Edward Andrew Deeds
| Edward Andrew Deeds | |
|---|---|
Deeds in 1917
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| Born |
March 12, 1874 Granville, Ohio |
| Died | July 1, 1960 (aged 86) Kettering, Ohio |
| Resting place | Woodland Cemetery |
| Education |
Denison University (1897) Cornell University |
| Occupation | Engineer, inventor, industrialist |
| Spouse(s) | Edith M. Walton (1870-1949) (m. 1900) |
Edward Andrew Deeds (March 12, 1874 – July 1, 1960) was an American engineer, inventor and industrialist prominent in the Dayton, Ohio area. He was the president of the National Cash Register Company and, together with Charles F. Kettering, founded Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), an early innovator in automotive technology. Deeds partnered with the Wright brothers in an early airplane manufacturing venture and led the military aircraft production effort in World War I.
Edward Deeds was born in 1874 on a farm southwest of Granville, Ohio to Charles and Susan Deeds. Deeds graduated in 1897 from Denison University where he was valedictorian. He studied electrical engineering at Cornell University, but was unable to complete his graduate studies due to lack of sufficient funds. He married Edith M. Walton (1870-1949).
Relocating to Dayton, Ohio, he began working as an electrical engineer and draftsman for the Thresher Company, designing and installing electric motors. After eighteen months, he was named superintendent and chief engineer of the firm. The National Cash Register Company was headquartered in the same building as the Thresher Company and in 1899, Frederick Patterson invited Deeds to join "the Cash" to strengthen its team. There he oversaw the electrification of the NCR factories and built its first electric generating station. He left NCR to build the Shredded Wheat factory, known as the Palace of Light, for Henry Perky at Niagara Falls. The factory was white-tiled, air-conditioned, well-lit, and equipped with showers, lunchrooms, and auditoriums for the employees and clearly was influenced by Deeds' exposure to the ideas of John H. Patterson at NCR. The Palace of Light preceded the Pure Food and Drug Act's requirements for a clean work environment for food production by 6 years. Deeds was a director of Perky's National Food Company.
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