Title: Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1901-1929

Creator:

• Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 3

Quantity: 2.4 c.f. (6 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of a defunct telephone company serving Ozaukee and Washington counties, Wisconsin. Included are financial records, minutes, correspondence, and employee records; plus brief records of predecessor companies in the area, including the Freistadt and Cedarburg Telephone Company. The files provide a general overview of a small business, the expansion of telephone service in the Ozaukee and Washington counties area, regulatory agency activity, and the process of larger companies supplanting smaller companies.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00003

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The Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company was incorporated in Wisconsin on March 1, 1911. Prior to its existence, other smaller telephone companies had served portions of the area which the Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company eventually came to serve. For example, the Mequon Telephone Company (incorporated July 1902-dissolved June 16, 1910), the Grafton Telephone Company (incorporated January 1904-dissolved March 14, 1911), and the Freistadt and Cedarburg Telephone Company (incorporated 1909-dissolved March 14, 1911) had provided telephone service to their respective areas. However, with their dissolutions Ozaukee-Washington became the primary telephone company in the region.

In October 1925 the officers of the Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company elected to sell the firm to the Wisconsin Telephone Company, and the former corporation was dissolved on August 3, 1926.

The collection consists of the records of the Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company and fragmentary records of the various phone companies which preceded it. Since these telephone firms often shared directors and stockholders, the same volumes were sometimes used to record identical information for the succeeding firms. The collection is arranged by record type in three series: Minutes, Financial Records, and a General File. In those instances where specific corporate names were identified, that information is listed in the Contents List. The collection provides a general overview of a small business, reveals the expansion of telephone service in the Ozaukee-Washington area, and documents the process of larger companies supplanting smaller companies.

MINUTES of the Freistadt and Cedarburg Telephone Company and the Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company comprise the first series. Miscellaneous articles of incorporation, by-laws, and stock registers listing stockholders and shares held are also included.

FINANCIAL RECORDS comprise the largest part of the collection and consist of ledgers, journals, check books, and income tax returns.

The GENERAL FILE consists of correspondence, employee records, an installation book, legal records, licenses, stock certificates, and miscellany. General correspondence includes routine inquires from stockholders, suppliers, and subscribers. The work of Wisconsin's regulatory agencies are reflected in both the files for the Industrial Commission and Railroad Commission. The former documents the Industrial Commission's efforts to raise the wages of an Ozaukee-Washington telephone operator while the latter reveals the Railroad Commission's efforts to settle disputes both between companies and between companies and customers. The installation book lists customers in the Mequon, Grafton, and Freistadt areas and provides a record of the expansion of telephone services. Legal records consist of contracts and agreements while the miscellany includes resolutions, insurance policies, reports, and rules.

Researchers will find additional information on these telephone companies in the state government records found in the State Archives. Secretary of State records include a series titled “Papers of Defunct Telegraph and Telephone Companies, 1851- ” (Series 360) which includes articles of incorporation, annual reports, and dissolution records. The index numbers to access these files are as follows:

Freistadt and Cedarburg Telephone Company	TEL 167
Grafton Telephone Company	TEL 272
Mequon Telephone Company	TEL 209
Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company	TEL 594

Acquisition Information

Presented by Roy Suelflow, St. Louis, Missouri, 1974. Accession Number: M74-352

Processing Information

Processed by Christine Rongone, January, 1980.

	Series: Minutes
Box   1 Folder   1	Freistadt and Cedarburg Telephone Company, Minutebook, March 27, 1901-August 6, 1910
	Ozaukee-Washington Telephone Company
Box   1 Folder   2	Minutebook, February 16, 1911-October 26, 1925
Box   1 Folder   3	Fragments, 1911,1925
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
Box   1 Folder   4	Ledger, Freistadt and Cedarburg Telephone Company, 1902-1908
Box   1 Folder   5	Journal, January 1908-March 1919
Box   1 Folder   6	Cash Journal, December 1913-December 1919
	Cash Received
Box   4 Folder   1	Freistadt and Cedarburg Telephone Company, 1911-1918
Box   4 Folder   2	Freistadt and Cedarburg Telephone Company-Eastern Division, 1911-1918
Box   5 Folder   1	Grafton Telephone Company, 1919-1921
	Check Book
Box   2 Folder   1	November 4, 1911-October 12, 1915
Box   2 Folder   2	1917, 1929
Box   2 Folder   3	Income Tax Returns, 1909-1911, 1924-1927
	Subscribers Ledgers
Box   2 Folder   4	1907-1909
Box   5 Folder   2	1922-1924
Box   6 Folder   1	1925-1926
	Series: General File	⇧
	Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   5	General, 1911-1922
	Specific
Box   2 Folder   6	Accidents, 1913, 1920
Box   2 Folder   7	Industrial Commission of Wisconsin, March-August, 1920
Box   2 Folder   8	Railroad Commission of Wisconsin, 1907-1921
	Wisconsin Telephone Company
Box   3 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1912-1921
Box   3 Folder   2	Monthly Statements, 1923-1924
	Employee Records
Box   3 Folder   3	Monthly Time Book, January 1909-June 1912
Box   3 Folder   4	Time Book, January 1909-August 1919
Box   3 Folder   5	Time Cards, February 1924-December 1925
Box   3 Folder   6	Installation Book, Freistadt and Cedarburg, 1901-1919
Box   3 Folder   7	Legal Records, 1908-1919
Box   3 Folder   8	Licenses, 1910-1917
Box   3 Folder   9	Miscellany, circa 1909-1921, undated
Box   3 Folder   10	Stock Certificates, 1901-1910