HIS COURTSHIP AND HIS HOME
The idea of the great electrician’s marrying was first suggested by an intimate friend, who told him that his large house and numerous servants ought to have a mistress. Although a very shy man, he seemed pleased with the proposition, and timidly inquired whom he should marry. The friend, annoyed at his apparent want of sentiment, somewhat testily replied,—“Anyone.” But Edison was not without sentiment when the time came. One day, as he stood behind the chair of a Miss Stillwell, a telegraph operator in his employ, he was not a little surprised when she suddenly turned round and said:
“Mr. Edison, I can always tell when you are behind me or near me.”
It was now Miss Stillwell’s turn to be surprised, for, with characteristic bluntness and ardor, Edison fronted the young lady, and, looking her full in the face, said:
“I’ve been thinking considerably about you of late, and, if you are willing to marry me, I would like to marry you.”
The young lady said she would consider the matter, and talk it over with her mother. The result was that they were married a month later, and the union proved a very happy one.
It was in fact no more an accident than other experiments in the Edison laboratory—his bride having been long the subject of the Wizzard’s observation—her mental capacity, her temper and temperament, her aptitude for home-making being duly tested and noted.
General Lew Wallace in his study.
(See page [241].)