William Symes Andrews
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William Symes Andrews (September 10, 1847 – July 1, 1929) was an Edison Pioneer, electrical engineer, and one of the first employees of the General Electric Company.[1]
Biography
He was born in Saltford, England on Sept. 10, 1847, the son of Bailey and Selina (Chesterton) Andrews. He started working at Edison's Menlo Park in Nov 1879.[2] He died on July 1, 1929, in Schenectady, New York.[1]
W.S. Andrews was made superintendent of Thomas Edison's Machine Works in NY in October 1881, becoming the chief electrical engineer of their central station construction company in June 1883. His letters to Edison and other pioneers (over 300) are on file at edisondigital.rutgers.edu, and he was one of Edison's closest confidants and friends.
He later joined the General Electric Company in Schenectady NY in 1894 after Edison had sold his stake in Edison General Electric to Elihu Thomson's Thomson/Houston, and became involved in X-ray testing. He often experimented on himself (left hand and upper face), and later became a victim of the radiation dangers that were not known at the time. Andrews can be seen in many photos with Thomas Edison and his fellow Edison Pioneers, and was very well respected by his friends and fellow co-workers.
He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY, and his bio is available on Findagrave.com with photos attached. He was a close friend of my Great grandfather Harry Rex Lindsley, who worked with him at G E Research Lab on X-ray work as a glassblower between 1905-1915. (Stephen P Lindsley, 2025)
References
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