Iron County Record | 1961-05-25 | Page 7 | DUP Studies Local Resident's Telegraph Activities

DUP Studies Local Resident's Telegraph Activities Daughters of Utah Pioneers have been studying about a Cedar Ce-dar City lady in their meetings this month. The woman is Mrs. Maude Matheson, who was the last of the telegraph operators on the old Doserct Telegraph System. Sys-tem. She was also the last operator oper-ator before the lines were bought locally by the Bell Telephone System. Mrs. Matheson, who is 85 years of ag. was only 10 years old when she first became affiliated with the telegraph system. At 10 she delivered messages for the regnlar operators. When she was 16 she took over the management of the telegraph office, as well as being its chief operator. Ellen Lunt was the firs operator oper-ator when the system was established estab-lished in 1861. She was assisted by Henrietta Lunt, Mary Corlett and Alice Bladen. Immediately preceeding Mrs. Matheson in the operation were Mima -Hunter and Florenoe Webster. The telegraph office was located in Mrs. Mathe-son's Mathe-son's parents' home. She is a daughter of Henry and Mary Ann Wilsun I.ut.t Later the equipment and office were both moved to Mrs. Mathe-sok's Mathe-sok's home. She married and began be-gan rearing a family before she gave up the work. In about 1903 the old Desaret Telegraph lino, which vas established by Brig-ham Brig-ham Young, was taken over fcp1 Western Union, and Mrs. Math--son continued '-to be the manager-operator, until the line was taken over by Bell Telephone Company. Mrs. Mi.theson took patt in letting Cedar City people know of many national and international interna-tional evrnts.'She took the message mes-sage that the U. S. Ship Maine had been blown up in J la von Harbor which set off the Span-iah-'Anwilcan ' War; and she received re-ceived ithe message that San Rranciswo had been destroyed by an earthquake and a subsequent fire. Her iiuttes, among dfroprs' connected con-nected with the telegraph office, was to'.lack up notice of important import-ant events received overUhe tele- 'graph wires. She wodkl make three espies of the news received. Two copifei she would take to Main Street, and tack litem up in eonsptcmus places. The third copy she kept on file MrsJJtatheson knewitH of the operators along the mid Deseret line, .'.i kept in tourh with them while an operator and after.