George Westinghouse Jr. / The Westinghouse Family/Testimonials

George Westinghouse Jr., also, The Westinghouse Family/Testimonials. . , George Westinghouse Jr. , An engineer, inventor and industrial giant, he was born in Central Bridge, Schoharie County, October 6, 1846 and moved to Schenectady as a youth. At the start of the Civil War in 1861 he joined the Union Army. In 1863 he joined the Union Navy to serve as an engineer on the steam gunboat USS Muscoota. His youthful machine shop experience proved invaluable to the Navy., He returned home to attend Union College and worked in his father's establishment. While in Schenectady, Westinghouse registered his first patent in 1865 for a rotary steam engine. By 1869, he had developed the railroad air brake, dramatically increasing rail safety., Subsequently, Westinghouse, with pioneering engineer Nikola Tesla, helped revolutionize the then-burgeoning world of electric power where they prevailed against Edison in the war of the currents., Westinghouse ultimately became renowned for the humane and progressive treatment of his employees. At his passing in 1914, he held over 400 patents and had started 60 companies with 100,000 employees. Throughout his life he was much-admired and widely beloved., Sculptor and Caster: Dexter Benedict - October 2022, Made possible by gifts from local citizens , The Westinghouse Family , George Westinghouse, Sr., born in Vermont in 1809, moved to Montgomery County where he married Emeline Vedder in 1830 and they had five children. After moving to Schoharie County around 1840 they had five more children, including inventor and industrialist George, Jr., The family relocated to Schenectady in 1856 where the family business, Schenectady Agricultural Works, on the Erie Canal, became the city's second- largest employer. This success was due largely to the modernized threshing machine developed by George, Sr. The business remained prominent in Schenectady. Six family members held patents in the development of farm steam engines to replace horses., The family were long-time members of the First Reformed Church of Schenectady. George, Sr., passed in 1884 and Emeline in 1895. They are buried in Schenectady's Vale Cemetery along with five of their children. George, Jr., and his wife are buried in Arlington National Cemetery., Testimonials , “My earliest capital was the experience and skill acquired from the opportunity given me, when I was young, to work with all kinds of machinery, coupled later with that discipline to which a soldier is required to submit, and the acquirement of a spirit of readiness to carry out instructions of superiors.” George Westinghouse Jr., “His is one of the few men who conscientiously respect intellectual property, and acquire their right to use inventions by fair and equitable means…” Nikola Tesla, “Does he think that he can stop a train with wind? I have no time to waste on fools.” Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, “He could and did out-work many men. He never seemed to realize that his energy and endurance were exceptional.” New York Times editorial of March 13, 1914., “If all treated their employees with the same consideration he does, the American Federation of Labor would have to go out of business.” Samuel Gompers, “Every inch a man and a gentleman, he was always courteous but never patronizing. His friendship with the men was real and his interest in their welfare sincere.” John C. Boyle, long-time Westinghouse employee.