A Tennessee inventor has learned his creative bloodline runs back more than a century to the inventor of Christmas tree lights.
A genealogy website spent weeks tracking down the last living relative of Edward Hibberd Johnson, who used the light bulb patent of Thomas Edison to create the first Christmas tree lights in 1882.
James Newburn, 67, an entrepreneur who created a special kind of leather bag for bicycles and even tried to create a drug for fighting cancer, was delighted to discover he was the great-great-grandson of Johnson.
‘I was shocked and surprised and proud all at the same time,’ Newburn told DailyMail.com. ‘I’ve always been creative and run many businesses of my own so it confirmed that creativity runs in the family.’
The Christmas-loving businessman said his relative ‘also might explain why I’m so incredibly festive.’
James Newburn, 67, is the great-great grandson of Christmas tree light inventor Edward Johnson who used the light bulb patent of Thomas Edison in 1882
Johnson debuted the red, white and blue display of 80 hand-wired bulbs at his New York home
Newburn was tracked down with only the initial knowledge of Johnson’s birthday and birthplace Philadelphia. Johnson died in 1917 after an electrical accident.
It took MyHeritage.com researchers weeks to find the inventor’s living relative Newburn via his great-great grandfather Albert B Johnson, whose Civil War draft card and censuses were available online.
Documents including Edward’s 1896 passport application and WWI draft record revealed his three children, Edna Earl Palmer, Lilian Adele Hoyt and Edward Hibberd Johnson jr.
A news article showed Edna’s husband George Quintard Palmer, lived in the Fifth Avenue, New York and a 1990 census listed their daughter Lilian.
Lilian married Henry Coster Steers a year before Edward Hibberd Johnson – who was married to Magaret Virginia Kenney Johnson – passed away after an electrical accident.
One of Lilian’s three daughters Anthea Steers, married James C Newburn in 1949 and their pair had the Nashville-born man who was thrilled to find out about his family tree.
‘Through accessing more than 10 billion records available on MyHeritage.com it was possible to uncover the fascinating family history of Edward Hibberd Johnson,’ Aaron Godfrey, VP of marketing at MyHeritage.com, said.
‘And we are delighted to have delivered the festive gift of such a fascinating family tree to James, his great-great-grandson.’
People used candles, which were a fire hazard, before Johnson debuted the string lights (pictured) at his New York home
Johnson who used the light bulb patent of Thomas Edison (pictured) in 1882
One hundred years after Johnson became business associates with Edison in the Big Apple, Newburn was helping on city residents who were first introduced the tradition of the Rockefeller tree just decades prior.
‘Now I get it, this is why I love inventing things and starting businesses,’ he continued. ‘During the gas crisis in the 1970s I was in my teens in and I started a small company making leather bags to hang on the back of bicycles in New York City because everyone had to ride bikes and this allowed them to carry more.’
Even after selling his bag business, Newburn couldn’t help but use his innate creativity for something else.
‘I had dreams of being a millionaire by the age of 21 but I soon realized there’s more to life than money. I sold that company to my partner but I’d gained experience with leather so I founded Victoria Leather, designing and making women’s handbags,’ he added.
‘I’m proud to say that company is still in business today in Philadelphia.
‘After that, at the beginning of the 1990s when the health food trend started, I opened The Squash Blossom Market, the largest health food store in southern Alabama.’
According to MyHeritage.com, after being a shoemaker in 1850, his great-great grandfather was a grocery clerk in 1870.
The website found Newburn after digging out the records of Edward Johnson’s father then working through a family tree of 85 people including the inventor’s daughter Edna Earl Palmer
MyHeritage.com found newspaper coverage of James Newburn’s grandmother Lilian Palmer (left) which led to his mother Anthea Steers (right) who married his father James C. Newburn
Newburn’s entrepreneurial spirit even led his attempt to cure cancer, however the controversial product got shut down by the FDA. He had a leather goods business and owns a health food store
Newburn’s entrepreneurial spirit even led his attempt to cure cancer, however the controversial product got shut down by the FDA.
Newburn is spending the holidays at his second home in Silverhill on the Gulf Coast where he goes every year with his wife Gloria to celebrate Christmas.
‘We spend our winters here because it’s warm, but the lack of snow means that the people of Silverhill make up for it by celebrating Christmas in a spectacular way, with absolutely everyone displaying Christmas trees with lights and decorations everywhere,’ Newburn said on Thursday.
‘It’s almost a national monument to Christmas trees.’
The retired entrepreneur says that Christmas became much more enjoyable once he had his son Chase, 32, and daughter Kelsey, 30.
‘My 10-year-old granddaughter Lolana still believes in Santa Claus and that means the world to me,’ Newburn opened up.
‘But when she met Santa at school recently she said, “I know that’s not him!” so we may have to tell her soon. But Christmas is such a joyful time of year.’
MyHeritage.com tracked down Newburn using records found online and revealed the news to him last week. Newburn is big on the festive season
History of Christmas tree lights
Queen Victoria’s husband Albert introduced the Britain to the Christmas tree in 1841
Queen Victoria’s husband Albert introduced the Britain to the Christmas tree in 1841 and in 1856 President Franklin Pierce followed suit by putting one up at the White House.
Known at the time as a Teutonic tannenbaum, by the 1870s they became popular in the United States.
Johnson hired Thomas Edison in 1871 and the light bulb was invented in 1879.
The next year a tree was displayed in New York’s Washington Square Park but until then, they were lit up with hazardous candles.
Two years later Johnson used Edison’s patent to string together the first set of colorful decorations in 1882.
Johnson put on a display of 80 red, white and blue bulbs outside his parlor at 136 East 36th Street in New York City, the tradition caught on and the presentation increased to 120 bulbs in brass sockets over the next two years.
The tradition went countrywide after in 1894 when President Cleveland put electric lights on the White House tree.
But back in 1990 a string of 16 flame-shaped bulbs the size of shot glasses sold for $12 – equivalent to about $350 in today’s money – according to the Smithsonian. By 1914 however, a 16-foot string cost just $1.75.
James Newburn, from Nashville, Tenessee, says: ‘Our family loves celebrating Christmas but now it will always be extra-special for us because we now know my great-great-grandfather is the man who invented the Christmas tree light.’