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HISTORY OF LOCAL TELEPHONE SERVICEESTABLISHED HEBE IN 1891iC. G. Cockerill Furnishes FactsConcerning* Spread of Phones Over Western IowaJefferson last year saw 50 years of telephone service, with many I persons and many stories connect-| ed with the early history. Starting as a connection between a home and a place of business, it developed into a concern which at one time covered territory in the Da-j kotas and Nebraska. Some of the j I original' poles are still standing in the county. \In 1891 Druggest E. W. Foy had C G. Cockerill put a telephone in the Foy residence to connect with one in his place of business. Mr. Cockerill had had experience installing telephones in the west, and was called upon to do the work. An office was opened on the northwest comer of the square,: with part of the room used by the real estate firm of Warrington and | Cockerill. The first telephones were j Installed in the Northwestern and i Milwaukee depots. The hotel and bus barn, then owned by George j Eagleson, paid for the telephones on a rental basis.In 1891 the council passed* a! resolution granting the Cockerill Telephone company the right to use the streets and alleys to erect poles. A switchboard of 50 drops was purchased from the Connecti-: cut Electric company and was In-| stalled, with Miss Edna Brockway as the first operator. She was succeeded by- Miss Hattie Anderson, who is now Mrs. Dan Fierce of Toronto, Canada. When a. call came in, the operator would push a lever to one side of the board, plug in with her head set, make the call, and then connect it with a pair of loop cords. As business increased, a 100-drop board was installed and the 50-drop board was sold to J. P. A. Anderson of Madrid.In 1893 the first long distance lines were built from Jefferson to Farlin, Churdan and Scranton. By this time the upstairs rooms of the Oliver building just across the alley south from the Columbian block (west side of square) were leased for. a. term., of five years, with /''Mr ~ Cockerill as both lineman amTtech-! nician. In 1894 the name was changed from the Cockerill Telephone company to the Jefferson Telephone company.In 1897 an interest was purchased by George N. Bandy of Perry, who was the owner of the Hawkeye Telephone company. The long distance lines were extended west from Lake City to Auburn, Grant City, Lake View, Odebolt, Sac City, Early, Schaller, Galva, Holstein, Cushing, Correetionviile, and Moville, and then later to. Sioux City. The first telephone I Unes were built to the following t towns: Early, Schaller, Holsteinand Cushing. These never had had | telephone connections with other towns before.Later in that same year a line was built to connect with the Hawkeye Telephone company at Rippey that connected with the Mutual Telephone company then in Des Moines.In 1898 Mr Cockerill bought Mr Bandy’s interest in the company and continued in the business alone. He built a telephone line on poles leased from the Des Moines and Western Railroad company from Rockwell City to Fonda Pa-1 irons got -good service over the line until the telegraph line was energized with power from a generator in place of the vitrol batteryUnder the name of the Jefferson Telephone company, four upstairs rooms of the Smith building on the west side of the square were leased. In this building, which is now known as the Potter drug store building, they installed four sections of 100 drops each of the American type switchboard.March 18, 1896, the first independent telephone meeting for the organization of the association of telephone men was held, with Mr. Cockerill joining the group. Short-(Contlnued on page two)
Newspaper Details
Jefferson Bee
Jefferson, Iowa, US
Tue, Jan 27, 1942
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Hodge E.
TX, USA 17 Dec 2019
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