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Leslie, Hazel, Sheldon (son) and Dawnalda (daughter) - Davis Telephone Company Owners 1920 - 1961
Circa 1956
Rankin, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Sheldon Davis

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The Davis Telephone Co. Ltd. was one of the several independent systems in Ontario where three generations of the same family were actively engaged in the business. Joseph Davis founded the system, which he called the Rankin Telephone Company in 1910. His son, Leslie , took over from him in 1926. Leslie's son, Sheldon, assisted his father in managing the business from the time he was a teenager until the company was sold to Bell Canada in 1961. Mrs. Leslie Davis also devoted a great deal of time to the Business. In the early years, she was chief switchboard operator and later company accountant and secretary-treasurer. She became an expert on the matter of toll settlements with Bell and for years served as a member of the Toll Compensation Committee of the Canadian Independent Telephone Association. During her high school days, daughter Dawnalda was frequently conscripted as relief switchboard operator when one of the regular girls failed to come to work. Both Leslie and Sheldon Davis also contributed their time to the Canadian Independent Telephone Association as members of the executive of that body. Leslie Davis was president in 1946-47.