC, where from 1882 to 1895 he was actively engaged in supervising the designing and installation of many contracts for isolated lighting plants on behalf of the Edison interests. In 1885 the work of designing and constructing central stations was placed in his charge, a duty previously carried out by the Edison Construction Company. The standardization of central station accounting and daily load diagrams was largely due to Mr. Vail's efforts to make the Edison system of electric lighting as complete as possible from a commercial and financial standpoint. Amongst some eighty-seven early Edison central stations whose construction was supervised by him may be mentioned those of Boston, New York, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, St. Paul, Toronto, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, and San Francisco. He was also keenly interested in the successful design and operation of electric railways, the application of central systems of distribution for railway and lighting purposes, electric panel boxes, electric switchboard panel units, flexible electric railway bonds, and is reputed to have been the originator of the once well-known Underwriter's wire so largely used in early installations. There appears to be but little doubt that to Mr. Vail is due the credit for the solution of many difficult problems arising from the use of electricity for light or power. He was versatile and well endowed with practical mechanical sense.
Mr. Vail was unusually active in the affairs of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies from its beginning, as shown by the minutes of that organization, and was its Secretary during the years of 1886-1889.
From 1900-1907, as a consulting engineer, he did much analytical work, designed and supervised the construction of a number of power stations, making a special study of utilizing anthracite culm and bituminous slack coal for steam production. At about this period Mr. Vail became interested in the electric vehicle business, but after some seven years of arduous work and the investment of practically all his available capital in the enterprise, he was compelled to admit its commercial and financial failure. In 1915 he obtained employment with the Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation of Rochester, NY, with whom he remained to the day of his death, though practically incapacitated and relieved from active duty since April 1924; for is was on Tuesday the 29th of that month that Mr. Vail suffered the first stroke of paralysis that presaged his end, as subsequent and more severe attacks rendered him helpless and sightless, confining him to his bed in September 1924 where he remained to the end, his many weary months of suffering being greatly alleviated through the kind assistance of generous hearts amongst the Edison Pioneers including that of Mr. Edison himself. He was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery, Rochester, NY, on Monday, March 15, 1926.
Mr. Vail was a Mason, a former member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is survived by his wife, a married son and two married daughters.
It is very difficult to disassociate the name of Jonathan H. Vail from the pioneer days of electric lighting by the Edison system, a fact that made him pre-eminently what he was, a pioneer member of the Edison PIONEERS.
More About JONATHAN HARNED VAIL:
Burial: March 15, 1926, Riverside Cemetery, Rochester, NY
Children of JONATHAN VAIL and ANNA BEEKMAN are:
2. i. EDISON BEEKMAN VAIL2 SR., b. March 27, 1891, Westfield, NJ; d. January 16, 1962, Hampton, VA.
ii. CLINTON H. VAIL, b. July 27, 1871; d. March 31, 1873.
3. iii. CATHERINE A. VAIL, b. September 26, 1874, East Brunswick, NJ.
4. iv. LILLIAN OLIVIA VAIL, b. December 11, 1888, New York.
I called Riverside Cemetery on Friday morning and the information I received was that they had but 1 VAIL buried there and in the register it read that the name was John Holden VAIL, died 03/12/1926 and buried 03/15/1926, last living address 1295 Lake Avenue, Rochester, NY. His birth location given was Jersey City, NJ and his age at death was 73 yrs. 9 mns. and 12 days. His wife was listed as Alice M. BUT in the obit it clearly states the exact same dates, same address, but his name was Jonathan H. Vail. I had all my information as his name being Jonathan HARNED VAIL and his wife clearly being Anna C. Beekman which has been verified through more than one source........What would be your recommendation from this point? I have requested copies of death, birth, and marriage certificates from NJ & NY under the name of Jonathan HARNED VAIL with dates of course, but I fear that regarding the information provided to me by the cemetery records, I will have no luck for the request of these records.
Thank you for your time and your insight is much appreciated!
Tami Castro