at least 243 United States patents between 1881 and 1894 for various electric inventions including railway systems, lights, generators, motors, current regulators, pumps, telpher systems, batteries, hammers, rock drills, brakes, a gearless locomotive, a coal-mining machine, and a pile-driver. Recognition He received the most recognition for his role in the development of electric railways; George Herbert Stockbridge wrote in 1891, "It is probably only just to Mr. Van Depoele to say that he is entitled to more credit than any other one man for the exploitation of electricity as a motive power." Death Van Depoele died on 18 March 1892 at the age of 45 in Lynn, Massachusetts, leaving a wife and several children. This article incorporates text from the references listed below, publications now in the public domain. References Bibliography Obituary, "Charles J. Van Depoele." Western Electrician, 26 March 1892 (Volume 10, No. 13), page 193. "Obituary"., Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 19 April 1892 (Volume 9, No. 4), pages 175–178. Charles Holt, "Development of Electric Railways.", The New England Magazine, October 1888 (Volume 6, No. 36), pages 551–566. Douglas McKillop, "The Father of the Trolley: A Biographical Sketch of Charles J. Van Depoele", The Electrical Age, December 1905 (Volume 35, No. 6), pages 440–443. Frankland Jannus, "Life and Labor of Van DePoele", The Electrical Journal, 1 May 1896 (Volume 1, No. 23), pages 449–453. "Notes and Queries.", Manufacturer and Builder, October 1887 (Volume 19, No. 10), pages 239–240. George Herbert Stockbridge, "Later History of Electricity.", The New England Magazine, April 1891 (Volume 10, No. 2), pages 183–193. External links Charles Van Depoele Charles Van Depoele Papers at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School 1846 births 1892 deaths 19th-century American inventors 19th-century Belgian inventors Belgian emigrants to the United States