Lot 46: From A Hill Of Dirt To The Home Of Invention
- Dillion Liskai
- Jun 2
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 3
It is commonly stated that the land beneath us tells a story. The people above it (and below it) are co-authors of that great story, and when it comes to the Edison Birthplace, the dirt beneath the home is no different. It, too, has a rich and storied history, one that we can first begin to document towards the close of the 18th century.
Before the first settlers moved to the area where Thomas Edison would one day be born, the land that we now call “Milan” was first home to numerous Native American tribes, including the Erie and Wyandot (known as the “Huron” to the French) peoples, along with a host of others. In 1792, the land surrounding modern-day Milan all the way eastward towards the modern-day Ohio-Pennsylvania border was set aside by the federal government as “The Firelands”. The Firelands were a form of restitution for residents of Connecticut who had their homes razed by British soldiers during the American Revolution. These New England families, along with a group of Moravian Missionaries, were the first settlers at the very beginning of the 1800s.
In 1816, Ebenezer Merry began laying out the town of Milan, but it was not yet known as Milan at the time. The original name of Milan was “Beatty”. In 1817, the lot upon which the Edison home was built was officially allocated a number: Lot 46. Lot 46 was first sold by Ebenezer Merry to Joseph McMurtrie on September 27, 1817, for the sum of $40, which, for inflation, would be equivalent to about $960 today.
Soon after its first purchase, Lot 46 began to switch hands. McMurtrie sold Lot 46 back to Ebenezer Merry for a small profit of $10. With that change came other changes for the village. The village, which was briefly Beatty, soon became Milan. The Milan Canal, located along the same hillside as Lot 46, was built to connect the village of Milan with the deeper part of the Huron River just outside of town, and the hope was that the sleepy village would one day become a Great Lakes goliath. Lot 46 would remain under Ebenezer Merry’s name until 1840, when he sold the lot to Lydia Cummings. Although it had been 22 years since the last transaction, the ground had skyrocketed in value thanks to its incredible location overlooking the Milan Canal, which had in time quickly become the second-largest inland grain port in the entire world. Lot 46 had also gained something else: a brick home.
According to Thomas Edison’s cousin, Marietta Wadsworth, her uncle, Samuel, the father of Thomas Edison, began building the brick home that is now known as the Edison Birthplace in 1838. He first came to Milan alone, having escaped Canada after participating in the failed Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837. While building a small brick home on Lot 46, he was soon able to bring his wife, Nancy, and their four children to Milan, Ohio, from Vienna, Ontario, Canada, in 1839. While Samuel was building the home, his family lived in an apartment on the town square. On August 14, 1841, Nancy Edison purchased Lot 46 from Lydia Cummings for $220, which would be equivalent to nearly $9,000 today, using her name as an effort to protect her husband, who was still being sought by Canadian authorities. Just six years later, on February 11, 1847, Thomas Alva Edison was born in the home his father had built on the land his mother had purchased.
Thomas explored and experimented to his heart’s content in Milan, but his time in the village was cut short when, at age 7, in 1854, his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, due to the decline of the Milan Canal. Nancy Edison sold the land to Emily Cox, who then sold it in the same year to John W. Canfield, setting off a chain of five different owners of the home over the next 15 years. The home would then change hands three more times from 1869 until 1891, when Sarah A. Talcott transferred the house to James Cummings. In 1894, James Cummings sold the lot to Marion Wallace Page, the oldest sister of Thomas Edison. Ever since that date, the Edison Birthplace has been back in the Edison family.
Although it was back (and still is) in the Edison family, the ownership of Lot 46 changed hands a few more times. Upon Marion’s death in 1900, the land was transferred to her daughter, Isobel Page Ristine, who then transferred it to her daughter, Marion Ristine Wheeler, as a wedding gift. In 1906, her granduncle, Thomas Edison himself, bought the home from Marion Ristine Wheeler for $1.00. Thomas owned the house until his passing in 1931. The property was left to Thomas’ six children: Marion, Thomas, William, Madeleine, Charles, and Theodore. Marion gave her share to Madeleine. Charles and Theodore gave their shares to their mother, Mina Miller Edison. Mina and Madeleine each purchased one share from Thomas and William. Thomas Edison’s wife, Mina, and their daughter Madeleine became the joint tenants of the Birthplace property. On February 11, 1947, on the centennial of Thomas Edison’s birth, the home was opened to the public. In December of 1950, Edison Birthplace Association, Inc. was incorporated, and the Birthplace was transferred as a gift from Madeleine to the Board of Trustees of Edison Birthplace Association, Inc., who now own the property to this very day.
Today, when visitors step onto the grounds of the Edison Birthplace, they are not just entering a historic home. They are stepping into a living narrative etched into the very soil beneath their feet. Lot 46 has been witness to centuries of change, from the footsteps of Native peoples, to the rise and fall of the second largest inland grain port in the world, and finally to the birth of one of the world’s greatest inventors. As caretakers of this hallowed ground, we are reminded that history is not just told in books and plaques, but in land and in the lives that give it meaning. Lot 46 is more than a number. It is a testament to the enduring power of place.
Sources Used and Encouraged for Further Reading
Josephson, Matthew. 1959. Edison: A Biography. Wiley.
Reed, Eugene C., and Marietta Wadsworth. 1938. Notes And Anecdotes Concerning The Life Of Thomas Alva Edison As Told To Eugene C. Reed On November 30th And December 1, 1938 By Miss Marietta Wadsworth, Interview. Milan, Ohio.
Ryan, J. A. 1928. The Town of Milan (Ohio). Higginson Book Company.
Sloane, Madeleine E., and Edison Birthplace Association, Inc. 1951. Confidential Background History Of Milan Project: Report to the Trustees of The Edison Birthplace Association, Inc. Edison Birthplace Association, Inc. Minutes. Milan, Ohio: Edison Birthplace Association, Inc.
Wadsworth, Marietta. n.d. Notes On The Ancestry Of Thomas Alva Edison. Milan, Ohio.
Dillon Liskai, a native of Clyde, Ohio, is a Bowling Green State University junior. He is pursuing a degree in Adolescent to Young Adult (AYA) Integrated Social Studies Education, with a specialization in History.
Dillon has served as a tour guide at the Thomas A. Edison Birthplace Museum for the past three 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!
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