M. M. M. Slattery. Marmaduke M. M. Slattery,whose portrait is herewith presented, died at his residence at Fort Wayne, Ind., Wednesday afternoon, December 15th. The deceased had been in poor health for two years, but had been able to attend to his business most of the time. He contracted a severe cold on Thanksgiving day and two days after was compelled to take to his bed. He failed rapidly, but on Wednesday he rallied and sat up for a time. During the afternoon he had a severe hemorrhage of the lungs and died in a few hours. On Saturday, December 17th, the funeral services were held at Fort Wayne and were attended by a large concourse of people. The employes of the Fort Wayne Electric company attended in a body, and several local organizations of which Mr. Slattery had been a member were represented. There were many floral offerings. There were few men in the electrical fraternity better known than "Duke" Slattery, as he was generally styled. He had a bright, engaging manner and was everywhere welcomed. He was an exceptionally entertaining after-dinner speaker and possessed considerable literary ability. In scientific circles Mr. Slattery held a prominent position as the inventor of a successful electric lighting system. Most of his work in this line was done in the West, but he was well known in electrical circles throughout the United States and in fact had gained some distinction before coming to this country. Mr. Slattery was born in the city of Limerick, Ireland, in 1851. He attended the schools of that city and prepared for college. He was graduated at Marlboro college, Marlboro, Eng., in 1873, and received his B. A. degree. After leaving college he was associated with St. George Lane-Fox in experimental work and was thoroughly equipped as an electrical engineer when he came to this country in January, 1S80. He entered the service of the United States Electric Lighting company at New York and did valuable work in the engineering department of that company. He was prominent in the organization of the Sun Electric company of Boston. In 1887 he moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., where he developed his alternating current system of electric lighting, which was his most notable achievement. At the lime of bis death he was connected with the Fort Wayne Electric company, which manufactured his apparatus During the last few years he devoted considerable attention to the development of the storage battery and made many valuable improvements in that line. In Masonic circles Mr. Slattery was a prominent figure. He was a member of the Indiana consistory of Scottish Rite Masons and had received the thirty-second degree. He was also a Mystic Shriner and expresident of the Shrine club of Fort Wayne. At the time of his death he was valiant grand master of ceremonies in Darius Council, Princes of Jerusalem. In the Fort Wayne lodge of Elks the deceased also too't an active interest. Mr. Slattery was a member of the Chicago Electric club and the Society of Aits of Boston.
Slattery Alternating Current Dynamo Vol. V December 21, 1889 No. 25 Western electrician Publication date 1887 on Archive.org
He is mentioned in Light of the world by Kevin Leininger --Dec. 19, 1982 from the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper. Fort Wayne's first electric streetcar was developed in 1891 by Jenney chief engineer Marmaduke Slattery. Slattery's trolley was considered too expensive and unreliable, though, and the transit system returned to horses - for a year, at least. The city's streetcar system was finally electrified by Fort Wayne Electric in July 1892 at a cost of $100,000.
He is mentioned in Electrifying Christmas by
Tom Castaldi, local historianposted May 24, 2016 on History Center Notes & Queries blog. During 1890s, Marmaduke Marcellus Slattery, an inventor working for Jenney Electric Company was experimenting with battery powered trolleys. Although a forward-thinking fellow tinkering with a technology whose time was yet to come, his experience was a little like Noah’s last dove sent from the Ark that full of energy never came back from somewhere in the “out there.” However, when Slattery sent his trial trolley out on a test run full of hope and vim, the battery drained of energy and the car failed to return.
He is mentioned in Transfer Corner by
Tom Castaldi, local historianon ARCH ( Architecture and Community Heritage). By 1890, efforts to electrifying the street railways became important. Marmaduke Marcellus Slattery, an inventor at the Jenney Electric Light Co. who was highly interested in battery technology, focused on the possibility of powering trolleys by battery. He gave up the effort after a failed experiment; he managed to propel a trolley along the “Belt Line” but it did not quite make the entire run of it.
A Slattery Induction Meter along with lots of Fort Wayne meters are shown on the Meter Gallerypage and discussed under Fort Wayne Electric (1881-1915) at watthourmeters.com. Slattery Induction Meter (Single Phase) (1889-1892) Not much is known right now about this meter, but it was a lamp-hour meter to go with the electric system developed by Marmaduke Marcelus Michael Slattery (whew!) for the Fort Wayne Electric Company. This meter was designed and sold prior to Thomas Duncan's arrival at Fort Wayne, and was discontinued after Slattery passed away in 1892 (all the equipment he had developed was quickly discontinued in favor of better equipment developed by J. J. Wood and others at Fort Wayne). Photo: GE at Ft. Wayne: 110 Years.
In Western electrician an Electrical engineering publication. On page 38 July 20, 1889The new factories of the Fort Wayne Jenney Electric Light company at Fort Wayne. Ind., will be formally opened the latter part of July. The structures are commodious and possess admirable facilities for electric manufacturing. The opening ceremony will take the form of a reception, to which the company's friends in Fort Wayne will be invited. Music and dancing will be the order of the evening. Mr. McDonald will have his phonograph on exhibition, and Mr. Slattery will give the guests an opportunity to test his electric tricycle.
M. M. M. Slattery's Electric Tricycle. M. M M. Slattery, of the Fort Wayne Jenney Electric Light company, now glides through the streets of Fort Wayne on an electric tricycle. The machine was built to order, and is so con- structed that it will stand rough usage. Current is supplied by 13 cells of storage battery which are placed in a box located under the saddle. A compact little motor gears on the axle of the rear wheels. The pedals are rlemoved so that the rider cannot work even if he should so desire. The machine with motor and cells, weighs ,525 pounds. The storage batteries are charged for a nine hours' run. Copied from page 27 Western electrician Publication Vol. V July 20, 1889 No. 3 on Archive.org.
Current affairs of the trike riderOther innovators in the infant field of electrical technology were attracted to Fort Wayne. The first to come was Marmaduke Marcellus Slattery, a wizard in generator and battery inventions. In the late 1880s, he regaled the folks of Fort Wayne with his motorized tricycle powered about town by "Slattery's Battery." In the field of electrical power, however, Slattery was better known as the father of the theory of alternating current (AC). Copied from CITYSCAPES City was home for many inventionsby Michael Hawfield from the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper. Most references credit Nikolas Tesla as the father of alternating current. The War of the Currents: AC vs. DC Power November 18, 2014 at Department of Energy.
Marmaduke M. M. Slattery on lamptech.uk said his obituary was on page 607 of the December 21, 1892 The Electrical Engineer. OBITUARY. The news is received of the death of Marmaduke M. M. Slattery, whose name is known generally throughout America in connection with the Fort Wayne system of lighting. He was born in Limecick, Ireland, in 1851, and was educated at Marlborough College, obtaining a B.A. degree in 1873. He was associated in the early days with Mr. Lane Fox in experimental work, and went to America at the time of the electric lighting boom in 1880. He joined one of the prominent New York companies, but afterwards went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he developed the very successful alternating-current system which was associated with his name. Mr. Slattery had lately given much attention to storage battery work. He was greatly liked among the electrical fraternity, and, possessing considerable literary ability, was a well-known member of the Boston Society of Arts.
M. M. M. Slattery's Electric Tricycle, circa 1910 low resolution image from The Henry Ford collection which also has images of several of his induction meters. Summary Marmaduke Slattery, chief electrician at the Fort Wayne Jenney Electric Light Company, had this electric tricycle built in 1889. Slattery powered his tricycle with storage batteries--probably of his own design--which reportedly could run for nine hours. Slattery died in 1892 but the vehicle must have remained in the Indiana city--this image was taken around 1910 by a Fort Wayne photographer. Charles Miner Studio of Fort Wayne.
