Reginald Fessenden
Reginald Fessenden was born October 6, 1866, in East-Bolton, Quebec, the eldest of the Reverend Elisha Joseph Fessenden and Clementina Trenholme's four children. Elisha Fessenden was a Church of England in Canada minister, and the family moved to a number of postings throughout the province of Ontario.
Alexander Van Rensselaer
Alexander Van Rensselaer, known as Alec or Alex, was born on October 1, 1850 to the Rev. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1808–1860) and his wife, Catherine Ledyard (1811–1882), sister of Henry Ledyard. He was born into a wealthy and influential Philadelphian family. His paternal grandparents were Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764–1839) and Cornelia Bell Paterson, the daughter of William Paterson, the 2nd Governor of New Jersey, and later, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. His paternal uncles included Stephen Van Rensselaer IV (1789-1868) and Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (1810–1864). He graduated from Princeton University in 1871.