IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2021 - 93

the largest share. In 1888, there were
21 manufacturers offering systems of
electric lighting in the United States.
Such a crowded field
offered ample opportunities for the strong to
swallow the weak. By
then, Brush Electric was
vulnerable. It suffered
from several weaknesses. First, there was no
research and development team. Innovation
stopped when Brush
stopped inventing. Second, Brush's patents did
not prevent competitors
from marketing inferior
and superior arc lighting systems after Brush Electric led
the way. Third, Stockly perceived the
potential threat of competition as early
as 1882, when there was no serious opposition, but omitted due diligence in
trying to address it.
A potential rival was American
Electric, with the main asset of Elihu
Thomson, an inventor of his own arc
lighting system. Thomson participated
in the Franklin Institute dynamo tests
in 1877-1878 and saw the commercial
possibilities of arc lighting. Although
he had not yet perfected his system in
1882, Thomson had great potential.
Stockly bought a controlling interest in American Electric, thinking
the deal included Thomson, but Thomson had already decided to leave with
his patents because of the company's
marketing shortcomings. Thomson's
contract with American Electric stipulated he could terminate the agreement and have the patents revert to
the patentees (himself and Edwin J.
Houston) if the company did not handle
the arc lighting business with " reasonable diligence. " Stockly had purchased
nothing more than machinery and factory space.
Stockly sold his holdings in American Electric to a group of Massachusetts entrepreneurs who, together with
Thomson, reconstituted the company as
Thomson-Houston in 1883. After that,
Brush Electric used patent infringe-

stations (Figure 9). Only 199 central
stations were equipped with Brush machinery at the time. Thomson-Houston
merged with Edison General Electric
in 1892 to form General Electric, with
Coffin as president. Thomson's main
contribution at General Electric was
in the development of commercial
X-ray equipment, soon after Wilhelm
Konrad Röntgen announced his discovery of X-rays in 1895. Thomson is
thought to be the first to demonstrate
that X-rays can be harmful. In 1895,
General Electric closed the Brush factory in Cleveland and moved the facility's contents to Lynn, the location of
the Thomson-Houston plant.

ment litigation to attack competition.
By 1884, the company was involved
in suits against users of arc lighting
systems of five manufacturers and against users of arc carbons of two
manufacturers. Brush
Electric, having enjoyed
spectacular growth, was
absorbed by Thomson-
Houston in 1889.
Thomson-Houston
was i ncor porated in
C o n n e c t i c u t o n 17
April 1883 but established headquarters in
Lynn, Massachusetts.
I n 18 8 6 , T h o m s o n -
Houston was capitalized
at a meager US$125,000, compared to
US$3 million for Brush Electric. But
with two key individuals on board,
marketing expert Charles A. Coffin as
vice president and Thomson as " electrician, " the company enjoyed impressive
growth. Thomson-Houston was, by
far, the dominant supplier of central
station machinery in the United States
in 1891, with more than 600 central

Outside of
electricity,
Brush's
contributions
as a scientist
did not stand
the test
of time.

january/february 2021

Brush After 1889
After Thomson-Houston took control of Brush Electric in 1889, Brush
moved on to various activities. He designed and built on his property what
is thought to be the first wind-powered electric generator in the United
States, but not in the world ( F igu re 10). Outside of electricity, Brush's
contributions as a scientist did not
stand the test of time. B
- eginning in

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

ric

h
us
Br

e
El

a
er

so
di

ric

e
El

n
ay

r
Fo

ric

e
El

ric

o
-H

e
El

m
ho

ric

e
El

h
ng

figure 9. The number of central stations using equipment of major manufacturers in the United States in 1891.
ieee power & energy magazine

IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2021