ABSTRACT
Swiss/American machinist, born in Speicher. He learned the machinist’s trade in Zurich, and from 1867 to 1870 he worked in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. In 1870 he crossed to America, taking a job with Singer Sewing Machine Co., then going to the Edison plant in Newark, New Jersey, in 1871. He became foreman of the machine shop, responsible for the mechanical execution of many Edison ideas. He assisted with the installation of the electric light system in New York; he patented the Kruesi Tube, an insulated underground cable. Kruesi and Charles Batchelor were responsible for the building of Edison’s great plant in Schenectady, New York, which became the Edison General Electric Co.; in 1889 he became its assistant general manager. In 1895 he was appointed chief engineer of the new General Electric Co. He died in Schenectady.
