Plainsboro telephone venture subject of history talk

By: Milly Petrilla
   PLAINSBORO — History is calling — will Plainsboro accept the charges?
   Township Historical Society Director Robert Yuell is banking on it this Saturday for a presentation titled "The Farmers and Traders Telephone Company," which will take place in the municipal building at 7:30 p.m.
   East Windsor Historian John Grover has prepared a PowerPoint presentation on the history of the company, which John Van Buren Wicoff — a prominent Plainsboro lawyer — founded in 1899.
   At that time, telephone companies serviced only major cities, and residents in more rural areas were left without phone service. According to Mr. Yuell, Mr. Wicoff wanted to talk with other people in town without leaving his home and believed the telephone company would "make Plainsboro a better place to live."
   He sold 1,080 shares of the company for $25 each, and as the service grew its profits often allowed dividends with a 12-percent return. By 1927, the company was serving more than a dozen local towns, with its headquarters remaining in Plainsboro on Maple Avenue. Three years later, Mr. Wicoff sold the company to the Bell Telephone Co. for $195,000.
   Mr. Yuell said he is expecting as many as 100 people for the presentation, which is likely to include a demonstration of antique telephones and will be followed by refreshments.