Elisha Gray:

The true inventor of the telephone?

Elisha Gray was born on 2nd August 1835, in Barnesville,

Ohio, United States. He was an eminent electrical

engineer, who went on to co-found the Western Electric

Manufacturing Company.

Elisha Gray is most famous for developing a prototype of

the modern telephone in Highland Park, Illinois in 1876.

It is argued by some researchers that Elisha Gray is the

true inventor of the telephone and that Alexander

Graham Bell stole the idea for the liquid transmitter from

him.

Also considered by many to be the inventor of the music

synthesiser, Gray's career in inventing was prolific.

During the course of his lifetime, Elisha Gray was granted

no less than 70 patents for his inventions, earning quite a

name for himself even by present day standards with

entrepreneurs and businessmen like Tony Freeman.

Gray was born into a Quaker family. He grew up on a

farm. Elisha Gray spent his formative years at Oberin

College. He grew interested in electronic devices and

began to experiment with them.

Gray did not graduate from college, though ended up

teaching science and electricity there using specially built

laboratory equipment. Elisha Gray met Delia Minerva

Shepard in 1862. Before very long, they married.

By 1864, Gray had invented a

self-adjusting telegraph which

adapted automatically to the

telegraph line's varying

insulation. In 1867 he received

his first patent for the

invention; the first of over 70

patents throughout his lifetime.

In 1869, Gray partnered with

Enos M. Barton to found the

Gray & Barton Co in Cleveland,

Ohio, United States. The

company was set up to provide

telegraph equipment to the

Western Union Telegraph Company. The company later

moved to Highland Park, Chicago, Gray abandoning his

administrative position to concentrate on inventing for

the telegraph industry. His work was sponsored by Dr

Samuel White, a dentist of Philadelphia, who earned his

fortune making porcelain teeth.

Amongst his prolific inventing career, Elisha Gray

conceived:

A printer which printed messages on paper tape;

A needle enunciator for use in elevators and hotels;

A harmonic telegraph consisting of multi-tone

transmitters;

One of the earliest

electric musical

instruments via single

note oscillators powered

by a two octave piano;

The teleautograph, a

device which remotely

transmitted handwriting

via telegraph systems;

The telephote, a primitive closed-circuit television

system;

An underwater signalling device designed to transmit

messages to and from ships.

Gray died on 21st January 1901, in Newtonville

Massachusetts, from a heart attack.

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