Telephone Pioneer Bronze Medal from Indiana

[Fabius]

Normally I don't collect Telephone Pioneer items but I saw on eBay this large bronze medal I knew I could do research on the names listed. Medal is 4" x 2.5" (10.16cm x 6.35cm). Marked on rim: WHITEHEAD & HOAG

The medal was issued by the HOOSIER STATE CHAPTER NO. 16. This chapter is still in existence but is now known as AT&T Pioneer Chapter 16.

On the front top is the Telephone Pioneers of America emblem and a map of the State of Indiana. The map has names placed at different locations. on the back it states:

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

MARCH 5, 1930

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE TELEPHONE PIONEERS OF AMERICA
THIS MEDAL IS STRUCK IN HONOR OF

CURTIS H. ROTTGER 47 YRS

EDGAR L. TAYLOR     45 YRS

GEORGE G. HALL       41 YRS

EDGAR T. BONDS      36 YRS

JAMES G. PRICE        24 YRS

The name BONDS on the map is placed where South Bend is located. An internet search finds that in 1930 Edgar T Bonds was the Indiana Bell Telephone Co manager in South Bend and was one of the charter members of the South Bend Rotary Club.

The guy I bought the medal from told me he recently bought it from an estate sale in Indianapolis. He gave me the address. The children of the owners had the sale and had recently sold the home, which was built in 1922. I have their name so I plan to contact them and see what they know about the medal. Their name doesn't match any of the names on the medal.

[unbeldi]

If nothing else, you probably got about $7 dollars worth of bronze in the find.

But more interestingly, what do you suppose the occasion was for the recognition of these individuals?

Curtis H. Rottger was president of the Indiana Bell Telephone Company, elected 1921-10-27. He was first employed at Central Union Telephone Co. I think this company was located in Illinois.  So, given that he started working in 1882, his 47 years of service would be reached in 1929, in synch with the date of the metal of March 1930.

Edgar L. Taylor was the manager of the local Bell company in Fort Wayne, IN, in ca. 1895. [from B.J. Griswold, The Pictorial History of Fort Wayne Indiana, p.508. (Law Company, 1917, Chicago)]  He died in 1939 (Indiana Telephone News V.29).

George G. Hall was a director of the Bell telephone company in Indiana that resulted from the 1920 merger of Indiana Bell Tel.Co. with Southern Telephone Co. of Indiana, United Telephone, and others.   See page image

James G. Price, a "retired construction veteran" died 1939 (Indiana Telephone News V.29).

[Fabius]

Thanks for the great information. All those named seem to have been executives except
James G. Price who was a construction worker (lineman or splicer?).

Why was the medal issued? That's what I'll try to find out. Was it issued for their retirement? The people who had the medal had 10 of them. They had lived in the house at least from the early 1940s, possible earlier. Possibility that a Pioneer official had these left over or one of the recipients or their offspring lived in the house.

While the medal and box look new they smell musty. Maybe stored in the basement. Lucky no mold stains.

I am writing the people who had the estate sale where the guy I bought it from got the medal. Also it should be possible to find where the two Indianapolis recipients where living in 1930. I'll check the census, telephone and city directories.

[19and41]

Be sure to try the libraries in the respective areas as well.  With so many places that used to be the keepers of such information downsizing and dissapearing, a lot of records have found their way into the libraries.

[Fabius]

Will do, thanks.