“Be As Brave As Your Fathers Were Before You”: Edison’s Connections To The Founders

“This nation has agreed to save democracy from despotism, and at no matter what cost, it must carry out its contract. The nation is not a third person - it is ourselves. The nation’s obligation is our obligation, and each of us should work harder than we ever worked before, in order to better discharge his share of the obligation which the nation has assumed.”

If I were to ask you who wrote those words, given the context of this piece and when it was released, you might gravitate towards choosing an important figure from the conception of the Declaration of Independence two hundred and fifty years ago.“It must be Thomas Jefferson!” you may exclaim. Although he wrote the Declaration of Independence, those words in the paragraph are not his. “Oooh, it may be John Adams, the man Thomas Jefferson initially wanted to write the Declaration of Independence!” No, it is not him, and before you guess, they don’t belong to Mercy Otis Warren, Abigail Adams, Alexander Hamilton, or George Washington either. In fact, these are not the words of anyone alive in 1776, but rather those of Thomas Edison.

Although Edison was born 71 years after Congress boldly proclaimed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, there are plenty of connections that can be drawn between the world’s greatest inventor and between those who were present at our nation’s founding. A full compendium of connections might run to 250 pages, so as not to “tax” your eyes, only a few will be mentioned here. Where better to start than with the first President of the United States, George Washington?

Thomas Edison had a direct connection to Washington through his maternal grandfather, Ebenezer Matthews Elliott. As alluded to in a previous piece on Nancy Edison’s family, Ebenezer saw combat in some of the most notable battles of the American Revolution, including the Battles of Saratoga, Monmouth, Horse Neck, and Newtown. He was even present as the Continental Army turned the world upside down by defeating the British at the Battle of Yorktown. Ebenezer’s discharge papers were signed in 1783 by none other than George Washington himself, a fact that I didn’t believe until I saw them for myself.

Photo: Two halves of Nancy’s father’s discharge paper from George Washington. These were found along with other files he compiled to receive his military pension. The reason for the tear is a mystery—source: National Archives.

Edison brought his connection to George Washington full circle when he visited Mount Vernon in September of 1916. Just as Washington had presided over our nation’s earliest debates from Mount Vernon, so too did Edison at Mount Vernon. The debate: Should the estate of our nation’s first president be installed with electricity? On the one hand, electricity would be significantly safer than the kerosene lamps the home had been using; on the other, it would undermine the home’s historical accuracy. Edison advised the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association that the former option of electrifying the home would ensure the historic home's safety for generations to come, so they tasked him with the job. His direct current system at Mount Vernon relied on generator-fed storage batteries, which powered the home until 1935, when the home was switched to alternating current.

Thomas Edison stands outside the tomb of George Washington and his wife, Martha Washington, at Mount Vernon in 1916—source: Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union.

Edison was not just at the home to debate the merits of electrifying Washington’s home. He was there to visit the place too! Edison had a special place in his heart for Washington, and for who he was outside the office, once stating, “I recall an engineer in American history who made good. That was George Washington.” Edison had his picture taken outside Washington’s tomb, and upon hearing that other famous visitors had planted trees on the property, he asked if he could plant one in Washington’s honor. The little elm tree that Edison planted stood at Mount Vernon near Washington's tomb until 1971.

Edison prepares the ground for an elm tree. That elm stood outside the tomb of George and Martha Washington until 1971—source: Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union.

Just as Edison’s maternal grandfather was trying to help bring about independence, his paternal great-grandfather was actively trying to wreck it. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, John Edison actively fought against the Patriot revolutionaries, acting as a guide for the British army. On December 10, 1776, John was caught red-handed aiding and abetting British troops and imprisoned for over 13 months in Morristown, New Jersey. He was found guilty of “High Treason” and sentenced to hang, but his wife, Sarah Ogden, was by some miracle able to secure John’s release.

This is John Trumbull’s famous painting, The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775. Matthias Ogden is the gentleman in red holding the dying General Richard Montgomery. In reality, as all Hamilton: An American Musical fans know, it was Aaron Burr, Ogden’s friend, who was actually at Montgomery’s side—source: Wikimedia Commons.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Sarah Ogden was a member of one of the most influential families in colonial New Jersey. The Ogden family, while little known by most people nowadays, was a powerful force behind the Patriot cause, and one of Sarah’s cousins, Matthias, played an even bigger role in the American Revolution. He was a childhood best friend and relative of Aaron Burr, fought for Benedict Arnold (before Arnold’s infamous turn to the British), and in 1781, Matthias put forward a plan to George Washington to kidnap King George III’s sixteen-year-old son, Prince William.

King William IV’s official portrait in 1833. He was the subject of Ogden and Washington’s kidnapping plot half a century earlier. Upon his death, his niece, Victoria, ascended to the throne.—source Wikimedia Commons.

Matthias Ogden’s idea was awfully simple: kidnap the young Prince William, who was serving in the Royal Navy because his prospects of ever becoming king were bleak, overshadowed by his three older brothers, and use him as a bargaining chip for the release of Continental prisoners. Washington loved the idea, “The spirit of enterprise so conspicuous in your plan for surprising in their quarters, & bringing off the Prince-William Henry & Admiral Digby, merits applause, and you have my authority to make the attempt.” Washington gave the scheme the green light, only requesting that Ogden treat Prince William with the utmost respect and bring him to Congress immediately. The scheme never happened, and the young Prince William became King William IV in 1830. Upon learning of Ogden and Washington’s scheme, “I am obliged to General Washington for his humanity, but I’m damn’d glad I didn’t give him an opportunity of exercising it towards me.” Maybe it was stories like this that led Thomas and his wife, Mina, to conduct extensive research into his Ogden family roots during their lifetimes.

Thomas Edison and his father, Samuel, revered Thomas Paine. Edison was VP of the Thomas Paine Historical Association, and he is pictured here in 1925 breaking ground on the Thomas Paine Memorial Building—source: Thomas Paine Historical Association.

Edison also shared a lifelong interest in Thomas Paine, the man who fanned the flames of the American Revolution. It was Paine’s scathing pamphlet, published 250 years ago this year, which helped tip the scales for many, shifting their support from reform and reconciliation with Great Britain to independence. Jefferson imbued Paine’s ideas into the Declaration of Independence, and it was Paine’s ideas that, at a young age, resonated with Thomas’ father, Samuel Ogden Edison Jr., who used them as the impetus to join the Mackenzie Rebellion in Ontario in 1837. Thomas once remarked, “My mother forced me to attend [church]-my father gave me Paine’s Age of Reason.” Thomas admired Paine deeply, reading all that he had written and proclaiming, “Thomas Paine was one of the greatest men of all time.” Edison went on to become Vice President of the Thomas Paine Historical Association, breaking ground on the Thomas Paine Memorial Building, and later stating:

“Certainly, we may believe that Washington had a considerable voice in the Constitution. We know that Jefferson had much to do with the document. Franklin also had a hand and probably was responsible in even larger measure for the Declaration. But all of these men had communed with Paine. Their views were intimately understood and closely correlated. There is no doubt whatever that the two great documents of American liberty reflect the philosophy of Paine.”

There are plenty more connections to make, including the fact that Thomas Edison and Thomas Jefferson were both prolific inventors (so much so that Edison often has been confused for Jefferson here at the Edison Birthplace for the last five summers I have worked) or the fact that Edison lived only fifteen miles away from where Alexander Hamilton was shot in a duel with none other than Matthias Ogden’s best friend and cousin, Aaron Burr. Rather than facts, I’ll leave you with an idea. After all, it was ideas that created these United States. It comes from the same man who opened the article, Thomas Edison. 

In 1931, people had immense worries about the world. Many people in our world today are immensely worried as well, for one reason or another. Edison tried to calm them, stating just a few months before his death, “Be courageous! I have lived a long time. I have seen history repeat itself again and again. I have seen many depressions in business. America has always emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be as brave as your fathers were before you. Have faith! Go forward!”

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Sources Used and Encouraged for Further Reading

• Edison, Thomas A. 1925. “The Philosophy of Thomas Paine.” The Thomas Paine Historical Association. https://thomaspaine.org/resources-essays/the-philosophy-of-thomas-paine-by-thomas-edison/

• Edison, Thomas A. 2011. The Quotable Edison. Edited by Michele W. Albion. N.p.: University Press of Florida.

• Hartsell, Mark. 2025. “The Plot to Kidnap a Prince.” Library of Congress Magazine, (January/February). https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/january-february-2025/the-plot-to-kidnap-a-prince/

• Liskai, Dillon. 2025. “A Closer Look At Nancy Edison’s Family.” Thomas A. Edison Birthplace Museum. https://www.tomedison.org/blog/nancy-edisons-family

• Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union. n.d. “Thomas A. Edison.” George Washington's Mount Vernon. Accessed June 2, 2026. https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/famous-visitors/article/thomas-a-edison

• Walker, Malea. 2026. “250 Years Ago: Thomas Paine's Common Sense | Headlines & Heroes.” Library of Congress Blogs. https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2026/01/250-years-ago-thomas-paines-common-sense/.

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Dillon Liskai, a native of Clyde, Ohio, is a junior at Bowling Green State University. He is pursuing a degree in Adolescent to Young Adult (AYA) Integrated Social Studies Education, specializing in History. Dillon has been a Thomas A. Edison Birthplace Museum tour guide for several years. When not at school or the museum, he enjoys cheering on the Bowling Green Falcons, spending time with friends and family, and exploring local history.

Have a question for Dillon? Reach out via email at dliskai@tomedison.org!