Seventh Generation

2695. Green Monroe Coffey was born on 8 September 1855 in Mill Creek, OR. He lived with the William Bake family in Lane Co., OR on 10 August 1860. Green died of cancer of the bladder on 11 October 1924 at the age of 69 in Kalama, Cowlitz Co., WA and was buried at Kalama IOOF Cemetery in Kalama, Cowlitz Co., WA on 14 October 1924.^{9770,9771,9772}

Green Monroe Coffey and Eva Jane Bilyeu^9773,9774 were married on 9 July 1890 in Scio, Linn Co., OR.⁹⁷⁷⁵ Following Green's death, Eva married a Mr. England. They⁹⁷⁷⁵ appeared in the census on 1 June 1900 in Cowlitz Co., WA.⁹⁷⁷⁶ They⁹⁷⁷⁶ appeared in the census on 23 April 1910 in Cowlitz Co., WA.⁹⁷⁷⁷ Green and Eva⁹⁷⁷⁷ appeared in the census on 16 January 1920 in Cowlitz Co., WA.⁹⁷⁷⁸

Green Monroe Coffey, founder of the Kalama Telephone Company, came to Kalama from Scio, Oregon in 1897. After working as a traveling salesman and operating a bowling alley, he purchased a pool hall, located on the corner of First and Fir St. in 1900.

The Pacific Telephone Co. installed a toll station in the pool hall in 1904. Thereafter, anyone in the community wishing to make a long distance call would go to the pool hall to place a call. That same year, Mr. Coffey and A.L. Watson installed the first local telephones in the town of Kalama, but since there was no switchboard, they could only call one another. Telephones began to gain popularity rapidly, however, and with the increasing demand, a small switchboard was installed in the pool hall at the time. Expansion came fast, and in 1905, the Kalama Local Telephone Exchange, as it was known, moved to its own office in the building next door. This remained the home of the company until 1954, when a new building was built on Fir between First and Second Streets. Miss. Mima Morris (sister of F.E. (Duke) Morris) was the first official switchboard operator for the local telephone company. By 1909, there were 81 subscribers listed in the Kalama Telephone directory, one of which still had a telephone in 1966. This long time customer being Elmer House. The Kalama Telephone company was originally owned by the Kalama Electric Light and Power Co. and Green Coffey managed both firms. He became owner manager of the telephone company on April 14, 1911, by buying the telephone properties at the power company liquidated its assets.

In November of 1913, a new Kellog magneto switchboard was installed, which had a capacity for 200 lines. This was purchased for $300.00 and was in use until the switch over in 1954.You can see it on display at the Cowlitz County Historical Museum.

There were 196 telephones in Kalama by the time of the 1915 Mountain timber Company fire. the fire had such an impact upon the economy of the town, however, that by the end of the year telephones had dropped to 118.

In 1914, Green Coffey made headlines by winning a fight against the gigantic Bell System. A story in the April 3, 1914 issue of Kalama Bulletin, ( largest paid circulation in the county at the time) entitled, "How Coffey busted the telephone Trust" reads:

If there is a man in the Pacific northwest who is more highly elated over the dissolution of the Telephone Trust by the Federal court than Green Monroe Coffey of Kalama, owner of the local telephone company, we would like to see the color of his whiskers. Green Coffey has become suddenly become famous. He is a trust buster! He is the first man ever registered to kick against the Telephone Trust. that was as early as August 20, 1910.

Mr. Coffey demanded of the Pacific Telephone Company- an interchange of lines with the Home, or Northwestern Telephone Company, in order to trust his local patrons against having to purchase two phones. When he accepted service from the Home company, the trust threatened to cut him off from their line. but Green Coffey stood pat and the trust backed down. Later, Mr. Coffey demanded direct connection with Portland, OR., but the trust made him go to Portland by way of Kelso, WA.

But Mr. Coffey kept and kicking and demanding. In the meantime, and it was really a mean time, kicking became popular all over the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and the Federal Department of justice took it up and investigated the trust, with final result that the trust was dissolved and every kick that Mr. Coffey had made was sustained by the Federal Court.

Hereafter, as soon as the adjustment can take place, the telephone lines will be interchangeable, and Kalama will have direct connections with Portland, Or., not over just one line as demanded by Mr. Coffey but over all three lines of the Pacific Telephone company.

Green Monroe Coffey became seriously ill early in 1923 and his son Darrel Coffey came home from his studies at Oregon Agricultural College ( now Oregon State University) in Corvallis, Or in February of that year to take over duties as manager. At that time there were 210 telephones in the community, and the assets of the company were valued at some $14,000.00.

The elder Coffey passed away in 1924, having left his mark as a well-liked and respected member of the community. In addition to his service as owner-manager of the Telephone company, he had been a town councilman, fire Chief, and chairman of the Cowlitz County Democratic committee.

By the end of 1932, Kalama had 261 telephones, but the 1933 depression caused the number to drop to 186. It was 1941 before the 261 mark was reached again.

The Pacific Northwest flood of 1948 saw the Kalama Telephone company 'open for business as usual even though all the downtown streets were underwater for several weeks due to the flood.

Switchboard operators Cleda ( Mrs. George) Vivian and Stella ( Mrs. Francis) Cooper were transported to work in a rowboat and the old switchboard was suspended from the ceiling. Louis Rasmussen of Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone company served as night operator to keep long distance lines open. Washington's Governor, Mon C. Wallgren, visited the telephone office in a rowboat at this time.

About half the lines belonging to the Kalama Telephone Company fell to the ground during the severe winter of 1949-1950, with most of the lines being out of service for one to two weeks. Darrel Coffey's son Ron, then a student at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon came home to help out during the emergency.

After his graduation from Willamette University in August, 1953, Ron returned home to become a full-time member of the family-owned organization. The company had 450 telephones and total assets of $ 32,000.00 at this time.

In August, 1953, the family-owned business incorporated as the Kalama Telephone company, with Darrel Coffey as the President, Eva (Bilyeu) Coffey England, Green Monroe widow, as Vice-President and Ron Coffey as Secretary- Treasurer. The incorporation was for the purpose of securing a long term loan to convert the company to modern dial operation. a loan in the amount of $ 50,000.00 was obtained from Stromberg-Carlson company shortly thereafter, and construction of a new building on fir Street was begun immediately, with john Corcoran as the contractor. the concrete structure was designed to house not only dial switching equipment, but a business office and warehouse.

Dial telephoning became a reality for customers for the Kalama Telephone Company at 8:00 am Thursday, September 9, 1954, when Eva Coffey England pulled the insulation strips to place the new dial equipment in service. Just minutes before, the old magneto switchboard, after 41 years of service, was retired from service as Ron and his brother Dennis, cut the cables to the now obsolete equipment. Eva Coffey England placed the first long distance call to an old school friend in Portland, OR.

The installation of the new dial system marked the 50th anniversary of the business, and ushered in an era of rapid growth for the family-owned business. The new equipment installed was ultra-modern, the ringing system being among the most modern in the state. Everything was installed that was out, so that no ones numbers needed changing for the eventual nationwide dialing.

An automatic switchboard in Kalama eliminated the local operator. those employed at the switchboard at the time of the changeover were Mrs. Vivian, Mrs. cooper, Mrs. Tom Woolsey ( Maxine Dickenson), Mrs. Glen Heiserman, Mrs. Hugh Wildgrube, and Mrs. Cora Rudd. The payroll of the company was now reduced to two employees. Darrel Coffey ran the business office, while Ron Coffey took care of the outside plant work, as well as the dial equipment for which he had received special schooling in Rochester, New York.

Kalama, WA was the second community in the County to have dial system in operation. Castle rock had a dial operation prior to Sept., 1954, Longview-Kelso, WA., converted to dial operation the following spring.

In Feb., 1955, it was announced that Kalama Telephone company subscribers would receive the original tickets recording their toll calls as part of their monthly bills. Installation of a new microfilm machine to record toll calls for the company made possible the distribution of the tickets, which showed the cost, the city and number called and the conversation minutes. The Kalama Telephone company was the first in Southwest Washington to offer this service, giving each patron a complete record of every out-of-town call made from his telephone.

The 500th telephone was installed in September, 1955, in the insurance office of Frank Jaeger. the company's assets had grown to nearly $90,000.00 by this time.

At a meeting in May, 1956, the Kalama Telephone company bought all existing farm lines. Patrons on the lines paid a slightly higher monthly rate, but were then free of the responsibility of maintaining the lines. This venture benefited the company by being able to extend service to more customers. Previously a patron had to pay for a line to his home, purchase his own telephone and pay for the upkeep of the lines, this meant paying a $50.00 charge or share in the cooperative farm lines, making the cost prohibitive. It was now the duty of the Kalama Telephone company to build the lines and install the phones.

In 1957, the business had expanded to the point where it was necessary to increase the size of its work force. during this year, Kenneth Dickey was employed as a combination man, and another family member, Catherine ( Mrs. Eino)Pietila, daughter of Darrel, was hired as a clerk-typist in the business office.

The installation of the modern direct dialing equipment began in the summer of 1958, and the cut over took place on Jan. 24, 1959. This made it possible for local patrons to dial directly to Longview, Kelso, Castle Rock, Cathlamet, Skamokawa, Ryderwood and Vader. The type of equipment used was the first of its kind in the state of Washington and made Kalama and Redmond, OR the only communities in the Pacific Northwest with direct dialing in the nation at this time. This was five years prior to the time, for example, that Longview customers could dial direct to Kalama. While new equipment was designed for nationwide direct dialing, Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Co. would not allow the Kalama customers access to the nation-wide network until Dec. of 1954, when they converted their Longview-Kelso exchange to this type of service.

Mrs. Eva Coffey England passed away on August 20, 1960, after a long illness. following her death, her position as Vice President of the board of directors was assumed by Catherine Pietila. Eva Jane Bilyeu²⁸⁹³, daughter of William Henry Bilyeu and Martha Margaret Dennis, was born in 1872 in Oregon. Eva died in Cowlitz Co., WA in 1960 and was buried at Kalama IOOF Cemetery in Kalama, Cowlitz Co., WA in 1960 .⁹⁷⁷⁹

Green Monroe Coffey and Eva Jane Bilyeu had the following children: