Telecommunications History Group

Thomas Edison proposed to his second wife in Morse code.

THOMAS EDISON AND MINA MILLER

AUTHOR
MICHAEL NORDINE
January 27, 2026

Some proposals are more memorable than others. Take, for instance, Thomas Edison’s second marriage, which began in an appropriately scientific manner when the inventor proposed to Mina Miller via Morse code — and she said “yes” in the same way.

The two used Morse code to speak in secret even in the presence of others, and it’s believed that he tapped the proposal on her hand. The two were wed on February 24, 1886, when she was 20 and he was 39; Edison had previously been married to Mary Stilwell from 1871 until her death in 1884.

Miller became the stepmother of three children upon the nuptials, though it wasn’t an easy adjustment. Edison’s daughter Marion, who was only seven years her stepmother’s junior, described Miller as “too young to be a mother but too old to be a chum.”

Edison and Miller went on to have three more children: Madeleine, Charles, and Theodore. (Edison’s affinity for Morse code didn’t end with his marriage proposal: Marion’s nickname was Dot, while her brother Thomas was known as Dash.)

While falling in love with Miller, Edison referred to her as the “Belle of Akron” and once wrote in his diary, “Got thinking about Mina and came near to being run over by a street car.” She referred to herself as the “home executive” and was the legal owner of their house in order to protect it from potential seizure due to Edison’s debts.

Their marriage lasted nearly half a century until Edison’s death in 1931.

From historyfacts.com

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