Editing Samuel Insull (section)

==Early life==
Insull was born on November 11, 1859, in [[London]], the son of Insull Insull, a tradesman and [[lay preacher]] who was active in the [[temperance movement]], and Emma Short. He was one of five siblings who survived to adulthood. His younger brother, [[Martin J. Insull|Martin]], became a major executive at Sam's companies.{{sfnp|McDonald|1962|pages=6, 149}} Insull's career began as an apprentice clerk for various local businesses at age 14. He went on to become a [[stenographer]] at ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''.<ref name= Obit>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V5IoAAAAIBAJ&pg=6807,1179757&dq=insull&hl=en|title=Former Ruler Of Utilities Empire Dies In France|date=16 July 1938|work=Berkeley Daily Gazette|access-date=13 September 2010}}</ref> Through a newspaper ad, the 19-year-old became the private secretary and bookkeeper to Colonel [[George Gouraud]], the London representative of Thomas Edison's telephone companies. When he learned of a job with Edison in the [[United States]], Insull indicated he would be glad to have it, provided it was as [[Thomas Edison|Thomas Edison's]] personal secretary.

In 1881, at the age of 21, Insull immigrated to the US, complete with side whiskers to make him appear older than his years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=etMsAAAAIBAJ&pg=3595,6517992&dq=insull&hl=en|title=Samuel Insull Dies After Heart Attack|date=15 July 1938|publisher=The Bulletin|access-date=13 September 2010}}</ref> In the decade that followed, Insull took on increasing responsibilities in Edison's business endeavors, building electrical power stations throughout the US.  With several other [[Edison Pioneers]], he participated in [[Henry Villard|Henry Villard's]] January 1889 founding of Edison General Electric, which later became the publicly held company known as [[General Electric]]. In 1892, Insull was offered the post of second-vice-president at General Electric, but was unhappy at not being named its president. When the presidency went to another, Insull moved to Chicago as head of the Chicago Edison Company.<ref name="Obit"/> Another consideration is that he was caught between opposing factions when [[J. P. Morgan]] combined the [[Thomson-Houston Electric Company]] and Edison General Electric to form the new company in April 1892. Those loyal to Edison accused Insull of selling out, and in fact he did welcome the infusion of capital, from the [[Vanderbilt family|Vanderbilts]], from J. P. Morgan, and others, as necessary for the company's future development. Edison forgave him, but others did not, and it seemed a good idea to move on to a new company in a new place.{{sfnp|Wasik|2006|p=51-52}}