William G. Brorein taught school in Buckland, Ohio from 1880-1886 and was appointed Buckland Postmaster by President Grover Cleveland the following year. He was elected the first mayor of Buckland in 1888, to the Ohio State Legislature from 1893 to 1897, and to the Ohio State Senate from 1897 to 1901. He was known as the earliest pioneer in the Independent telephone field in Florida, when he organized Peninsular Telephone Co. in Tampa in 1901. He served as president until his death.
Tampa was served by two competing companies until 1906 when Peninsular purchased the Bell properties, said to be the first sale by Bell to an Independent. In 1915, Tampa became the first automatic exchange in the south and by 1948 Peninsular became the first company of substantial size to be wholly dial operated.
Brorein expanded Peninsular’s operations to counties around Tampa and by 1936 his company served over 50,000 subscribers. His leadership, foresight and unselfish devotion built a foundation for General Telephone of Florida’s continuing success. Active in telephone associations, he served on USITA’s board in 1919. His civic work was outstanding, and he was awarded Tampa’s Foremost Citizen Certificate in 1928. His most notable civic contribution was as president of the South Florida Fair Association. Largely through his personal efforts, this annual fair is still a great success. He died in 1937.
