ROBERT DOWNING (1826-1909)

Three weeks ago, I started research for an article on Robert Downing, a coin dealer who issued Civil War Tokens. I was unable to find him listed in a Census so I was unable to identify his parents or age. I have no information from his first thirty years of life.

I found him listed in Cincinnati city directories from 1857 to 1876. During the period of 1857 to 1865, he was selling periodicals from 288 West 6 th street in downtown Cincinnati. His tokens from this era stated that he was a "Publisher of Sheet Songs & Dealer in Old Coins" in Cincinnati without his street address.

From 1870 to 1971, he was listed under "Bookseller and Publishers" at 281 West 4th street. From 1875 to 1876, he was listed under the classification of "Booksellers, Publishers and Stationers" located at 249 Walnut Street. If you stood at that location today, you could look across the street to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Be careful, as you would be standing in the middle of Interstate Highway 71.

He ran a small ad in The Cincinnati Inquirer for February 17, 1866. He was selling sheet music for "Mother's Dying Words" from 256 West Sixth Street.

The Cincinnati Inquirer had a report on Police Court for May 5, 1866, that Robert Downing had been charged with selling obscene publications.

Robert Downing joined the American Numismatic and Antiquarian Society in 1868 with the sponsorship of J. N. T. Levick who said that Downing had one of the best collections of store cards in the country.

A very interesting ad appeared in the Cincinnati Daily Star on October 2, 1876.

Things were not going well for his wife, Agnes. The Cincinnati Daily Times reported on October 23, 1876, that she had been arrested for disorderly conduct. Their daughter, Ida, was charged with disorderly conduct and sentenced to thirty days in the workhouse on August 25, 1876, and their son, Clarence, was sent to the House of Refuge December 14, 1876, on charges of petit larceny.

So, that's where my story came to an abrupt stop, with the disappearance of Robert Downing and the family in various kinds of trouble. Then on Thursday evening, November 5, 2026, it is resurrected. I discovered an article published in The Civil War Token Journal for Summer 2013, Volume 47, Number 2.

The article was "Robert Downing (OH 15AK): Two Identities for a Bookseller and Numismatist of Cincinnati", by Q. David Bowers. Donald Erlenkotter and Richard Remling. The article presents strong evidence that Downing moved his family to Syracuse, New York, and he began to do business as Joseph Eugene Perkins.

Perkins appears in Boyd's Syracuse City Directory for 1877-78 conducting a "news and segars" business at 30 Warren Street.

The Syracuse Herald describes the shop in their issue of April 20, 1909, the day after his death.

The Perkins store carried a large stock of dime novels including some written by Francis Doughty. The (Syracuse) Evening Herald in their issue of November 25, 1895, complained that the Perkins bookstore was leading youth into a world of crime through the sale of pernicious literature.

Perkins compiled an Encyclopedia of Human Longevity that included more than 30,000 people who lived to be more than 100 years old. This included unverified reports for some who lived as much as 180 years. The book was never published. Perhaps someone could compile a similar list for hundred-year-old numismatists.

Perkins sold his store in 1908 and moved to Buffalo to live with his son, Eugene. Joseph Perkins died there on April 19, 1909.

The article in The Civil War Token Journal is excellent. It is something I wish I could have written. It can be read on the Newman Numismatic Portal.

Throughout my research, I found hints that his story is much more interesting that what I am able to confirm and report.

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