William Gray

William Gray (1850 – January 24, 1903) was an American inventor and entrepreneur. He is best known for inventing the coin-operated payphone and an improved chest protector for baseball catchers. He founded the highly successful Gray Telephone Pay Station Company, which became one of the largest employers in the Hartford, Connecticut, area.

His father found a job for him at a local drug store, but the druggist found he preferred tinkering to working, so he was placed in a machine shop. He moved to Hartford and found employment as a polisher in an armory, where he proved to be a good worker. He then worked for Pratt & Whitney, where he rose to head of the polishing department, a position he occupied for 15 years. ) and sold it to Pratt & Whitney. ), which was sold to A. G. Spaulding's sporting goods company. According to legend, the wife of Charlie Bennett, a Major League Baseball catcher, devised a chest protector which he began wearing openly (as opposed to under his uniform) in 1883. ). He again sold his patent to Spaulding, which advertised "Gray's Patent Body Protector" in its annual Official Base Ball Guide. A few payphone booths had been installed prior to his work, but with attendants to collect payment for their use. ). Gray improved his invention, when he made a signal device for telephone pay stations. In total, he obtained over 20 patents to improve the payphone.

The Gray Telephone Pay Station Company In 1891, he founded the Gray Telephone Pay Station Company to install payphones across the United States. It was extremely successful and even weathered the 1929 Great Depression without problem. Eventually, however, Gray's patents expired and it was bought out by another company.

Death On January 19, 1903, Gray suffered a stroke, dying five days later. He was survived by a wife and four children.