Having not seen a picture of your lock, I can’t comment on it.
However, I can provide some information about the company. The following is from my book, Unlocking the Portals of History:
“Friend William Smith (1828-1917) was an ardent supporter of the early Republican Party, and was a member of a newly formed group of young Republican men known as the ’Wide-Awakes.” They wore capes and marched in parades with oil torches. Upon the victory of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Friend W. Smith was appointed postmaster of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Serving nine years in this position, he established a relationship with the government’s postal service that would take a different turn.
About 1873, the U.S. Post Office Department advertised for a new letter box lock. Friend William Smith and Frederick Egge together invented a padlock and were successful bidders. The firm of Smith & Egge Co. was established in 1874, and manufactured all the post office locks for the mail bags in United States as well as Mexico, Haiti and Chile. In 1877, the company incorporated under the name Smith & Egge Manufacturing Company."
