Almon Brown Strowger
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Almon Brown Strowger | |
---|---|
Born | Penfield, New York, United States | February 11, 1839
Died | May 26, 1902 St. Petersburg, Florida, United States | (aged 63)
Occupation | Inventor |
Spouse | Susan Strowger |
Almon Brown Strowger (February 11, 1839 – May 26, 1902) was an American inventor who gave his name to the Strowger switch, an electromechanical telephone exchange technology that his invention and patent inspired.
Early years
Strowger was born in
After the Civil War, it appears he first became a country school teacher before he became an
Rotary dialing
Strowger believed that his
Finances
While he may have come up with the idea, he was not alone in his endeavors 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
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 63, of an aneurysm after suffering from anemia, at St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery the 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
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
- U.S. patent 0,447,918 Strowger switch "Automatic Telephone Exchange" March 10, 1891
See also
- Rotary dial – Component that allows dialing numbers
- Telephone exchange – Interconnects telephones for calls
References
- ^ "Electromechanical Telephone-Switching", Engineering and Technology History Wiki, 2015, archived from the original on January 3, 2017, retrieved February 19, 2017
- ^ "Almon Strowger", Kansas Historical Society's Kansapedia, 2011, archived from the original on January 14, 2017, retrieved February 19, 2017
- ^ "The Automatic Phone Sprang From a Collar Box". The Kansas City Star. May 27, 1928. p. 71. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ "$1,800 in 1896 → 2021 | Inflation Calculator". www.in2013dollars.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- ^ "$10,000 in 1898 → 2021 | Inflation Calculator". www.in2013dollars.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- ^ "$2,500,000 in 1916 → 2021 | Inflation Calculator". www.in2013dollars.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
Additional sources
- Katherine Wilcox Thompson, "Penfield's Past", 1960, pub. by the Town of Penfield, NY, pp 178–179
- Hill, R. B. (January 1953). "Early Work on Dial Telephone Systems" (PDF). Bell Laboratories Record. XXXI (1): 22–9.
- Hill, R. B. (March 1953). "The Early Years of the Strowger System" (PDF). Bell Laboratories Record. XXXI (3): 95–103.
- Bell Labs, Bell Laboratories Website[when?]
External links
- The oldest Strowger switch still in commercial service today at Camp Shohola for Boys, Pennsylvania, US
- 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
- Pinellas Genealogy Society – H.P. Bussey Funeral Home Records – with 2 entries for Strowger, one identified as A.B. Strowger
- Master Cemetery Index, p. 746
- "Mr. Watson. Come Here. I need you.": Bell and the Invention of the Telephone
- BRT Locomotives – Almon B. Strowger
- The Strowger Telecoms Site (UK) with link to 'copyrighted' sounds
- Webpage dedicated to electromechanical telephone switching technologies
- Almon Brown Strowger at Find a Grave
- TCI Library, This is Automatic Electric. 1955.