[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 112 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING ELISHA GRAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2003

  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, one hundred and thirty-three years ago, a man 
named Elisha Gray helped found the picturesque Chicago suburb of 
Highland Park, Illinois in my district. This extraordinary man was not 
only a pioneer in developing Chicago's North Shore, but also a prolific 
inventor.
  Born in 1835 in a small Midwestern town, young Elisha Gray grew up 
among humble surroundings. Following the death of his father, he took 
on a part time job at the age of 12 in order to help support his 
family. Mr. Gray paid his way through college by using his boat 
building skills, acquired in his early years, to make specialized 
equipment for the science departments at Oberlin College.
  Although he considered a life in the ministry, Mr. Gray always knew 
that his true calling was in engineering. In 1867, he received his 
first patent, capturing the interest of the Western Union Telegraph 
Company. Mr. Gray would have a lifetime association with the company. 
Soon after in 1870, Mr. Gray co-founded the firm of Gray and Barton, 
then relocated the company, named Western Electric Manufacturing 
Company, in the Chicago area.
  While working in Chicago, Mr. Gray helped found the town of Highland 
Park, one of the many fine suburbs located today within my 10th 
Congressional District of Illinois. At home, Mr. Gray worked tirelessly 
on his inventions and scientific breakthroughs. In 1876, he filed a 
caveat, or a preliminary patent application, for an invention soon to 
be called the telephone. A. Edward Evenson, Gray's biographer and 
author of The Telephone Patent Conspiracy of 1876, believes that Mr. 
Gray's caveat predated that of Alexander Graham Bell's well known 
patent, which was filed on the same day. Regardless, Mr. Gray is 
undoubtedly a contributor to the vast body of science that underscored 
the modern uses of the telephone.
  Throughout a life dedicated to the pursuit of technological prowess 
and the scientific advancement of mankind, Elisha Gray patented over 50 
inventions in the United States. Besides his contributions to the 
telephone, Mr. Gray is most noted for his work on the first 
commercially successful fax machine, the Telautograph. Businesses and 
homes throughout the world are indebted to Mr. Gray's early work on 
this now widely used technology.
  Elisha Gray also led the field in scientific publications and 
academic achievements. He wrote four books. He was a lecturer and 
professor at his alma mater, Oberlin College, and received a number of 
honorary degrees.
  The entrepreneurial spirit of Mr. Gray must not pass unnoted. His 
Chicago area firm helped foster the growth of greater Chicagoland and 
Northeastern Illinois. In recognition of a life dedicated to the 
improvement of mankind, Mr. Gray received numerous awards, including 
the French Legion of Honor Medal, France's highest award. Elisha Gray 
should be honored as a man who not only founded one of my district's 
cities, but who, from that bucolic place, invented many things that we 
take for granted today.

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