Nancy Matthews Elliott

(c. 1808/1810–1871)

BIRTH

January 4, 1808 (probable; family Bible gives 1810)

PLACE

Chenango County, New York

NAME

Nancy Mathews Elliott

DEATH

April 9, 1871

PLACE

Port Huron, Michigan

FAMILY

HUSBAND

Samuel Ogden Edison Jr.

(1804–1896)

CHILDREN

Thomas Edison

(1847-1931)

HOMES

RELIGIOUS VIEWS

CHRISTIAN

PRESBYTERIAN

MEMBERSHIPS

AWARDS

Nancy Mathews Elliott Edison was the mother of inventor Thomas Edison. The National Park Service describes her as formally educated and Presbyterian; she taught Thomas at home after he left school.

TEACHER

EARLY LIFE

Nancy was born in Chenango County, New York. The Edison Birthplace Museum gives January 4, 1808; an Edison family Bible gives 1810, and the Edison Papers considers 1808 the more probable year. Her parents were Ebenezer Matthews Elliott and Mercy Peckham.

Nancy educated her youngest son Thomas at home. The family lived in Ontario before moving to Milan, Ohio, following Samuel’s flight from the failed 1837 rebellion.

CAREER

DEATH

Nancy died in 1871, when Thomas Edison was 24. The cited National Park Service account does not identify a medical cause of death.