About United Telephone Company

First known as Cities Telephone Company, this company was founded by R. Lee Wheat. He, in partnership with his brother Dr. Tom Wheat of Lewisburg, owned exchanges in Unionville, Chapel Hill, Nolensville, College Grove and Belfast. All these holdings made up a prosperous community in the rocky countryside south of Nashville.

Seen by his fellow citizens as one dedicated to the betterment of the community, Wheat lived up to his reputation time and again. In 1946, when an ice storm took out service to every telephone in the Belfast exchange but one, Wheat rebuilt the entire system, persuading subscribers to contribute a fifty-cent refundable deposit to cover the costs. In the great blizzard of 1951, Belfast came through in much better condition than Wheat’s other exchanges, which were nearly wiped out.

In 1952, Bill Wilson came to work for Cities Telephone Company, at a time when it was “scratch and kick” financially. Wilson worked for seventy-fi ve cents an hour stringing wire. His old service truck had the fenders tied on with baling wire (but they still flapped anytime the truck was in motion). “There were days when we didn’t know if we’d get paid or not,” says Wilson. In 1954, he left Cities to find an employer who could meet the payroll. Wheat made line extensions over the years, but advancing technology constantly required new equipment and more capital, outstripping the company’s ability to keep up.

L. O. Brayton, Jr. was an engineer who installed miles of telephone cable in America as well as other nations. While working in Middle Tennessee, he learned that Cities Telephone Company might be purchased. He obtained an option on the company, then asked Elmer Bivens, President of the Crockett Telephone Company, to investigate the company’s books and operations. The two men then assembled a group of seasoned telephone investors, including Mr. Brayton’s sister, Edna Whitson, David Nunn, President of the Bank of Halls, K. W. Rogers, Jr. and his childhood friend, J. W. Hofstead of Nashville.

The new owners determined that updating of plant records would qualify them to secure a loan from the Rural Electrification Administration. They selected William A. Wilson for the job. Mr. Wilson knew what paperwork for the government meant because he served in the Navy.

Bill was born in Marshall County at Caney Springs, not far from Chapel Hill. Like so many young men of that time, he left home to serve his country. He spent his four years in the Naval Air Force keeping the planes flight ready while stationed at Pearl Harbor. Bill married Dot Logue in 1950 and they made their home in Chapel Hill.

Cities Telephone Company had an $88,000 deficit and 1,400 customers when it was purchased in 1957. In 1958, the company purchased two more exchanges (Fosterville and Estill Springs). They decided it was time to change the name of the company and offered customers an opportunity to participate in the decision. The person who suggested United Telephone Company won an award.

Elmer Bivens divided his time between Crockett Telephone Company and United Telephone Company for several years. As both companies began to grow, the board saw a need for a manager for each company. Bill Wilson had been made plant manager in 1960 and was promoted to General Manager in 1962. When Mr. Wilson came back to work for the Telephone Company, he never thought that he would stay for almost forty years and be manager of 32 employees.

Elmer Bivens casts a long shadow across the pages of telephone history in Tennessee. Th e son of a Tennessee sharecropper, he worked on the farm from the age of 10. In the beginning, he would work a backbreaking ten-hour day and at the end, collect fifty cents. At age 21, using a $75 stake his father gave him, the soft-spoken Bivens started in business.

“I had a goal,” Bivens says, as he recalls that start in 1936. “I wanted to be someone.” He applied his small investment to a grocery business. Soon he owned two stores and a service station in Tiptonville, Tennessee. By 1939, he had married Thalia Pugh and happily settled with his wife and businesses. But the world was on the eve of war.

Bivens prepared to enter service in 1943, disposing of his businesses and taking his wife home to Friendship, Tennessee, to be with her parents in his absence. While there, his father-in- law asked for his help in finishing some heavy work. At the job, Bivens fell and broke his leg. His injury caused him to be exempted from the military service.

Without a business now, Bivens began doing electrical contracting when he was able. In 1947, he went into the furniture business, and the Bivenses settled in Friendship permanently. His retail success led to his being asked to serve on the board of directors of the Friendship Telephone Company.

Mr. Bivens knew what networking with other companies could do for Crockett before the word “networking” became so popular. He and four other men began the Organization for the Protection and Advancement of Small Telephone Companies (OPASTCO). Both he and M. V. Williams served as President of the Tennessee Telephone Association. The company was also a member of the United States Telephone Association and the Eastern Borrowers’ Association.

Time has taken its toll on the original investors. L. O. Brayton, David Nunn, K.W. Rogers, Edna Whitson and J. W. Hofstead are deceased. These people gave to their heirs more than stock in a company; they instilled in them a love of telephony. Katherine Brayton is now President of United. Elmer Bivens, Warren Nunn, Lucinda Whitson Jones and Mr. Roger’s sons serve as officers and board members and are actively involved in the company.

United Telephone has experienced a phenomenal growth since those early days of hardships coming from under 2,000 access lines to over 16,000. Of course, some of the growth can be attributed to the population expansion in that area, but good management and foresight have made this company what it is today… a small independent telephone company with the capability of providing state-of-the-art technology to its customers.

United Telephone’s history includes a great deal of commitment to the community and to family. Most of the company’s employees live in the community and our customers are friends and neighbors. United doesn’t just provide these services to the communities, we are a real part of the community, participating in activities such as the Lions Club, Boys and Girls Little League, Partners-In-Education and local government. We sponsor an annual essay contest for fifth graders and a coloring contest for second graders in all five schools in our area. We sponsor local high school seniors for national telecommunications college scholarships, including the Foundation for Rural Education and Development (FRED). We also sponsor high school juniors and seniors for the Leadership Through Learning Program (implemented by FRED and sponsored by National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA). Th is weeklong program provides students with an all expense paid trip to Washington, D.C.

In addition, United Telephone has made a significant contribution to the telecommunications industry locally and nationally, serving as active members of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO) and the Tennessee Telecommunications Association (TTA).