limited to Charlottetown and the western part of the province; however, in 1891 sixteen agencies were opened in King's and 's. One of these agencies was established at Mount Stewart . As far as can be determined, the village's first telephone agent was George Bannerman MacEachern who lived in the house presently owned by Cyrene Maclntyre . After he moved to Denver, Colorado , the agency was taken over by his mother, Mrs. Duncan MacEachern . Mrs. Mac ¬ Eachern, whose premises were enlivened by a parrot, also kept a candy store and restaurant. On one occasion she provisioned the restaurant with a goose bought from Mr. Fred Pigot for .50c. Mr. Pigot , accompanied by Hamilton Coffin, came to dinner. They paid 25c each and ate the goose and a peck of potatoes. It was scarcely a profitable venture! The agency was assumed by William H. Pigot shortly after he moved to Mount Stewart in 1897. He was agent until 1925, and it was during his term of office, in 1910, that the Island company was absorbed by Maritime Telegraph and Telephone Co. of Halifax. A list of agents, to¬ gether with their years of service, from 1925 to the present follows: 1925-1928, Mrs. Howard Glover 1928-1930, Cornelius J. Maclnnis 1930-1948, Mrs. Margaret Belle MacDonald 1948-1963, Mrs. Rita Ross 1963-1966, Mrs. E. Murphy 1966-1974, Miss Margaret Douglas 1974- , Mrs. Eldon Glover Post Office Service The first official Post Office for Prince Edward Island was estab¬ lished in Charlottetown in 1802. The first postmaster, who was also one of the first Methodists to reside on the Island, was Benjamin Chappell . At first, all mail was held in Charlottetown until picked up by the ad¬ dresses, and it was not until 1827 that an inland service was inaugurated. About ten rural post offices were opened in that year, and it is believed that one of these was located at Mount Pleasant , as North was then called. The developments of 1827 were undertaken unofficially, and the illegal post offices were not recognized by the Imperial Govern¬ ment until 1851. The Mount Pleasant Post Office was located on the so-called "East¬ ern Route" which served St. Peter 's Road, St. Peter 's, Bay Fortune and Grand River , a distance of over 100 miles. Mail delivery was contracted to a courier who travelled the route once a week in summer and once a fort¬ night in winter, weather permitting. The first postmaster of what came to be known as the Mount Stewart office may have been Mr. J. Champion , and the first courier was Benjamin Coffin . In 1828, Mr. Michael Egan became courier and, either at the same time or shortly thereafter, post¬ master as well. He and various members of his family — Ann Beck Egan, Fanny Egan and David Egan — were associated with the management of the Post Office until David resigned the position on November 2, 1901. Even then, the family continued the association in other capacities. Thus, the Examiner for December 27, 1916 announced the death of Joseph Egan , mail carrier at Mount Stewart , while the Guardian for April 28, 1949 made reference to the outstanding service being given by David Egan who had been carrying the mail from the station to the Post Office for the past —58—