Frank Dyer

(?-1941)

Frank Lewis Dyer was an attorney, business manager, and inventor who was involved in Edison's legal and corporate affairs from 1897 to 1912. Born in Washington, D.C., Frank Dyer studied law at Columbia University (now George Washington University) and practiced law in the capital before moving to New York in 1897 to open a practice with his brother, Richard.

Frank Dyer first became involved in Edison's patent affairs in 1897. In November 1903, he became general counsel in charge of all of Edison's legal business. Dyer succeeded William Gilmore as president of the National Phonograph Company in July 1908. He also held positions in a number of other Edison companies, including general manager of the Edison Phonograph Works, president of the Bates Manufacturing Company, vice president of the Edison Manufacturing Company, and general manager of the Edison Storage Battery Company. Frank Dyer was also instrumental in organizing the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908, which attempted to eliminate price cutting in the motion picture industry by pooling the patents of major producers. In 1910, he helped organize the General Film Company, which distributed films to motion picture theaters. Dyer was also the treasurer of the Condensite Company of America from 1910 to 1920.

Frank Dyer played a role in the formation of Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated (TAE, Inc.) in February 1911. This firm brought together under unified management the various Thomas Edison companies. Dyer served as president of TAE, Inc., until December 1912, when he resigned to become president of the General Film Company. He left this firm in 1914 to open a patent consulting firm in New York, which he managed until his retirement in 1929.

Frank Dyer was also an inventor and author. In 1910, he co-authored with Thomas Commerford Martin a two-volume biography, Edison: His Life and Inventions. Dyer also invented a special long-playing phonograph record, which was used to produce talking books for the blind, as well as a cotton bale press, an electric steering gear for ships, and liquid air. Frank Dyer was married three times and had two sons. He died in Ventnor, New Jersey, on June 4, 1941.