Cleavenger was a telephone installations expert
and he loved photography.
Franklin Lee Cleavenger's Short Biography
Franklin Lee Cleavenger was born at
Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, on May 4, 1863. He died in 1923.
Franklin Lee Cleavenger's father was
Samuel Cleavenger.
Cleavenger was employed by the Missouri & Kansas
Telephone Company in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, where he and his family
lived.
On October 20, 1900, Cleavenger moved
from Kansas to Chihuahua to work as new superintendent for the
Chihuahua phone company, the Compania Telefonica de Chihuahua. Cleavenger's boss was
William Dale.
Here is a newspaper article describing
the opening ceremony of the new branch.
TELEPHONY - AMERICAN TELEPHONE JOURNAL -
October 14, 1911
Click to enlarge
In his spare time, Cleavenger was a busy photographer
capturing many scenes
of Chihuahua during the
Mexican Revolution,
including pictures of
Pancho Villa
and his army. Here are some examples of his work.
CHIHUAHUA CITY, MEXICO - 1902
Click to enlarge
PHONE COMPANY CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
PANCHO VILLA AND HIS ARMY OF MEN
Click to enlarge
You are welcome to visit the
Franklin Lee Cleavenger Collection
site provided by the University of Texas at El Paso.
The Cleavenger
Collection includes over 300 items, a combination of glass plates,
photos, and documents.
THE CLEAVENGER FAMILY, CHIHUAHUA CITY IN THE
BACKGROUND
Click to enlarge
