Thomas A. Watson | |
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 Watson, c. 1883 | |
| Born | Thomas Augustus Watson (1854-01-18)January 18, 1854 |
| Died | December 13, 1934(1934-12-13) (aged 80) Pass-a-Grille, Florida, US |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Watson (Until 1934) |
Thomas Augustus Watson (January 18, 1854 – December 13, 1934) was an American inventor and assistant toAlexander Graham Bell in the invention of thetelephone in 1876. Afterwards, he founded theFore River Ship and Engine Building Company, which became a major shipyard duringWorld War II.
Born inSalem, Massachusetts,[1] United States, Watson was a bookkeeper and a carpenter before he found a job more to his liking in the Charles Williams machine shop in Boston in 1872.[2] He was then hired byAlexander Graham Bell, who was then a professor atBoston University.
Watson had the distinction of receiving thefirst telephone call (from Bell in the next room) and hearing his name as the first words ever spoken over the phone. According to Bell's notebook, "Mr. Watson – Come here – I want to see you" were the words spoken by Bell.[3] The precise phrasing is uncertain, since Watson himself remembered it as "Mr. Watson – Come here – I want you" in a film made for Bell Labs in 1931.[4]
After the invention of the telephone, Watson developed many accessories for it, including the ringer, which would alert someone not standing by the telephone that a call was being placed. The first version involved a hammer which hit a diaphragm;[5] this was followed by a version employing a buzzer.[6] After more experimentation, he invented the polarized ringer, in which a small hammer positioned between two bells iselectromagnetically drawn back and forth to strike them in rapid alternation;[7][8] this device was manufactured for 60 years.[9][10]
Watson resigned from theBell Telephone Company in 1881 at the age of 27. Using money from his royalties from his participation in the invention of the telephone, Watson first tried his hand at farming. He triedgeology as well[11] and was even nominated forMassachusetts State Treasurer.[12] In 1883 Watson founded theFore River Ship and Engine Building Company. He soon began taking bids for building naval destroyers and by 1901 the Fore River Ship and Engine Company was one of the largest shipyards in America. It would later become one of the major shipyards duringWorld War II, after being purchased byBethlehem Steel Corporation. When Watson sold his share in the shipyard, he decided to "turn boy again" and became an actor.[13][14]
On January 25, 1915, Watson was at 333 Grant Avenue inSan Francisco to receive thefirst transcontinental telephone call, placed by Bell from the Telephone Building at15 Dey Street inNew York City. PresidentWoodrow Wilson and the mayors of both cities were also involved in the call.[15]
Late in his life, at the age of 77, upon being impressed with a meeting with Indian spiritual leaderMeher Baba in England, Watson was instrumental in helping to arrange for Meher Baba to come to the United States for his first visit there in 1931.[16] Upon meeting Baba, Watson is reported to have said, "In my seventy-eight years of life, today is the first time I have experienced what divine love is. I have come to realize this with just a touch from Meher Baba".[17] Later, though, Watson became disenchanted with Baba.[18]
Watson wrote an autobiography in 1926 titledExploring Life: The Autobiography of Thomas A. Watson. He was portrayed byHenry Fonda in the filmThe Story of Alexander Graham Bell, which was released in 1939.
Watson died of heart disease on December 13, 1934, at his winter home inPass-a-Grille, Florida. He is buried in the NorthWeymouth, Massachusetts cemetery. His family gravesite sits by the cemetery road, with a vantage point that looks directly at the former shipyard.[19]
Thomas Watson was married to Elizabeth Watson. After he died in 1934, she continued to live inPass-a-Grille during World War II and died in the hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1949.[citation needed]
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