OctoDowning was granted a patent that change the mail system forever. This patent ultimately led to the light switch we know today. With an inventive mind, his first patent was for an improvement in streetcar and train switches which allowed the switch to be opened or closed by the brakeman from the platform of the car. After moving he married Evangeline Howard and they had 2 children, Antonia and Phillip Jr. Phillip Downing spent a portion of his early years in Washington, DC as his father was manager of the United States House of Representatives’ dining room. Thomas also was an important part of the founding of the United Anti-Slavery Society of New York in the mid 1830’s. It was one of the city’s best known dining spots. He had owned Downing’s Oyster house in the financial district of Manhattan in 1825. His father’s family was born to emancipated parents in Virginia. His mother Serena L deGrasse’s family goes back to the mid 1600’s in New York, New York. Phillip’s father George T Downing was a well known abolitionist and business owner. OK, its only a joke but …ĭowning was born into a prominent and well known family. Other than that, it does change the fact that it is now possible to write the name of the state without crossing state lines. The formal name of the state is ‘the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.’ There’s a move now to change that to remove the Providence Plantations because of the link to slavery. ![]() It has 4 legs and because of its unique design features has made significant changes in our entire mail system.īorn in Providence, Rhode Island March 22, 1857. That device is the mailbox that is a frequently seen in our cities and towns all around the country. ![]() Phillip Bell Downing is an inventor of a device that many of us use frequently and has remained largely unchanged from its original form.
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