These days we often hear about the competition between the post office and private carriers. Turns out this competition has been going on for years. Even in the 1800s there were conflicts between the private and public mail delivery services. Among these U.S. Post office’s competitors was Lysander Spooner and his American Letter Mail Company.
Spooner, the son of Asa Spooner, was born in Athol on a farm near what is now Lake Ellis. As he grew, he was educated in the Athol Schools. As an adult, he became a bit of a Renaissance man, becoming a lawyer, writer and abolitionist.
At age 25, according to “Athol Past and Present” by Lilley Caswell, Spooner had his first disagreement with the law. He had accepted a clerkship at the Registry of Deeds in Worcester and after leaving there studied in several law offices for three years, before opening his own office. This was in defiance of a Massachusetts state law at the time which stated that to be accepted into the state legal bar, a college graduate would require three years of extra study and a non-college graduate would require five years of study. Not one to give up easily, Spooner printed and circulated an argument among state legislators which eventually led to the repeal of the law.
His battle with the Post Office began with what he saw as another unacceptable situation. The high cost of postage rates, which at that time was 20 to 25 cents a letter, depended on weight and distance, according to Henry Lukas, educational director of the Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History at Regis College in Weston. There were no stamps at that time, he continued, as stamps did not come into existence until 1848. Instead, the envelope was directly written on. Spooner thought the cost was out of line. According to Caswell, Spooner felt that “the evil could be remedied by competition, and failing to convince the people of these facts by arguments he accordingly in 1844, started a private mail service …”
Thus, the American Letter Mail Company was born. His mail company using couriers, first ran between Boston and New York and then expanded to a route from Philadelphia to Baltimore according to Caswell.
The business, although successful and expanding, did not last long. “As the carrying of each letter was a separate offense, the government was able to shower prosecutions upon him and crush him out in a few months.” Caswell continued,
The business, although short-lived did have a more lasting effect. “The matter had, however, created such an excitement in the country that the following year public sentiment compelled a large reduction in the government rates of postage.” Caswell continued, stating Spooner, for his efforts, became known as “The father of cheap postage in America.”
Carla Charter is a local historian and author. She has written several books funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, on Abolition in the North Central area of Massachusetts.