After Thomas Edison's second defeat, he decided to offer Granville Woods a position with the Edison Company, but Granville declined. Granville Woods Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life, Achievements He married Rebecca Susan McGee on 18 March 1880, in Shelby, Missouri, United States. Most sources agree that Woods had little formal education, leaving school at age 10 to work as an apprentice, studying to be a machinist and a blacksmith, and literally learning his skills on the job. He valued a good education and sought to expand his knowledge in order to bring his inventions to fruition. Born April 23, 1856 - Died Jan. 30, 1910. 303 Granville Cir NW, Marietta, GA 30064 | 43 Photos | MLS #7208779 Granville Alexander WOODS. It outlines Woods's development of an electrical line that is entirely . He attended school until the age of 10, however, he would soon leave as was customary at the time. When he died, he had become an admired and well-respected inventor, having sold a number of his devices to such industrial giants as Westinghouse, General Electric, and American Engineering. But he also lived in times marred by racial discrimination, which meant that he had to continuously fight for his right to own his inventions in courts. Granville Woods - The Black Inventor Online Museum [29] Woods' patent built upon previous third rail systems which were used for light rails and increased the power for use on underground trains. View Full Report Card. Woods eventually set up his own business, the Woods Electrical Co., in Cincinnati to develop, manufacture, and sell electrical apparatus. [40][41], In 2004, the New York City Transit Authority organized an exhibition on Woods which utilized bus and train depots, and an issue of four million MetroCards commemorating the inventor's achievements in pioneering the third rail. Granville Woods Birthday & Fun Facts | Kidadl He was the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. Martha brought to her marriage four children of her first marriage (with Robert BUTCHER of Columbus, OH) - Morrison (ca 1841-1897), Henrietta (ca 1844-1901), James (1847-after 1850) and Anna (1849-after 1850).With Cyrus, she had three more children - Granville Tailer (1851-1910), Rachel (1853-1912) and William Lyates (1857-after 1901).Of Martha's seven children, Henrietta is the only one who is known to have had any descendants.Her daughter, Lillian Mae, married Rev. Granville Woods's Instagram, Twitter & Facebook on IDCrawl When Granville Woods was born on 13 March 1855, in Boone, Missouri, United States, his father, Andrew Jackson Woods, was 26 and his mother, Susannah or Susan Elizabeth McGee, was 20. From 1872 to 1880, he travelled the country, and worked as a fireman in a railyard and rolling mill. He is also the first American of African ancestry to be a mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War.Self-taught, he concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars.