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Show OGDEN PHONE PIONEER DIES Jasper N. Keller Who Put First System In Weber County Buried In East. News of tho death of Jasper N. Keller, former president of tho New England Telephone & Telegraph company com-pany at Surry, X. II . has been n-jcclved n-jcclved in Ogden by many of his former for-mer friends. Mr. Keller first became 'identified with the telephone buslm !hlle living in Ogden and yeaTfl ago 'obtained the rights of the Hell Telephone Tele-phone company for Weber county, lb-established lb-established 23 exchange! here before he finally sold out and went east Funeral services for Mr Keller were held September 2 5, In his New Hampshire Hamp-shire home. Ho died S ptembcr 22 arid 'In his memory flags of the administrative adminis-trative and divisional telephone building! build-ing! in Boston were flown at half-mast, half-mast, according to an article published In the Boston Herald. BORN IV KY Mr Keller was born at Burlington. Ia. January 22, 1846. and during tb-C1V11 tb-C1V11 war tried to enlist as a drummer boy with an Ohio regiment, but was rejected n account of his youth hen between 15 and 16 ne traveler to the Pacific coast with a wagon train and later at Austin Nev . entered the mining game. He studied telegraphy at his home ami was later Stationed at Lake Tuhoe, In the Sierra Nevada I mountains. He served with Buffalo Bill In an early session of the Mon-ta Mon-ta na legislature. WORKED W N II ML. Still later he became a railroad telegrapher and whilo employed in Nebraska became closely acquainted With Theodore N Will, the telephone r.iapnate, who was then a railroad mall clerk. The friendship existed until Mr. all's death. Mr. Keller was general railroad agent :n Ogden when he saw the first telephone. The new invention interested inter-ested him greatly and he later obtained ob-tained the rights of the Bell company for Weber county. He took as his partner the manager of the Western j Union Telegraph company and began the establishment of lines. Their equip-j ment was crude, and the poles were 'small pine trees cut on the mountains. I ADDI1 I' n IX Tl .Kit I roo Mr. Keller propere-d so well that within a year he and his partner i sought additional territory and they jtook Texas and Arkansas, tho only unasslgned territory. Mr. Keller then spent nearly three years in the southwest south-west and cold out his gden Interests. He then became Identified with the Erie telephone Interests in the east and went to Boston in 1SS4 for the American Bell Telephone company. Later ho was made president of the New England company and during his connection with the company the telephones tele-phones Increased from H.UU0 to more than 600,000. |