John KruesiThe Kruesi family has made significant contributions to Chattanooga since Paul John Kruesi moved here in 1902 to organize the American Lava Co. He developed that business into one of the largest corporations in the South and was active in numerous civic enterprises. In 1906 he married Myra Kennedy Smartt, and they had five children.
Paul John’s parents were John Kruesi and Emilie Margaret Zwinger. John Kruesi was born in Speicher, Switzerland, on May 15, 1843. He was apprenticed to a locksmith before training as a clockmaker and instrument builder. He worked in Zurich, Paris and London before emigrating to the United States and settling in Newark, New Jersey. In 1872 John Kruesi began working for Thomas A. Edison in Menlo Park. A year later he married Emilie, a first-generation Swiss emigrant.
In 1877 Edison provided Kruesi with a rough drawing on which he wrote, “Kruesi, Make this.” Edison wrapped a sheet of foil around the cylinder, turned it, and shouted “Mary had a little lamb” into the mouthpiece. There were indentations on the foil; he adjusted the diaphragm, turned the cylinder again, and the sound came back out. It was the beginning of the phonograph.
John Kruesi drawingOn Feb. 2, 1878, Paul John was born to Emilie and John Kruesi. He was the first of eight children: four sons (Paul John, August, Walter, Frank and John Jr.) and three daughters (Claire, Emily and Olga).
Edison recognized John Kruesi’s talent as a machinist and made him manager of the machine shop. Kruesi oversaw the construction of test models for Edison’s experiments. Edison would give Kruesi a simplified drawing and discuss his objective, leaving his talented employee to finish it out. Kruesi also held patents for his own inventions that included the original electrical tape, called Kruesi Tape.