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I decided to expand on my previous reply as I found the letter in my files.
The article I mentioned was titled "TOMAS ALVA EDISON NACIO EN MEXICO". The Xerox copy I have was poorly typed with misspellings and typeovers. It was written by Adolfo de la Pena Gil (name may have been cut off) sometime after 1955. He claims that Thomas Edison was born in the village of Sombretete in Durango province about 870 kilometers northwest of Mexico City on the Panamerican Highway. This area is rich in silver, gold and lead mines. The house where Edison was supposedly born is on Hidalgo street and has a plaque "In this house was born Tomas Alva Edison on February 18, 1848."
Much of the information was given by Mister Jesus Ramirez Alvarez who lived here in 1955 when the author visited this area. He claims that Don Jose de la Luz Alva was the paternal grandfather of Thomas and was an administrator of coaches. The inventor's father was named Samuel Alva Ixtlixochitl (this second name purely Aztec) and was an engineer of Mines. Supposedly Thomas attended a Normal School in Zacatecas and
was know as Tomas Alva. He supposedly left for the United States when about 20.
Supposedly some of this information was published in El Sol (the Sun) of Durango Feb. 1, 1952 in an article titled "More about the Origin of Thomas Alva Edison". A Mister Melchor D. Caballero sent this article to Mr. Jesus Ramirez and claimed that his teacher in Zacatecas informed him personally that Edison was his schoolmate and for that reason Mister Flores is sure that Edison was Mexican and that perhaps
to suit his interests appeared as an American but according to Mister Flores, the truth respecting the origin does not appear in the encyclopedias nor in the books but the truth was only known in these regions..."
No birth certificate or parish book has been found to prove Thomas Edison was born here. Civil registration started in 1859 and parish books supposedly were burned in a revolution May 10, 1911. Some people claimed that Thomas was a Catholic and that he had been baptized by Father Boniface Balvanera or Langlaverde, since it is said that the birth was set down in the parish book 132, page 56 or book 56, page 132, but doesn't remember exacly to which it corresponded..."
"In summation, as much the popular tradition as the testimony of those who knew Edison's relatives, and the private information of many personal letters; the fact of the defective manner of Edison's pronounciation of English, the universal social sentiment that resulted in placing the plaque on the house where was born the inventor, are
proofs of the Mexican origin of the same; but it is impossible to obtain documentary evidence of the period, or to the scene of the inventor's baptism because of the destruction of the parish books." Adolfo de la Pena Gil
I have only abstracted parts of this article which consists of five
pages of double spaced typing. Other proofs, such as Edison's
membership in the Theosofic Society which the author included,
are totally worthless. The author mentioned letters written
by Edison's relatives in Mexico and other letters, but only excerpts
or summaries were given. I would love to see the original article
which may be better written. Perhaps someone translated this from
Spanish.
I did not realize that Edison had a speech problem. First of all, his
father were from Canada where they pronounce their surname as "Eedison"
(long e) and since Edison was deaf most of his life his speech may
have suffered somewhat.
I am afraid that I could never submitted an article like this which
is based on hearsay, no documentation and very weak proofs.
John Burton
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