Early Adopter Brings Phone Service to Rural Community in 1911
In 1911, the Floyd-Montgomery Mutual Telephone Company was incorporated in Alum Ridge, Virginia with a capital stock of $10,000.1
My 3rd great-grandmother Margaret Dulaney was one of the original stockholders, purchasing two shares on 10 April 1911 for five dollars each. Her investment would equate to approximately $300 in today’s dollars.
This certificate was passed down to Margaret’s son Albert Dulaney, and then to Albert’s son-in-law Paul Collins. Paul donated it to the Floyd County Historical Society in 2014. Paul had told me about this document, so when I visited the historical society in July 2023, I asked to see it. I’m glad I did. We had to do some digging, but we eventually found it (it had been filed incorrectly). Thankfully, the collections manager offered to scan and enter it into their online catalog right away. Now, anyone searching the Floyd Historical Society catalog can see this piece of history.
When I discovered that my 3rd great-grandmother had paid to install a phone in 1911, I was shocked. At that time, she was a 42-year-old widow raising four children and a one-month-old granddaughter on her 40-acre homestead.
Court records show that she struggled financially. When Margaret applied for a Civil War veteran widow’s pension, she was denied. Despite her lack of resources, she still found a way to afford installing a phone in their home.
According to Citizens, a regional communications provider that serves Floyd County today, each person wanting to become a phone owner in the early 1900s was responsible for connecting to the line owner.
“Each line had a private individual owner and anyone wishing to connect to that line had to make personal arrangements. The owner then in turn paid for a connection to a switchboard and for the operator. As you can imagine, service suffered when the line extended great distances with few to share the operating and maintenance costs. A desire to overcome that lack of service quality drove the “citizens” of the community to create their own company to uniformly manage and operate a telephone system.”
The Floyd-Montgomery Mutual Telephone Company published its first directory in 1911, providing a glimpse into what life was like in Floyd County during that time. The switchboard hours were 5 A.M. to 9 P.M., except for Sundays and holidays, when it would be open from 5 A.M. to 8 A.M., then from 4 P.M. to 9 P.M. They included the disclaimer, “Emergency calls will be expected to be answered at any hour.”
“This Switch-board has been placed and as lines are built and phones installed, Directories will be furnished on application to Alum Ridge Central, and the business manager of each line make the proper entry and place a copy with each Stockholder, and report to each Central so that the Directory may be kept as possible.”
The 48-page directory listed advertisements for local businesses, as well as the phone owners on each line and their unique ring, indicated with dash marks.
Margaret Dulaney appeared on Line, No. 9 (LOST BENT). Her ring was “long, long, short.” Only a dozen other people were on the same line: Wm. C. Akers, Daniel Akers, Elias Akers, Emory Alley, Elias Alley, Charlie Dulaney, William Duncan, Albert Lester, Lemuel Lester, Amon Lester, A.L. Light, and Merritt Reed.
The end of the directory includes 12 suggestions to phone owners for good service:
Answer your call promptly with signal ring.
When you call Central tell who you want without asking questions.
Press the receiver firmly to the ear.
Stand closely and speak directly into the Transmitter in natural tone, distinctly, not too loud, and not too rapidly.
Never hang up the Receiver until the conversation is finished.
Parties on lines should not remove Receiver from hook until the signal ring is given.
Do not use the telephone during a thunder storm.
When conversation is finished, always give the signal ring off.
If you disconnect your phone during a storm, be sure to re-connect as soon as the storm is over.
To guarantee first-class service, lines, telephones and switch-boards must be kept in good repair and supplied with good working batteries.
Before ringing always take down the Receiver to ascertain if the line is busy.
Centrals of this system connected with the Long Distance Line should not answer nor obstruct by listening, unless the calls be for them.
Finding phone directories
Phone directories are a great way to find where your ancestors lived, who their neighbors were, and the types of businesses in the area. So where can you find them?
I was fortunate to receive a copy of this 1911 directory from my cousin Bessie Altizer, who had it in her personal collection. But in most cases, you’ll find these materials in local repositories. If you know which county your ancestor lived in, see if they have a local historical or genealogical society. You can also check the closest public library, in their local history section. Next, look for college or university libraries in the region. And be sure to check state-level libraries and archives. You can also search online collections (like Ancestry and FamilySearch), Google Books, and WorldCat.
This post was inspired by 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.
Electrical World. Volume 57 (1911). United States: McGraw-Hill.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Electrical_World/OOJQAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Floyd%20Montgomery%20Telephone%20Company%22&pg=PA460&printsec=frontcover
This is a great story. I really enjoyed it.