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[[stamped]] FROM THE FLYING PIONEERS BIOGRAPHIES OF HAROLD E. MOREHOUSE [[/stamped]]

EDSON F. GALLAUDET
Early Wright Pilot - Engineer - Manufacturer

Edson F. Gallaudet was born in Washington, D.C. April 21, 1871, son of Dr. Edward M. Gallaudet, founder of Gallaudet College for the Deaf. He attended High School at Hartford, Conn., and graduated from Yale University with an A.B. degree in 1893, having been on the varsity crew for 1892-1893. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Johns Hopkins University 1896, and was with Westinghouse Electric Company the balance of that year. In 1897 he returned to Yale as instructor of physics where he remained until 1900. At this time he joined the Cramps Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pa., and was there until 1903, at which time he left to join the Platt Iron Works, Dayton, Ohio. In 1908 Gallaudet returned to Connecticut [[strikethrough]]and[[strikethrough/]] and entered into engineering consulting work.

As a youth he was always interested in soaring birds and the possibility of human [[strikethrough]]manual[[/strikethrough]] flight with manual power [[strikethrough]]and throughout his early years[[strikethrough/]]he was continually studying aeronautics[[strikethrough]]he made a continual study of aeronautics[[/strikethrough]]. While in Yale he was privately experimenting with a pontoon-equipped kite, employing [[strikethrough]]the[[/strikethrough]] warping wings [[strikethrough]] principle[[/strikethrough]] for lateral balance, but due to faculty ridicule abandoned his experiments. As the art of aviation progressed, Gallaudet followed [[strikethrough]] the [[/strikethrough]]developments with ever increasing interest. In December, 1909 he became a [[strikethrough]]n early[[/strikethrough]] member of the Aero Club of America. He never missed an opportunity to attend [[strikethrough]] all early [[/strikethrough]] flying events in the east, and in July, 1910 founded the Gallaudet Engineering Company of Norwich, Conn. Incorporators were: Edison F. Gallaudet, his brother Denison Gallaudet and Grosvenor Ely, all of Norwich. They were experimenting with the design and construction [[strikethrough]]and development[[/strikethrough]] of a aeroplane and formed