Week 50-Lines: Joseph Norman Gorrell Was a Telephone Lineman

My husband’s grandfather, Joseph Norman Gorrell, was a telephone lineman in Kansas City, Missouri; Wichita, Kansas; Des Moines, Iowa; and lastly in Joplin, Missouri, beginning at the start of the twentieth century.

The earliest record found was a city directory in St. Joseph, Missouri, where he worked for the Missouri & Kansas Telephone Company.[1]

In Wichita, Kansas, he was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 144. Joe is sitting on the wagon in the second row on the far right (this photo has been colorized). He worked for the Edison Light and Power Company.[2]

In 1911, he was listed as foreman for the Kansas Gas and Electric Company, which was either a new name for the same company or two companies merged.[3] The address was the same.[4]

In Des Moines around 1915 he worked as a lineman for the D. M. Electric Company.[5] This stood for Des Moines Electric Company.[6]

By 1920, he and his family were living in Webb City, Missouri.[7] There, the electric company he worked for was called Empire District Electric Company. He worked for them for thirty-two years and retired in 1948.[8]

Here is the company identification card, likely the last one he had before retirement.[9] 

This is my fourth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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[1] “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/), Missouri > St. Joseph > 1900 > St. Joseph, Missouri, City Directory, 1900 > image 200, p 355, J.N. Gorrell; citing Directory of St. Joseph and Buchanan County, (St. Joseph, Missouri: Combe Printing Co, Publ., 1900). Also ibid, 1902, image 229, p. 401, Joseph N. Gorrell.

[2] “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/), Kansas > Wichita > 1909 > Wichita, Kansas, City Directory, 1909 > image 128, p. 241, Joseph N. Gorrell; citing Wichita City Directory, 1909 (Wichita, Kansas: Polk-McAvoy Directory Company, 1909).

[3] Further research is needed to learn the history of the companies.

[4] “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/), Kansas > Wichita > 1911 > Wichita, Kansas, City Directory, 1911 > image 156, p. 302, Joseph N. Gorrell. For Kansas Gas and Electric Company, see ibid, 1911 > image 210, p. 405, Kansas Gas & Electric; ; citing Wichita City Directory, 1911 (Wichita, Kansas: Polk-McAvoy Directory Company, 1911).

[5] “U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/), Iowa > Des Moines > 1915 > Des Moines, Iowa, City Directory, 1915 > image 264, p 479, Jos. N. Gorrell; citing Des Moines City Directory, (Des Moines, Iowa: RL Polk Directory Co, 1915).

[6] Ibid, 1915 > image 873, p. 1614, Electric Light and Power category.

[7] 1920 U.S. census, Jasper Co., Missouri, Webb City, ED 70, 12b, dwelling 291, family 315, Joseph N Gorrell, digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com).

[8] “J.N. Gorrell,” Joplin (Missouri) Globe, 11 Jul 1960, p. 68, col. 3.

[9] The Empire District Electrical Company ID Card for Joseph N. Gorrell, Gorrell Family Collection; privately held by Lisa S. Gorrell.

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