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EspañolALMON BROWN STROWGER
(Redirected from Almon Strowger)
'Almon Brown Strowger' (1839 – May 26, 1902) gave his name to the electromechanical telephone exchange technology that his invention and patent inspired.
'''
He was born in Penfield, near Rochester, New York. Little information is available about his early life, but it is known that he was the grandson of the second settler and first miller in Penfield. In her history of the Town of Penfield, Katherine Thompson reports that if his mother gave her children a task, he and his brothers would spend most of their time figuring out a machine that would do the task for them. He taught school in Penfield for a time, and served in the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry during the American Civil War.
It is believed that he fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia.
After the Civil War, it appears he first became a country school teacher before he became an undertaker. He is variously attributed as living in El Dorado, Kansas or Topeka, Kansas, and finally Kansas City, Missouri. It is not clear where his idea of an automatic telephone exchange was originally conceived, but his patent application identifies him as being a resident of Kansas City, Missouri on March 10, 1891. '''
Main articles: Strowger switch
Convinced that subscribers should choose who was called, rather than the operator, he first conceived his invention in 1888, and patented the automatic telephone exchange in 1891. It is reported that he initially constructed a model of his invention from a round collar box and some straight pins.
While he may have come up with the idea, he was not alone in his endeavours and sought the assistance of his nephew William and others with a knowledge of electricity and money to realise his concepts. With this help the Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange Company was formed and it installed and opened the first commercial exchange in (his then home town of) La Porte, Indiana on November 3, 1892, with about 75 subscribers and capacity for 99. He married Susan A. (1846-1921) from Massachusetts in 1897 as his second wife. Strowger sold his patents in 1896 for $1,800 and sold his share in the Automatic Electric Company for $10,000 in 1898. His patents subsequently sold for $2.5 million in 1916.
The company's engineers continued development of Strowger's designs and submitted several patents in the names of its employees. It also underwent several name changes. Strowger himself seems to have not taken part in this further development. He subsequently moved to St. Petersburg, Florida and appears to have returned to being an undertaker, as H.P. Bussey Funeral Home records report an unidentified body being moved "for Mr. Strowger" in December 1899. The same funeral home subsequently buried Strowger himself. Strowger was a man of some wealth at his death and was reported as owning at least a city block of property.
He died, aged 62, of an aneurism after suffering from anemia, at St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida and was buried in Greenwood Cemeterythe next day. His grave is marked with the traditional white headstone with an inscription that reads: "Lieut. A.B. Strowger, Co. A, 8 NY Cav."
He was survived by his widow Susan A. Strowger (1846-1921). After her death in Tampa, Florida, on April 14, 1921, her obituary appeared in the St. Petersburg Times, claiming she had additional "revolutionary" Strowger designs, but she had refused to make them public while she was alive because only others would profit from her husband's designs. She had claimed that her husband had only received $10,000 for his invention, when he should have received a million.
A bronze plaque, to commemorate his invention, was placed on his grave in 1945 by telephone company officials. Strowger was admitted to the hall of fame of the U.S. Independent Telephone Association (now called the USTA) in 1965. Apart from his invention, his name has also been given to a locomotive and a company business award.
In 2003, the Verizon Foundation awarded $4500 to Pinellas Heritage, Inc. and the Pinellas Genealogy Society in Strowger's memory. The funds were used to develop a website to impart the history of the cemetery where Strowger is buried, and to restore two Civil War memorials. The Greenwood Cemetery project won an organization achievement award from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation.
★ Strowger switch "Automatic Telephone Exchange" March 10, 1891
★ Dial
★ Rotary dial
★ Things named after Strowger
★ Telephone exchange
★
★
★
#Katherine Wilcox Thompson, "Penfield's Past", 1960, pub. by the Town of Penfield, NY, pp 178-179
#R.B.Hill, "Early Work on Dial Telephone Systems" January, 1953 ''Bell Laboratories Record.'' (Volume XXXI No. 1, January, 1953. P. 22 et. seq.)
#R.B.Hill, "The Early Years of the Strowger System" March, 1953 ''Bell Laboratories Record.'' (Volume XXXI No. 3, March, 1953. P. 95 et. seq.)
★ See also: Bell Labs, Bell Laboratories Website
★ The oldest Strowger switch still in commercial service today at Camp Shohola for Boys, Pennsylvania, USA
★ Reproduction with permission of the article ''Early Work on Dial Telephone Systems'' by R.B.Hill
★ Reproduction with permission of the article ''The Early Years of the Strowger System'' by R.B.Hill
★ Newfound fame good news for cemetery - published September 11, 2002 St. Petersburg Times FL
★ Local History Room, Town of Penfield, New York
★ Pinellas Genealogy Society - H.P. Bussey Funeral Home Records - with 2 entries for STROWGER, one identified as A.B. Strowger
★ Master Cemetery Index - Page 746
★ International Telecommunications Union - Historical Figures
★ What is a Strowger?
★ Auto-Electric Company and 1891 Strowger Telephone
★ No Operator, Please
★ "Mr. Watson. Come Here. I need you.": Bell and the Invention of the Telephone
★ BRT Locomotives - Almon B. Strowger
★ Strowger Award
★ Quote
★ The Strowger Telecoms Site (UK) with link to 'copyrighted' sounds
★ Webpage dedicated to electromechanical telephone switching technologies
'Almon Brown Strowger' (1839 – May 26, 1902) gave his name to the electromechanical telephone exchange technology that his invention and patent inspired.
'''
| Contents |
| Early years |
| Rotary dialing |
| Finances |
| Death |
| Widow |
| Legacy |
| Patents |
| See also |
| References |
| External links |
Early years
He was born in Penfield, near Rochester, New York. Little information is available about his early life, but it is known that he was the grandson of the second settler and first miller in Penfield. In her history of the Town of Penfield, Katherine Thompson reports that if his mother gave her children a task, he and his brothers would spend most of their time figuring out a machine that would do the task for them. He taught school in Penfield for a time, and served in the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry during the American Civil War.
It is believed that he fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia.
After the Civil War, it appears he first became a country school teacher before he became an undertaker. He is variously attributed as living in El Dorado, Kansas or Topeka, Kansas, and finally Kansas City, Missouri. It is not clear where his idea of an automatic telephone exchange was originally conceived, but his patent application identifies him as being a resident of Kansas City, Missouri on March 10, 1891. '''
Rotary dialing
Main articles: Strowger switch
Convinced that subscribers should choose who was called, rather than the operator, he first conceived his invention in 1888, and patented the automatic telephone exchange in 1891. It is reported that he initially constructed a model of his invention from a round collar box and some straight pins.
Finances
While he may have come up with the idea, he was not alone in his endeavours and sought the assistance of his nephew William and others with a knowledge of electricity and money to realise his concepts. With this help the Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange Company was formed and it installed and opened the first commercial exchange in (his then home town of) La Porte, Indiana on November 3, 1892, with about 75 subscribers and capacity for 99. He married Susan A. (1846-1921) from Massachusetts in 1897 as his second wife. Strowger sold his patents in 1896 for $1,800 and sold his share in the Automatic Electric Company for $10,000 in 1898. His patents subsequently sold for $2.5 million in 1916.
The company's engineers continued development of Strowger's designs and submitted several patents in the names of its employees. It also underwent several name changes. Strowger himself seems to have not taken part in this further development. He subsequently moved to St. Petersburg, Florida and appears to have returned to being an undertaker, as H.P. Bussey Funeral Home records report an unidentified body being moved "for Mr. Strowger" in December 1899. The same funeral home subsequently buried Strowger himself. Strowger was a man of some wealth at his death and was reported as owning at least a city block of property.
Death
He died, aged 62, of an aneurism after suffering from anemia, at St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida and was buried in Greenwood Cemeterythe next day. His grave is marked with the traditional white headstone with an inscription that reads: "Lieut. A.B. Strowger, Co. A, 8 NY Cav."
Widow
He was survived by his widow Susan A. Strowger (1846-1921). After her death in Tampa, Florida, on April 14, 1921, her obituary appeared in the St. Petersburg Times, claiming she had additional "revolutionary" Strowger designs, but she had refused to make them public while she was alive because only others would profit from her husband's designs. She had claimed that her husband had only received $10,000 for his invention, when he should have received a million.
Legacy
A bronze plaque, to commemorate his invention, was placed on his grave in 1945 by telephone company officials. Strowger was admitted to the hall of fame of the U.S. Independent Telephone Association (now called the USTA) in 1965. Apart from his invention, his name has also been given to a locomotive and a company business award.
In 2003, the Verizon Foundation awarded $4500 to Pinellas Heritage, Inc. and the Pinellas Genealogy Society in Strowger's memory. The funds were used to develop a website to impart the history of the cemetery where Strowger is buried, and to restore two Civil War memorials. The Greenwood Cemetery project won an organization achievement award from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation.
Patents
★ Strowger switch "Automatic Telephone Exchange" March 10, 1891
See also
★ Dial
★ Rotary dial
★ Things named after Strowger
★ Telephone exchange
★
★
★
References
#Katherine Wilcox Thompson, "Penfield's Past", 1960, pub. by the Town of Penfield, NY, pp 178-179
#R.B.Hill, "Early Work on Dial Telephone Systems" January, 1953 ''Bell Laboratories Record.'' (Volume XXXI No. 1, January, 1953. P. 22 et. seq.)
#R.B.Hill, "The Early Years of the Strowger System" March, 1953 ''Bell Laboratories Record.'' (Volume XXXI No. 3, March, 1953. P. 95 et. seq.)
★ See also: Bell Labs, Bell Laboratories Website
External links
★ The oldest Strowger switch still in commercial service today at Camp Shohola for Boys, Pennsylvania, USA
★ Reproduction with permission of the article ''Early Work on Dial Telephone Systems'' by R.B.Hill
★ Reproduction with permission of the article ''The Early Years of the Strowger System'' by R.B.Hill
★ Newfound fame good news for cemetery - published September 11, 2002 St. Petersburg Times FL
★ Local History Room, Town of Penfield, New York
★ Pinellas Genealogy Society - H.P. Bussey Funeral Home Records - with 2 entries for STROWGER, one identified as A.B. Strowger
★ Master Cemetery Index - Page 746
★ International Telecommunications Union - Historical Figures
★ What is a Strowger?
★ Auto-Electric Company and 1891 Strowger Telephone
★ No Operator, Please
★ "Mr. Watson. Come Here. I need you.": Bell and the Invention of the Telephone
★ BRT Locomotives - Almon B. Strowger
★ Strowger Award
★ Quote
★ The Strowger Telecoms Site (UK) with link to 'copyrighted' sounds
★ Webpage dedicated to electromechanical telephone switching technologies
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