| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 10 Aug 1998.
Charles Clifford Carrell obituary
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 4 Jul 2013.
Mildred Carrell recall early days of Newport Utilities
BY DUAY O’NEIL
NEWPORT—In 1942, Mildred Carrell was a young wife and mother of an infant daughter. America was at war and hundreds of Cocke County men had left their homes and jobs to join the nation’s fighting forces around the world.
Here in Newport, the former Tennessee Public Service Company, which had provided utilities to Newport and much of East Tennessee, had recently been replaced by the ? edgling TVA in the field of electrical energy.
She had graduated from Cocke County High School in 1938 and then completed a year’s study at Draughron Business College in Knoxville. She and her husband, Clifford Carrell, resided on First Street with their baby daughter Ila Ruth.
At the time, local utilities were headquartered in City Hall, home of today’s Newport Police Department.
“There was the electric department and the water department, each with its own supervisor,” said Mildred during a recent interview. “We shared the front right corner of the building (where today’s Chief of Police Maurice Shults, his secretary, and immediate staff are now headquartered).
“Across the hall was the City Recorder’s office. Jesse Stokely was the recorder. The police department was in the back, and upstairs were the draft offices and those for the ration board.”
“The water department’s bookkeeper Jim Caton went to the Army,” continued Mildred. “Hugh Gray was the supervisor and Minnie Henry was filling in, but didn’t want to continue the job. Hugh asked me to take the job.”
Child care for Ila Ruth was handy with Mildred’s mother, Rhoda Cooper, and grandfather, Will Sisk, nearby, so Mildred began went to work on August 8, 1942.
“Everything was done by hand,” said Mildred. “There were no computers. We had metal plates for each customer. When billing time came, someone printed the bills by running them through the plates, then I ? lled in the amounts by hand. Then I transferred that information to the ledgers. I always used a fountain pen.”
Separate books were kept each department-water and electric. “I worked six days a week, from 8:00-4:30. After a time, we got Wednesday afternoons off.”
Often Mildred walked to work from her First Street home and sometimes returned home for lunch. Other times she’d take her lunch with her.
“We all worked the front counter,” she added, “regardless of what the customer needed.”
“The company’s telephone number was 3074, close to our home number of 3071,” she laughed. “We’d get all kinds of calls at home when people’s power went out.”
Some of Mildred’s co-workers included Herman Gammons, who worked for the electric department, and John Gentry who worked for the water department. Later John’s son, Howard Gentry joined the company, as did Everette Gorrell, who later transferred to the electric department.
“I think it cost $24 to tap onto the water line,” said Mildred. “The mains, I believe, were cast iron.”
With war raging and a huge part of the local employee population away, employees often found themselves “multitasking.”
“I’ve had to read the water meters,” recalled Mildred. “Hugh Gray and I would do this together. He’d lift the lids and read the numbers, and I’d write them down. We did it all.”
Mildred’s beginning salary was $35.75 every two weeks. “I was paid every two weeks. After about six months, my salary went to $40 every two weeks.”
In 1943, Mildred grossed $909.
A “town girl,” Mildred’s home already had electricity and “city water” when TVA arrived. “But most of the county didn’t,” she said. “The company had expanded outside the city limits somewhat, but the more remote sections of the county certainly didn’t have such services.”
©2013 NPT PHOTO BY DUAY O’NEIL
Mildred Carrell worked as a bookkeeper at Newport Utilities from 1942-1982. She recalls using a fountain pen during her entire tenure at the company.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 27 Aug 2015.
Carrell turns 95
Mildred Cooper Carrell turned 95 years old last week. Family and friends enjoyed ice cream and cake with her on Sunday, August 23. She was born in Ela, North Carolina, eldest of three children of John and Rhoda (Sisk) Cooper. Her late siblings were Ruth and John, Jr. She is the widow of Clifford Carrell and retired after working many years as a secretary for Newport Utilities. Among those joining her Sunday were her daughter and son-in-law Ila Ruth and Earl Edmonds and two grandsons and their wives, Chris and Christy Edmonds and Jeff and Rachel Edmonds, and two great-grandchildren, Emily Edmonds and Joseph Edmonds.
- [S112] Census, 1930.
Name: Mildred L Cooper
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1930
Event Place: Newport, Cocke, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Age: 9
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Birthplace: North Carolina
Birth Year (Estimated): 1921
Immigration Year:
Relationship to Head of Household: Granddaughter
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
District: 0012
Household ID: 108
Sheet Number and Letter: 5A
Line Number: 12
Affiliate Publication Number: T626, roll 2238
GS Film number: 2341972
Digital Folder Number: 4548152
Image Number: 00237
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head William Sisk M 69 Tennessee
Wife Lou Sisk F 69 North Carolina
Daughter Rhoda S Cooper F 41 Tennessee
Granddaughter Mildred L Cooper F 9 North Carolina
Granddaughter Ruth A Cooper F 6 North Carolina
Grandson John Cooper M 4 North Carolina
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name: Mildred Cooper
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Newport, Civil District 6, Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Marital Status: Single
Race (Original): White
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Granddaughter
Relationship to Head of Household: Granddaughter
Birthplace: North Carolina
Birth Year (Estimated): 1921
Last Place of Residence: Same Place
District: 15-14
Family Number: 200
Sheet Number and Letter: 10A
Line Number: 33
Affiliate Publication Number: T627
Affiliate Film Number: 3881
Digital Folder Number: 005461287
Image Number: 00392
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head William Sisk M 79 Tennessee
Daughter Rhoda Cooper F 51 Tennessee
Granddaughter Mildred Cooper F 19 North Carolina
Granddaughter Ruth Cooper F 16 North Carolina
Grandson John Cooper M 14 North Carolina
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Name: J B Cooper
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 09 Oct 1919
Event Place: Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Age:
Birth Year (Estimated):
Father's Name:
Father's Titles and Terms:
Mother's Name:
Mother's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Name: Rhoda Sisk
Spouse's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Age:
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated):
Spouse's Father's Name:
Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Mother's Name:
Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms:
Reference ID: 88
GS Film number: 1572601
Digital Folder Number: 004485968
Image Number: 01247
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Name: Clifford Carroll
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 05 Oct 1940
Event Place: Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Age: 26
Birth Year (Estimated): 1914
Father's Name:
Father's Titles and Terms:
Mother's Name:
Mother's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Name: Mildred Cooper
Spouse's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Age: 20
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1920
Spouse's Father's Name:
Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Mother's Name:
Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms:
Reference ID: 1917
GS Film number: 1928651
Digital Folder Number: 004485966
Image Number: 00172
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