Miller Reese Hutchison

Miller Reese Hutchison was born in Montrose, Alabama. While in grade school, Hutchison showed great interest in mechanics and technology. Hutchison would come to be known as “one of the nation’s greatest inventors” and “Thomas Edison’s right-hand man.”

Hutchison attended Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama, and Spring Hill College in Mobile before moving on to the University Military Institute in Mobile. After that, he would attend Auburn University – then the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama.

Hutchison would study mechanical and electrical engineering, a relatively new field at the time, at each stop along his educational journey.

During his time at Auburn, Hutchison received his first patent in 1895 at the age of nineteen. The “lightning and heavy-current arrester and alarm” was created to protect telegraphs, telephones, and other electrical devices from damage from lightning and live wires, effectively a surge protector.

One of Hutchison’s lifelong friends, Lyman Gould, was deaf and mute. During his studies, Hutchison wanted to assist Gould to be able to better hear his surroundings. Hutchison would even study at the Alabama Medical College to benefit his friend and invention.

In 1895, Hutchison would receive a patent for the “Akouphone,” which was the first hearing aid built. The invention would see many iterations and, in 1898, the “Akoulophon” was patented. It was sold by the Akouphone Company of Alabama for $400 (roughly $13,000 in 2023 values). The “Acousticon,” patented in 1902, was the most successful version as it was portable. It was so successful that Hutchison took it to England to outfit Queen Alexandria with her own Acousticon. It is said to have restored the Queen’s hearing to 90%. Hutchison was awarded a royal medal for his duties.

In 1908, after becoming concerned with increasing vehicle traffic in his home of New York City, Hutchison patented the “Klaxon Horn.” The Klaxon horn was an electromechanical device that sounded the now-familiar “awooga” siren to alert pedestrians and other vehicles on the roadways. The horn soon became standard on all GM vehicles and would be used throughout the world.

When the Spanish-American War began in 1898, Hutchison volunteered and served in the Lighthouse Districts. There, he would lay submarine cables and mines to protect the US’s harbors across the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1911, Hutchison joined Thomas Edison at the Edison Laboratory in New Jersey. Hutchison was appointed Chief Engineer of Edison’s multiple business ventures before ultimately being named Edison’s personal Engineering Advisor. In 1917, Hutchison created his own business, taking over Edison’s rights to sell to militaries across the world.

WMAV-AM was Auburn’s first radio station and the fourth in Alabama altogether. Hutchison was pivotal in the launch of the station, having donated a transmitter and receiver. He was even there on launch day in 1913 with the station’s first broadcasted message, one addressed to his old boss, Edison. The dedication ceremony was part of Auburn’s first homecoming (maybe).

Hutchison was responsible for multiple inventions and hundreds of patents. In addition to his most well-known inventions mentioned previously, Hutchison developed an electrical tachometer to provide steamships with a more accurate reading of their speed. Hutchison’s company also produced the “Spool-O-Wire,” a device to attach business documents together to ultimately replace staples with wire spools. A powder-actuated rivet gun to drive projectiles into steel and gasoline additives to reduce carbon monoxide emissions were also in his portfolio, among many other items.