Editing Edwin Cheney

{{Short description|American electrical engineer}}
[[File:Edwin Cheney 1902.jpg|thumb|Edwin Cheney ca. 1902]]
'''Edwin Henry Cheney''' (June 13, 1869 — December 18, 1942)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/libsrc/obit42a.htm#C |title=St. Louis Obituary Index |accessdate=2007-01-13 |publisher=St. Louis Public Library |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230144256/http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/libsrc/obit42a.htm#C |archivedate=2006-12-30 }}</ref> was an American electrical engineer from [[Oak Park, Illinois|Oak Park]], [[Illinois]], United States.

He was the son of James Wilson Cheney and Armilla Armanda, daughter of Linus S. and Rebekah J. (Jaegger) Perkins. His father was born in [[Royalston, Massachusetts|Royalton, Massachusetts]], and moved to [[Maine]] with his parents ca. 1850. James W. entered [[Oberlin College]] in 1860 before enlisting in the 7th Ohio Infantry in April 1861. After his marriage to Armilla Perkins on May 27, 1868, he moved from [[Shelbyville, Illinois]] to [[Detroit]] in 1870, where he engaged in manufacturing tool-handles and other specialty items. Edwin's adopted sister, Luella Emory Cheney, was born April 11, 1871.<ref>Charles Henry Pope, ''The Cheney Genealogy'' (Boston, MA: Charles H. Pope, 1897), 195, https://archive.org/details/cheneygenealogy00pope</ref>

Cheney was born in Shelbyville and grew up in Detroit, attending the public schools there. He attended the [[University of Michigan]], graduating in 1892 with a Bachelor's degree in [[Electrical engineering|Electrical Engineering]]. Upon graduation, he moved to [[Chicago]] to begin his career with the Chicago Edison Co. (now known as [[Commonwealth Edison]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Leonard |first1=John William |url=http://archive.org/details/whoswhoinchicago00leon_0 |title=Who's who in Chicago; the book of Chicagoans, a biographical dictionary of leading living men and women of the city of Chicago and environs |last2=Marquis |first2=Albert Nelson |date=1905 |publisher=Chicago, A. N. Marquis & company |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}</ref> He worked in various areas throughout his career, including electrical contracting and construction, steam heating, and fuel engineering.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dTDTAAAAMAAJ&q=cheney |title=Who's who in Chicago |date=1926 |publisher=A.N. Marquis & Company |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=January 23, 1943 |title=Obituary: Edwin H. Cheney |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_electrical-world_1943-01-23_119_4/page/348/mode/2up?q=%22edwin+h+cheney%22 |journal=Electrical World |volume=119 |issue=4 |pages=190 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> He held a U.S. patent for an improved boiler setting.<ref>{{Cite patent|number=US952232A|title=Boiler-setting|gdate=1910-03-15|invent1=Cheney|inventor1-first=Edwin H.|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US952232A/en/}}</ref>

He married fellow University of Michigan alumnus [[Mamah Borthwick]] on June 15, 1899, at the Borthwick family home in Oak Park.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/B-001-003-448 |title=The Michigan Alumnus, Volume 6 |date=1900}}</ref> They had two children, John and Martha.

Cheney commissioned [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] to build his family a home in Oak Park, now called the [[Edwin H. Cheney House]]. Wright engaged in a love affair with Mamah Cheney, with whom he went to [[Europe]] in 1909. Upon their return, Mamah moved into [[Taliesin (studio)|Taliesin]], the new house Wright was building for them, while it was still under construction. Mamah and Edwin Cheney were divorced in 1911. A year later, Edwin married Elizabeth Meller, a schoolteacher friend of Mamah's sister Lizzie Borthwick.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cheney Rewedded After His Wife's Last Hegira |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27394907/ |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Rock Island Argus |accessdate=19 January 2019 |date=15 August 1912}}</ref>

On August 15, 1914, a domestic servant at Taliesin named Julian Carlton [[Taliesin (studio)#Attack and fire (1914)|killed Mamah Borthwick]], along with John and Martha Cheney, who happened to be visiting (Edwin Cheney had primary custody). Four others were also murdered during this event.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/1110359.stm|title=BBC News - WALES - Mystery of the murders at Taliesin|date=14 January 2001 |publisher=News.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=4 October 2014}}</ref>

After the murder of his biological children, Cheney and his second wife adopted 3 more children.<ref name=":0" /> They moved to [[Webster Groves, Missouri]] in 1926, following Cheney's promotion to Vice President of Sales for the [[Wagner Electric|Wagner Electric Corporation]].<ref name=":1" /> He had begun work for Wagner in 1909 as its Chicago district manager. He worked for Wagner until his death.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edwin H. Cheney Funeral to be Held Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=15074940 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |accessdate=19 January 2019}}</ref> <ref name=":1" />

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [http://www.franklloydwrightinfo.com/wasfllwbio.html Frank Lloyd Wright biography by author of "The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion"]
* [http://www.oprf.com/flw/Cheney.html Cheney House article from the Oak Park Tourist Website]
* [http://buffaloah.com/a/archs/wright/rogers/2.jpg Frank Lloyd Wright genealogy (partial)]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Edwin}}
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:American electrical engineers]]
[[Category:People from Oak Park, Illinois]]
[[Category:People from Webster Groves, Missouri]]
[[Category:Engineers from Illinois]]