Editing General Electric (section)

===Formation===
[[File:General Electric Shops, Schenectady, NY, aerial view, 1896.jpg|thumb|left|General Electric in [[Schenectady, New York]], aerial view, 1896]]
[[File:General Electric Shops, Schenectady, NY, 1896.jpg|thumb|left|Plan of Schenectady plant, 1896<ref>[[Arnold, Horace L.]] "[https://archive.org/stream/factoryindustria11newy#page/262/mode/2up Modern Machine-Shop Economics. Part II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127190359/https://archive.org/stream/factoryindustria11newy#page/262/mode/2up |date=January 27, 2016 }}" in ''[[Engineering Magazine]]'' 11. 1896</ref>]]
[[File:570 Lexington Avenue (General Electric Building) 001.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[General Electric Building]] at 570 Lexington Avenue, New York]]

During 1889, [[Thomas Edison]] (1847–1931) had business interests in many electricity-related companies, including Edison Lamp Company, a lamp manufacturer in [[East Newark, New Jersey]]; [[Edison Machine Works]], a manufacturer of [[dynamo]]s and large [[electric motor]]s in [[Schenectady, New York]]; Bergmann & Company, a manufacturer of electric [[Light fixture|lighting fixtures]], [[Lightbulb socket|sockets]], and other electric lighting devices; and Edison Electric Light Company, the [[patent]]-holding company and financial arm for Edison's lighting experiments, backed by [[J. P. Morgan]] (1837–1913) and the [[Vanderbilt family]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Electricity |url=http://www.coned.com/history/electricity.asp |work=A Brief History of Con Edison |publisher=Con Edison |access-date=February 3, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030164753/http://www.coned.com/history/electricity.asp |archive-date=October 30, 2012}}</ref>

Henry Villard, a long-time Edison supporter and investor, proposed to consolidate all of these business interests.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Bradley, Jr. |first=Robert |title=Edison to Enron: Energy Markets and Political Strategies |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-470-91736-7 |location=Hoboken, NJ |pages=54 |language=en}}</ref> The proposal was supported by [[Samuel Insull]] - who served as his secretary and, later, financier<ref>{{Cite book |last=Josephson |first=Matthew |title=Edison: A Biography |publisher=Plunkett Lake Press |year=2019 |location=Lexington, Massachusetts |language=en}}</ref> - as well other investors.<ref name=":1" /> In 1889, [[Drexel, Morgan & Co.]]—a company founded by J. P. Morgan and [[Anthony J. Drexel]]—financed Edison's research and helped merge several of Edison's separate companies under one corporation, forming Edison General Electric Company, which was incorporated in New York on April 24, 1889. The new company acquired [[Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company]] in the same year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edison Companies |url=http://edison.rutgers.edu/list.htm |work=The Thomas Edison Papers |publisher=Rutgers University |access-date=February 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008140933/http://edison.rutgers.edu/list.htm |archive-date=October 8, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="jpmorgan">{{cite web |title=FAQs: How did the firm impact the advent of electricity? |url=http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan/about/history/faq#Question_10 |publisher=J.P. Morgan |access-date=February 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113224930/http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan/about/history/faq#Question_10 |archive-date=November 13, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> The consolidation did not involve all of the companies established by Edison; notably, the [[Edison Illuminating Company]], which would later become [[Consolidated Edison]], was not part of the merger.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In 1880, Gerald Waldo Hart formed the American Electric Company of [[New Britain, Connecticut]], which merged a few years later with [[Thomson-Houston Electric Company]], led by [[Charles A. Coffin|Charles Coffin]]. In 1887, Hart left to become superintendent of the Edison Electric Company.<ref>''Connecticut History Makers'', by Elias Robert Stevenson, 1930</ref> General Electric was formed through the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company with the support of Drexel, Morgan & Co.<ref name="jpmorgan"/> The original plants of both companies continue to operate under the GE banner to this day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ge.com/company/history/edison.html |title=Thomas Edison & GE |publisher=GE company web site |access-date=December 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212103128/http://www.ge.com/company/history/edison.html |archive-date=February 12, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The General Electric business was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant used as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, [[Canadian General Electric]], was formed.<ref>{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=X_P0AwAAQBAJ|page=72}}|title=Canadian-American Industry|last1=Marshall|first1=Herbert|last2=Southard|first2=Frank|last3=Taylor|first3=Kenneth W.|date=January 15, 1976|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP|isbn=9780773591363|page=72|language=en}}</ref>

In 1893, General Electric bought the business of Rudolf Eickemeyer in [[Yonkers, New York]], along with all of its patents and designs. Eickemeyer's firm had developed [[transformer]]s for use in the [[electric power transmission|transmission of electrical power]].<ref name="IEEEPER (1996)">{{cite journal |title=The Magnetic Force of Charles Proteus Steinmetz |journal=IEEE Power Engineering Review |date=Feb 1996 |volume=16 |issue=9 |page=7 |doi=10.1109/MPER.1996.535476 |s2cid=44921529 }}</ref>