Day 8 - Phillip Bell Downing - The Snail Mail Receptical

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Once upon a time, people had to send letters if they wanted to communicate long-distance by text. They had to write something down, address the envelope, get a stamp in the correct denomination, got to a mail receptacle and mail the letter.

For most of us, that box is right near our home, by the home, or possibly a slit in the door itself. Getting the mail or sending a letter for many people is as easy as walking twenty feet and popping your letter in the box.


These days, people don't even bother with the whole writing something down and mailing it for the most part. These days lots people do the whole thing digitally.

Even so, there is still a call for posting things.

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Back in the 17 and 1800s in America, mailing a letter meant going to the post office. This could entail a lengthy trip depending on where your closest post office might be.

Phillip Bell Downing was born in Providence, RI in 1857 into a world that put as much of a silver spoon in his mouth as it could.

Before the Civil War, abolitionists were championing the rights and well being of African Americans. They were fighting for their right to be given the same regard, education, and opportunities as the white members of society. There were other anti-slavery groups in the country and they were becoming more and more antagonistic towards the enslavers in the South.

The Republican Party was born out of the disgruntled Northerners, abolitionists, frustrated
Democrats and other groups who had issues with enslavement.

Republicans as a party were not advocating abolishing slavery in the South, just not letting it spread any further into the North.

Many of the members were vocal in their fight against inequity, and they made a difference. Four years After Phillip's birth, Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican ever elected to the office of president.

Lincoln's election so terrified the Southern Democrats that they seceded from the Union rather than allow an avowed member of the abolitionist party to destroy their livelihood and deprive them of their rightful property.

Because of the work of the abolitionists, some African Americans families in the North were educated, and wealthy. Some families even began generating generational wealth.

Phillip's grandfather, Thomas Downing, was the son of emancipated people in Virginia. He established and ran The Downing Oyster House in the financial district of Washington DC. It was one of the hottest tickets in town, and he did very well. (If you are curious about him, click the link above, what he did was pretty dang fascinating!)

Phillip's father, George T Downing was a successful business owner in his own right and an abolitionist. He was instrumental in founding the United Anti-Slavery Society of the City of New York in the mid-830s. (If you think Thomas Downing was pretty fascinating, he doesn't have anything on his son, George!)

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Phillip's mother was Serena L. de Grasse of the New York deGrasses. (No, I don't know if this is Neil deGrasse Tyson's family, but it would not be shocking. I have a thing for Dr. Tyson. Any excuse to put him in the blog.)




In other words, Phillip was one of six children born into an affluent, educated, politically active, well-respected family.

What did he do for a living? I have no idea, and I could not find any information about it! He might have just been in the family business. The one source I saw that had some kind of biography for him had so much information that was inconsistent with all of the other sources I checked, I discarded it completely!

In fact, all that remains for certain are the patents he filed. There were five of them.

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His most iconic invention is one that changed the actual landscape of America. In fact, I suppose one could say it changed the landscape of any country that has them.


That's right. in 1891 he patented the designs for the street letterbox.

This was a godsend to the public. You no longer had to find your way to a post office in order to mail your letters. You could just drop them in the nearest box on a street corner.


Back in the day when letter writing was an art...this was a big deal.

As I said, he patented five things. I didn't do too much research on his gizmo for the railroad. (Most of the inventors I have found from this era did something for the railroad!)  It was a switch that allowed an operator to direct the flow of electricity.

I saw one source that suggested that this little mechanism was later modified for use in electric switches like light switches in the home, but I don't have any other sources that suggest that and I am suspicious that the two things are related, but they might be. I just couldn't find any other sources for it.
Throwing it in here in case someone points out that I didn't give him enough credit.

Either way, he certainly is responsible for those iconic mailboxes.

Next time you are out and about and you need to go snail mail if you see one of these little receptacles you don't have to go to the post office.

Thank you, Phillip B. Downing!

Celebrate Black History!