Sunday, April 11, 2021

The New York Capital District, Part 5: Stove Patents 1853-1855

 [Link back to Part 4]

Nicholas Vedder & Ezra Ripley's "Magnolia" Parlor Stove,
Design Patent 690, 1855.



All of the (worthwhile) pictures have already been copied and posted in my Flickr album for this project, beginning here.  They will be added in here too, "in due course".  Those that don't get added can be accessed simply by clicking the Flickr link, if any.


1853:

1/2 Improvement Patents (9 percent of national total) and
15 Design Patents (27 percent of national total) 


Neer, Charles
Troy
Fire-place and Stove
May 31, 1853
Witnesses: Savage, John J. & Snyder, A.

Interesting; good drawings.  A sort of air-jacketed fireplace insert.  Described as a "fire board and fixtures" -- mostly sheet metal, i.e. Neer is a tinner?  No occupation given in earliest available (1857) Troy Directory.  Clear it's an actual installation that he makes, not a "paper patent."  


Filley, Giles F.
Saint Louis, MO
Cooking-Stove
June 14, 1853
Witnesses: Jones, C.G. & Wiswell, William

Filley signs on 1 Feb. 1853; reissued 27 December 1859, RE873.  Flickr.


Included here despite the fact that Filley was a St. Louis resident and that was where he took out his patent, because the "Charter Oak" cooking stove was very much a Troy product.  The idea for tapering the flues of a cooking stove in this particular way may have been Filley's, but it was developed into a workable product by Nicholas Vedder, who also designed its external appearance and distinctive decoration -- an oak leaf.  See  D519, patented November 1852 (included in Part 4 of this sequence of blog posts).                                               

"Cooking-stoves with descending flues, as they are now, and have been heretofore constructed, have two serious defects -- viz: They have a weak draft, and there is not enough heat carried down into the flues under the oven, to raise to a baking temperature the front portion of the oven bottom."

Filley's remedies:  
  • * "an improvement in the proportions of the flues, by which an increased draft is produced, and consequently a larger proportion of heat is carried from the fire chamber to and under the front portion of the oven bottom."  

  • * in connection with that "a dumb flue"  for "insuring the proper degree of heat under the front portion of the oven bottom" -- a secondary heat-distributor.  

  • These "enable my improved cooking stoves to be used in all situations where any cooking stove can be used, and in many situations where no other cooking stove, with descending flues, could be used."

Filley was very far from being the first stove inventor to think that a new flue design could give him a unique selling proposition and, not incidentally, enable him to distinguish his large-oven cooking stove from those made under Darius Buck's market-dominating patent.  But he was far and away the most successful.  The Charter Oak would become the nation's biggest-selling wood-fired cooking stove and Filley, with only a few years' stove making under his belt, would rise to be the largest producer in the country, largely on the strength of this one key product.  For more about Filley and his stove, see this blog post.  Charter Oaks were also made by his older brother Marcus in Troy -- the following illustration is from his 1856 catalogue.




Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
[Franklin] Parlor Stove
May 24, 1853
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Pendergast, Edmond


cf. The Corinthian Franklin, Plate XXVI in his 1853 Book of Stoves, i.e. more of a fireplace, but could be closed with a blower (the plate B on the drawing).  "My invention has no reference to any single moulding or ornament on said plates, but consists in the configuration & disposition of the ornaments in connection with the mouldings."  Flickr.


Davy, John T.
Troy
[Troy Sun] Cook Stove
June 21, 1853
Witnesses: Savage, John J. & Moran, John

Nothing very distinctive about this -- a very conventional four-hole square cookstove -- but the vertical and horizontal profiles of the plates show how raised the door decorations were. Flickr.


Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Florida Air Tight Elevated Oven] Cook Stove
June 28, 1853
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John

"Rose branch and roses" pattern.  Flickr.



Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Cooking Stove
June 28, 1853
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Pendergast, Edmond

A completely black image of a square cook -- the only details one can make out are of the rather fancy chamfered/scalloped edge and corners of the top plate.  Cf. e.g. Plate IV, The Atlas Air-Tight, in his 1853 Book of Stoves.  "My invention not being easily described in words, reference to the drawings is made."  "My invention has no reference to any single moulding or ornament on said plates, but consists in the configuration & disposition of the ornaments in combination with the mouldings.  I claim no separate configuration or part." 


Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Cooking Stove
June 28, 1853
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Pendergast, Edmund

Cf. his other square cooks, e.g. Plates I-III.  Flickr.



Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
[Elevated Oven] Cooking Stove
June 28, 1853
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Pendergast, Edmund

Cf. his elevated oven stoves, Plates VII-IX. Flickr.



Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Parlor Stove
June 28, 1853
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Pendergast, Edmond

This looks most like the "Sylvan Parlor," Plate XXIII in his 1853 Book of Stoves, but with a slightly less fancy Gothic design. Flickr.


Pierce, Samuel & Dulley, James J.
Troy
[Golden State] Cook Stove
July 12, 1853
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John
Assigned to JOHNSON, COX & FULLER

Detailed description, i.e. very unlike Vose.  The original is at the Hart Cluett Museum, Troy.  Flickr.




Dulley, James J.
Troy
[Domestic Improved] Cooking Stove
July 19, 1853
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. Jr & Moran, John
Assigned to JOHNSON COX & FULLER




Smith, Elihu
Albany
[Elihu Smith's Illuminator] Parlor Stove
July 26, 1853
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & McCall, ?.S.

The picture is too dark to be legible.


Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Box] Stove
September 6, 1853
Witnesses: Godfrey, C.L. & Cuyler, T.J.
Assigned to NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Philadelphia]


"The principal feature of the design is a foliated boss B in the center of a series of convex waved rays, a, the whole forming a raised shield in the middle of a panel.  A is an ornamented border formed by clusters of lances, b, alternating with single lances springing from a section of a sphere c. d,e, are ornamental scrolls for the corners of panels. f is a border of linked bosses for the lower portion of the plates. g, is a beaded border for the door and hearth plate. h is a converse serrated border for the top plate.  At i, i, i, the convex waved rays a, are used in combination with a simple unfoliated boss B'."  The picture contains a fair amount of detail, but demonstrates how much clarity was lost with the Patent Office's acceptance of photographic illustrations.  From here on, far fewer stove designs are worth including in these posts, because an increasing number of them were represented by poorly reproduced photographs like this.  Flickr.


Ripley, Ezra & Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Castle] Parlor Stove
November 8, 1853
Witnesses: Savage, John J. & Moran, John
Assigned to EDDY, George W. [Waterford]



The first picture is from the 1854 G.W. Eddy catalogue, the second from Groft, Cast With Style, p. 71 (from the Mesick collection), and the third is the patent drawing.  The Castle "terminates in the ornamental tower B, and the Gothic caps C, C."  Flickr.


Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Golden Rose] Cooking Stove
November 8, 1853
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John


The design is of a leaf and rosebud on panels -- Vedder was evidently still in his "vegetation" phase of cooking-stove decoration.  Flickr.


Wager, James, Richmond, Volney, & Smith, Harvey 
Troy
[Ilion] Parlor Stove
December 20, 1853
Witnesses: Learned, John F. & Warren, James A.


Detailed description -- scrolls, shells, scolloped border.  The plate shown in Fig. 2 is the back of the stove, with the smoke pipe, and is as richly decorated as the rest of it.  This makes sense if we imagine the stove either on display in a shop or wareroom, and having to stand up to customer inspection all round, or in use and set out from a wall, in which case its back would still need to have been fancy enough to pass muster with mid-Victorian tastes.  Flickr.




Note the way in which the Ilion's rotating front plate converts from being a "blower" in the first picture, where the appliance is being operated as a closed stove, to a decorative feature in the third, where it is functioning as an open Franklin.


Wager, James, Richmond, Volney, & Smith, Harvey 
Troy
[Orient] Cylinder Coal Stove
December 20, 1853
Witnesses: Learned, John F. & Warren, James A.


Detailed description supplied.  This was a very fancy product for parlor heating.  Flickr.



1854:

1/2 Improvement Patents (5 percent of national total) and
10 Design Patents (21 percent of national total) 


Littlefield, Dennis G.
Lowell, MA
[Magazine] Stove
January 24, 1854
Witnesses: Cooper, Sam. & Spinney, H.B.


This drawing [zoomable on Flickr] of a plain, functional cylindrical stove, made partly from cast iron, partly from wrought sheet, was the original form of one of the last and most significant innovations among solid-fuel stove types: the base burner, the grandest and most efficient heating stove the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century stove industry would ever produce.  Littlefield, a Lowell, MA stove dealer who moved to Albany to perfect his stove and get it made, had solved most of the problems that had made anthracite-fueled magazine stoves since the Rev. Dr Eliphalet Nott's original model in the late 1820s into such problematic and disappointing appliances.  Littlefield's did not suffer from gas explosions and uncontrolled combustion, it did not get choked with ashes and clinker, it would burn for upwards of a day on a single fill of fuel, and the flames and glow from the firepot were visible through the circle of gothic mica windows surrounding it.  Littlefield's stove, which he christened the "Morning Glory," would turn into the basis of his own stove business and, via piracy and imitation, of many other makers' too.

Littlefield was not just a prolific (and very litigious) inventor, he was also a great self-publicist.  So he told the history of his stove, his career, and his rivalry with other makers in a succession of pamphlets, at least three of which are available online: The Morning Glory: Origin of the Base-Burning Stove and Its Mode of Operation Clearly Defined by One Who Has Made Them a Study for Fifteen Years (Albany: Littlefield Stove Mfg Co., 1868); The Morning Glory. Origin of the Base-Burning Stove and Its Mode of Operation Clearly Defined by One Who Has Made Them a Study for Many Years (Albany: D.G. Littlefield, 1869); and Theory of the Base-Burning Stove and the Origin of The "Morning Glory" (Albany: Littlefield Stove Mfg Co., 1870). The first version I know of was published by him in Albany in 1859 as A History of the Improvements Applicable to the Base Burning or Horizontal Draught Stove; the first post-Civil War edition was in 1867; his last literary effort was Sixty-Three Years' Experience: from the "James or Saddle-Bag Stove" to the West Shore Range for 1898 (Albany: Littlefield Stove Co., 1898).
 
Given the importance of this founding patent, its long history of extensions and reissues (to maximize its value and duration) is unsurprising.  Its first and second reissues were in November 1861 (RE1236, RE1237), covering different features; the third through sixth in August 1862 (RE1332, 1333, 1334, and 1335); the seventh and eighth in March 1863 (RE1426 and 1427), the ninth and tenth in May (RE1478 and 1479), the eleventh through fourteenth in November 1864 (RE1813, 1814, 1815, and 1823), the fifteenth and sixteenth in February and May 1865 (RE1890, RE1976).  These clarifications, improvements, and extensions of his original invention, the lawsuits that accompanied them, and the torrent of publicity are all evidence of Littlefield's status as one of the most influential stove inventors of the mid- to late-nineteenth century.  He also had one of the finest beards.


     


No. 11295
Kennedy, James C.
Albany
Cooking Stove / Elevated Oven
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & McCall, H.S.


Kennedy's aim was to improve the elevated oven stove by incorporating two separate ovens in the lower part of its body, with flues and dampers to permit heating them to different temperatures OR a direct passage to the chimney and elevated oven, saving wear on the plates (a problem with "the common oven").  His innovation was adopted in the "Young America" stove that he produced in his partnership with Rathbone -- see their 1854 Circular; click to the next page for the explanation of the Kennedy design's operation and advantages.  Flickr.




Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Cooking Stove
February 14, 1854
Witnesses: Belden, George D. & Adams, J.N.




Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Cooking Stove
February 14, 1854
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Belden, George D.



Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
[Elevated Oven] Cooking Stove
February 14, 1854
Witnesses: Belden, George G. & Adams, James N.



Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Parlor Stove
February 14, 1854
Witnesses: Belden, George D. & Adams, James N.




Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[The Fashion] Parlor Stove
February 14, 1854
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John
Assigned to DUNHAM, A.T. & Co.



Tall, gothic -- clear picture: "oak leaves ... stars ... indented edge ... Gothic moulding and arches ... moulding ornamented with scollops ... oak leaves and acorns."


De Zouche, Isaac
Troy
Stove-Panel Ornament
March 14, 1854
Witnesses: Ball, Marcus & Savage, J.J.
Assigned to POTTER, Louis [Troy]

Long floral panel: "flowers and stars ... leaves ... shells." [Flickr]


Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
[Parlor] Cooking Stove
March 28, 1854
Witnesses: Bleecker, William E. & McHinch, David B.



Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Coal Stove
March 28, 1854
Yakel, Fradrick (sic) Wileum (sic) & Belden, George D.


Printed text.  Square brick-effect base with corrugated cylinder with floral decorations on top.


Burgess, John
Troy
[Cook] Stove-Plate
April 25, 1854
Witnesses: Geer, Charles H. & Savage, John J.
Assigned to GEER & Co.


Gothic plates.  Only the decorated plates needed to be shown.


Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
Gas Oven or Summer-Range Door
May 9, 1854
Witnesses: Gibbs, Henry H. & Winne (?), Daniel H.
Assigned to NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Phila.]


A gas oven was a new kind of appliance, only suitable for urban customers with a piped supply or the houses of people rich enough to be able to afford their own gas generator.  It was still an expensive fuel, mostly used for lighting.  A gas oven was just a cavity in brickwork with a gas flame in it and a flue, covered over with decorative doors like these.  Describing it as a "Summer Range" indicates that the gas oven was never the main cooking appliance.  It provided extra capacity in winter when needed, and another way of being able to dispense with the main cook stove and an overheated kitchen in the height of summer.  Philadelphia, New York, and Boston seem to have been the principal markets at this time, at least according to patent evidence.  


1855:

1 Improvement Patent (2 percent of national total) and
17 Design Patents (37 percent of national total) 


Easterly, James
Albany
Magazine Smoke-Consuming Stove
February 13, 1855
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Vareck (sic) & Miller, W.C.


Mostly sheet metal.  In style it harks back to older columnar heating stoves, with updraft smoke flues.  Designed "for the burning of every kind of fuel, but chiefly of bituminous coal" with great economy "by heating the same, and thereby distilling or volatilizing and consuming its bituminous and fuliginouos matter."  Admits air above the grate; fuel between air inlets and grate burns in downdraft.  The stars around the base of the stove were mica windows enabling users to see the fire, and the stove to light the room, as with Littlefield's "Morning Glory."  This was a parlor or hall stove; the patent also shows a version for cooking stoves, with the magazine above the front of the top plate, an appliance for which there was no market demand; at least I have never seen any evidence that they were made and sold.  

Q: why was this patent worth reissuing?? RE 3009 & 3010, 30 June 1868 & 5498, 22 July 1873.  Presumably as a way of establishing its priority as a base burner for soft coal.  The 1873 reissue was by its assignor, John Perry of Albany, then locked in dispute with Littlefield and others over ownership and control of the key base-burning stove patents.


Wager, James, Richmond, Volney, & Smith, Harvey
Troy
[Triumph] Parlor [Cook] Stove
January 2, 1855
Witnesses: Britnall, Charles E. & Sheldon, F.A.

Nice pic -- 2 boilers, oven with drop door.


Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Island Queen] Open-Front Parlor Stove
January 23, 1855
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Bell, E.
Assigned to FILLEY, Giles F. [St Louis]


Detailed description.


Vedder, Nicholas S. & Ripley, Ezra
Troy
[Magnolia] Parlor Stove
January 23, 1855
Witnesses: Savage, John J. & Bell, E.
Assigned to FILLEY, Giles F. [St Louis]


Roses, diamonds etc. -- boiler hole in middle of top plate.  See picture at top of blog post for patent drawing.


Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Parlor Heating] Stove
February 20, 1855
Witnesses: Hinckley, Joseph & Gibbs, Henry H.
Assigned to NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Philadelphia]



Castings (base, top, door, legs) for circular sheet-iron parlor heater.  A photograph, but serviceable.


Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
Cooking Stove
February 20, 1855
Witnesses: Hinckley, Joseph & Gibbs, H.H.
Assigned to NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Phila.]


Nice the way that profiles of plates are shown on the drawing.


Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Cooking Stove
May 29, 1855
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Nagel, F.W.



Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Cooking Stove
May 29, 1855
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Nagel, F.W.



Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Cooking Stove
May 29, 1855
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Nagel, F.W.


Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Parlor Stove
May 29, 1855
Witnesses: Adams, James N. & Nagel, F.W.



Another fancy 3-bay, 2-storey "cottage."


Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Fashion Cook] Stove-Plate
June 26, 1855
Witnesses: DeWitt, Richard Varick & Miller, W.C.
Assigned to SKINNER & Bros., Brianville, NY


A step stove -- just shows front, side, & oven plates.


Mann, Russell
Troy
[North Star] Cooking Stove
July 3, 1855
Witnesses: Moran, John & Savage, J.J.
Assigned to: EDDY, George W. [Waterford]


"Damper drop door" in top of front plate -- looks like an old Mott-style fuel feeder door; "lozenged shapes" and "rays" form the decorations.


Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
Ornamenting [Reliance Cook] Stove Plate
August 14, 1855
Witnesses: Gibbs, Henry H. & DeWitt, Richard Varick
Assigned to McARTHUR & Co., A.H. -- Hudson, NY


Square Cook -- photographs of base, side and front plates, with doors.


Chambers, George W.
Troy
[Valley Improved, or Queen of Stoves Elevated] Cooking Stove Oven
September 18, 1855
Witnesses: Moran, John & Park, Austin F.
Assigned to PALMER, Peter A. [Leroy, NY]


Elevated oven with very elegant drawings of four profiles of plates.


Wager, James
Troy
[Merit] Cooking Stove
October 16, 1855
Witnesses: McManus, William & Mambert, Ezra


Wager, James
Troy
[Victor] Cooking Stove
October 16, 1855
Witnesses: McManus, William & Mambert, Ezra


Design = "shell work."  


Wager, James
Troy
[Prize] Parlor Stove Plate
October 16, 1855
Witnesses: McManus, William & Mambert, Ezra


Nice pictures, including a cross-section, of selected plates only (top, front, sides).  Gothic, with  shell ornament and even an ornamental boiler hole.


Ripley, Ezra & Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Empire City] Cooking Stove
October 30, 1855
Witnesses: Bell, E. & Park, Austin F.
Assigned to JOHNSON, COX, LESLEY & Co. [New York, NY]


Nice picture -- "isometrical drawing" shows cutaway of the box hearth; p. 2 mentions "stone work" and cavetto moulding.


1856:

5 Improvement Patents (11 percent of national total) and
41 Design Patents (53 percent of national total) 

In 1856 there were so many Albany-Troy patents, and so many of them had poor photographic illustrations, that (1) I have decided not to copy them all, and (2) as a time-saving measure I will post the links to those I have copied and uploaded to Flickr rather than, or perhaps just pending, uploading and copying them in a smaller format here too. 

14278
Burnham, Abner
Albany
Heating & Cooking / Cooking Stove
February 19, 1856
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & Ten Eyck, H.G.

Variation on a standard flat/square cook (anthracite fire) producing warm air -- which can be directed into oven or "upper chamber"; will also "carry off all odors from the cooking articles."  Flickr.


14362
Littlefield, Dennis G.
Albany
Hot-Air Furnace / Stove & Furnace for Railway-Cars, &c.
March 4, 1856
Witnesses: Dennis, J. Jr. & Hollingshead, John S.

Vertical fire-pot -- for "Anthracite and other Coal, Coke, and other Fuel." "Prior to the date of my invention stoves designed for burning coal have failed entirely when placed in railroad cars and other carriages, as the motion of the car causes the coal to fuse and run together, so as to form a solid mass of clinker when the fire would go out."  In Littlefield's the fuel burns in small projections 3-5" wide around the fire pot.  Aware of Gardner Chilson's 25 Sept. 1854 patent ##, claims no conflict.  Flickr.

RE 1425, 186#
Witnesses: Brown, J.S. & Follett, F.A.


15023
Treadwell, William B.
Albany
Cooking Stove
June 3, 1856
Witnesses: Adams, S.W. & Rand, Richard M.

"My invention relates to an improvement in what is known as the rolling oven stove in which the products of combustion, starting from the fire chamber, pass over a plate above the oven, down the back, under the oven, up in front, and then over the top of the oven in a flue space between the top oven plate and the plate above it over which the said products pass when first leaving the oven; but as these stoves have been heretofore constructed no heat is imparted to the oven until after the fire has been so far excited that the products of combustion can be carried entirely around the oven, because when the fire is first started or at any time when the draft is opened directly to the exit pipe the heated products of combustion pass over the top plate of the flue on the top of the oven, and as this flue extends the whole width of the oven, it acts as a nonconductor to prevent the heat from passing through the top of the oven. By my improvement I remedy this defect while at the same time I retain all the advantages due to the carrying of the draft entirely around the oven." 

Unfortunately for Treadwell, the "rolling oven" stove was a developmental dead end down which few makers travelled with him for long.  Flickr.


15952
Pierce, Samuel
Troy
Cooking Stove
October 21, 1856
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & Miller, W.C.

Another idea that didn't take -- lower and elevated ovens.  "In the ordinary way of constructing cooking stoves ... This direct action of the fire upon the plates of which the oven is formed, in my opinion, produces too great inequality in the distribution of heat, to permit the oven to bake or cook its contents properly." "The operation of this apparatus is simple and effective. ... producing an admirable equalization of the temperature of the oven plates adapted to cooking much more perfectly than with the ordinary method of heating the oven." Flickr.


15984
Savage, Silas T.
Albany
Stove & Furnace
October 28, 1856
Witnesses: Bishop, William H. & De Lacy, Andrew

"[F]or Burning the Gases Evolved from the Coals Under Combustion." -- "for heating apartments." Aims: fuel economy -- and for anthracite OR bituminous coal.  Design similar to Littlefield's; also shows it as applied in cooking stoves too. Flickr.


D 764
Pierce, Samuel & Dulley, James J.
Troy & Yonkers
[Gothic Air Tight] Cooking Stove
February 12, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John
Assigned to: COX, WARREN, MORRISON & Co.

FLICKR


D 765
Burnam, Sanford
Troy
[Triumph Parlor] Stove Plates
February 12, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Kinnicutt, Sam A.
Assigned to: COX, WARREN, MORRISON & Co. [Troy]

FLICKR -- Elaborately floral.


D 766
Pierce, Samuel & Burnam, Sanford
Troy
[Magnet] Cooking Stove
February 12, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John
Assigned to: COX, WARREN, MORRISON & Co.

FLICKR


D 768
Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
Parlor Stove
March 4, 1856
Witnesses: Maher, Thos. & Adams, J.N.

FLICKR -- "The nature of my invention will not admit of its easily being described in words..." -- photographs show separate plates only.


D 770
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Governor] Elevated-Oven Stove
March 18, 1856
Witnesses: Gibb, H.H. & De Witt, Richard Varick
Assigned to: TREADWELL, PERRY & NORTON

FLICKR. "Stove being known to the trade by the name of the Governor." 


D 772
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Persian Airtight] Parlor Stove
April 1, 1856
Witnesses: Miller, W.C. & De Witt, Richard Varick

FLICKR -- muddy photographs.


D 773
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
Six-Plate [Wood] Stove
April 1, 1856
Witnesses: Miller, W.C. & De Witt, Richard Varick

FLICKR -- drawings.


D 774
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Box] Stove-Plate
April 1, 1856
Witnesses: Miller, W.C. & De Witt, Richard Varick

FLICKR -- drawings.  Quite plain, neoclassical? 6-plate wood stove.


D 775
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
Cooking Stove
April 1, 1856
Witnesses: Miller, W.C. & De Witt, Richard Varick

FLICKR


D 776
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Ransom's] Elevated-Oven Cooking Stove
April 1, 1856
Witnesses: Miller, W.C. & De Witt, Richard Varick

FLICKR -- very muddy drawings.


D 779
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Sanderson, William L.
Troy
[Congress] Parlor Stove
April 8, 1856
Witnesses: Bell, E. & Park, A.F.
Assigned to: SANDERS, WOLFE & WARREN

FLICKR


D 781
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
Cooking Stove
April 15, 1856
Witnesses: Miller, W.C. & De Witt, Richard Varick

FLICKR.   2-level, 4-hole wood cooking stove.  Detailed drawings, but for some reason marked "Cancelled."


D 785
Smith, Harvey & Sheldon, Frederick A.
Troy
Stove-Plate
April 22, 1856
Witnesses: Warren, Moses & Learned, John F.

FLICKR. Sunburst oven door -- nice drawing.


D 790
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Sanderson, William L.
Troy
Parlor Stove
May 13, 1856
Witnesses: Denison, G. & Savage, J.J.
Assigned to: VEDDER, N.S. [Nicholas]

FLICKR.  Shows the cast-iron parts -- Urn, Leg, Top & Bottom, Door, Register Plate -- for a sheet-iron stove.  The first example I have come across of Vedder's later practice, as a joint or lead designer, of using the assignment process to acquire all rights for himself.


D 791
Sanderson, William L. & Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Enterprise] Cooking Stove Plate
May 13, 1856
Witnesses: Bell, E. & Park, A.F.
Assigned to: SANDERS, WOLFE & WARREN [Troy]

FLICKR.  Nice image including profiles of side and front plates.


D 793
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Western Cannon] Stove
May 20, 1856
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & Miller, W.C.
Assigned to: TREADWELL, W. & J., PERRY, & NORTON

A "Hall & Parlour" stove -- photos show Top & Bottom plates, Leg, Body & Cylinder.


D 806
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Vine Pattern Six-Plate Box] Stove
June 17, 1856
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & Miller, W.C.
Assigned to: TREADWELL, W. & J. PERRY & NORTON

Muddy photographs of end, side, bottom & top plates & leg.


D 808
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
Stove
June 24, 1856
Witnesses: Godfrey, H.L. & Durkin, Jno. F.
Assigned to: NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Phila.]

FLICKR.  Rather nice drawings of square cook stove plates.


D 810
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Sanderson, William L.
Troy
[Royal Cook] Stove
June 24, 1856
Witnesses: Denison, G. & Savage, J.J.
Assigned to: NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Philadelphia]

FLICKR.  Side and other decorated plates.


D 821
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
Stove-Plate
August 5, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John
Assigned to: FILLEY, G.F. [Giles] [St Louis, MO]

Basically a decorated oval 6-plate; murky drawing. FLICKR.


D 822
Pierce, Samuel & Dulley, James J.
Troy
Parlor Stove
August 5, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Lee, A.A.
Assigned to: FULLER, WARREN & MORRISON

Nice drawing -- FLICKR.


D 823
Pierce, Samuel & Dulley, James J.
Troy
[Pride of America] Cooking Stove
August 5, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Lee, A.A.
Assigned to: FULLER, WARREN & MORRISON

FLICKR.  Design elements include "shield, liberty cap, national ensigns, and cannons." 


D 824
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Live Oak Elevated Oven] Cooking Stove
August 19, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John
Assigned to: COX, RICHARDSON & BOYNTON [Troy]

Hart Cluett Museum -- Flickr.


D 825
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Ripley, Ezra
Troy
[Peyton Air Tight] Cooking Stove
August 19, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, John J. & Moran, John
Assigned to: COX, RICHARDSON & BOYNTON [Troy]

FLICKR -- Nice drawing.


D 826
Hathaway, David
Troy
[Laurel] Parlor Stove
August 19, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Savage, J.J.
Assigned to: COX, RICHARDSON & BOYNTON [Troy]

FLICKR.


D 827
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Ripley, Ezra
Troy
[Forest Rose] Six-Plate Stove
August 26, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Park, Austin F.
Assigned to: SWETLAND & LITTLE [Crescent, NY]

FLICKR.  A heavily-moulded, bulging box stove with a rosette on the side panel.


D 828
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Sanderson, William L.
Troy
[La Belle] Cooking Stove
September 26, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Park, A.F.
Assigned to: SWETLAND & LITTLE [Crescent, NY]

FLICKR.  The drawing has "Smith, Brown & Sailor" on it -- why?  These were Philadelphia's leading designers.


D 829
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Sanderson, William L.
Troy
[Emperor Elevated Oven] Cooking Stove
September 26, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Park, A.F.
Assigned to: SWETLAND & LITTLE [Crescent, NY]

FLICKR.


D 839
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Sanderson, William L.
Troy
[Pot-Bellied] Stove
October 7, 1856
Witnesses: Stone, Lucius & Denison, Gorham
Assigned to: NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Philadelphia]

FLICKR.  Drawings, but dark.


D 840
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Parlor] Stove
October 7, 1856
Witnesses: Brazer, C. & Alexander, James
Assigned to: NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Phila.]

FLICKR -- two decent photographs.


D 842
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[The Lotus] Cooking Stove Plate
October 7, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Park, A.F.
Assigned to: MANN, TORRANCE & Co. [Troy]

FLICKR.  Nice drawing -- shows profiles through plates.


D 843
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Advance Airtight] Cooking Stove
October 7, 1856
Witnesses: Denison, G. & Cary, D.J.
Assigned to: GRAFF, REISINGER & GRAFF [where?]

FLICKR.


D 846
Vedder, Nicholas S. & Sanderson, William L.
Troy
[The Amazon] Cook Stove
October 21, 1856
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Eddy, George W.
Assigned to: EDDY, George W.

FLICKR.


D 848
Dulley, James J.
Troy
[Rubicon Franklin] Stove
November 4, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Park, Austin F.
Assigned to: FULLER, WARREN, & MORRISON

FLICKR.  A nice drawing of a sliding-door Franklin.


D 849
Smith, Elihu
Albany
Parlor Stove
November 11, 1856
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & Miller, E.J.

FLICKR.  The picture has some good details -- extraordinarily decorated, more like a cast-iron side-table than a stove, though it does have the usual urn on top.


D 850
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Elevated Oven] Kitchen Stove
November 25, 1856
Witnesses: Miller, W.C. & De Witt, Richard Varick
Assigned to: WOOD, ROBERTS & Co. [Utica, NY]

FLICKR -- a strange cut-out ?drawing.


D 852
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Elevated Oven] Cooking Stove
December 9, 1856
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & De Witt, Dudley W.
Assigned to: McARTHUR & Co., A.H. [Hudson, NY]

A dark photograph -- just shows side plate & front door, front & door of elevated oven.


D 853
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
Cooking Stove
December 9, 1856
Witnesses: Gibbs, H.H. & Gibbs, C.W.
Assigned to: BALL Co., G.W. [Cinci]

FLICKR -- Photograph; Side & Front plates only.


D 855
Davy, John T.
Troy
Parlor Grate
December 23, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Savage, J.J.

FLICKR.


D 856
Davy, John T.
Troy
[The Hercules] Cooking Stove
December 23, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Savage, J.J.

FLICKR.


D 857
Davy, John T.
Troy
[The Patriot] Parlor Cooking Stove
December 23, 1856
Witnesses: Moran, John & Savage, J.J.

FLICKR.



1857: 32 of 76 Design Patents (42%); 7 of 49 Improvement Patents (14%)


16455
Treadwell, John G.
Albany
[Elevated Oven for] Cooking Stove
January 20, 1857
Witnesses: De Witt, Richard Varick & Miller, W.C.

* Flue pipe arrangement and damper for Elevated Oven Stoves -- "continuous and direct sheet flue around the oven securing thereby the simplest and best drafts to the oven flues; ... preventing the radiation of heat from a very large surface of metal, which is injurious to the oven, and a very great inconvenience in moderate and warm weather."

* good DRAWING -- oven does not sit IN chimney, but must mean stove is longer/deeper. FLICKR.


16538
Gardner, George W.
Troy
Grate / Shaker-Bar of Stove-Grates
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Romeyn, J.

* improvement in shaker bar in standard square stove grate


18024
Stewart, Philo P.
Troy
Domestic Oven / Cooking Stove Baker
August 18, 1857
Witnesses: Warren, Moses [pic: G.W. Walker] & Banker, T.S. [pic: T.J. Wiswell]

PIC says "Domestic Oven" -- oblong sheet-iron device DESC "Baker for Cooking-Stove" 

* sits on top of stove -- "whereby I am enabled to bake or roast with more regularity than by any other reflecting baker before known." 


18055
Pierce, Samuel
Troy
Cooking Range
August 25, 1857
Witnesses: Stansbury, William H. & Clarke, Edward

* Double-Oven Cooking Range, firebox on left -- flues for equal heating; good airflow diagram -- FLICKR. 

"...in all double oven cooking ranges with the fire chamber between them the drafts will not be equal and the tendency to heat one oven is greater than the other, to obviate which the fire chamber is put on one side, but with this arrangement the difficulty that I have met with is to bring an active and effective heat between the ovens..." -- hence redesign 

* acknowledges is just a small improvement to an established flue design.


18297
Pierce, Samuel
Troy
Apparatus for Roasting on Cooking Stoves, Ranges, &c.
September 29, 1857
Witnesses: Stansbury, William H. & Clarke, Edward

* Modified version of "old fashioned tin kitchen" -- sits over front two holes "directly over the fire" 

* "I thus obtain the advantage of roasting by an open fire, save the baking room of the ovens and attain a portable roaster cheap and simple in its operation combined with all the other advantages of modern cooking apparatus while the defects of baking meats are avoided. 

* ... some attempts have been made to roast on the top of a cooking stove, but they were always attended with a complexity of apparatus fatal to its introduction..." 


18586
Hyde, James R.
Troy
Cooking Stove
November 10, 1857
Witnesses: Uniac, Ed. H. & Park, Austin F.

* "for Burning Bituminous Coal and other Fuel;" 

* "belongs to that heretofore well known class in which air is admitted into the fire-chamber not only through the grate, but also above the burning fuel, to promote the combustion of the gases evolved therefrom." 

* Improvements: controllability -- so gas burning can be at front of firebox (under boiler holes) or back (to heat oven) 

* NOTE how carefully patent has to be phrased to make claims narrow & distinguish from other gas-burners. FLICKR. 


18859
Pierce, Samuel
Troy
Stove, Cooking 
December 15, 1857
Witnesses: Stansbury, William H. & Filley, William

Good *PIC FLICKR of six-hole stove with his usual curved plate & air chambers 

* "economizing of fuel" & "a more perfect distribution of heat" [air chamber between firebox and _hot_ flue at front of oven] 

* SIX boiler holes + sunk hearth (but not Summer Arrangement) 

* note design of grate & reference to Bituminous Coal (will also burn wood, anthracite as well).


D 865
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Wisconsin Elevated Oven] Cooking Stove
January 13, 1857
Witnesses: Park, Austin F. & Moran, John
Assigned to: NEWBERRY, FILLEY & Co. [Troy]

FLICKR. Drawings. "[T]he peculiarly formed shell like ornament composed of the swelling corrugated surface a, crimped band b, check-work ribs c, and intervening flutes d, all formed and arranged together as shown in the annexed drawings." Feet = shell e, leaf f, and check-work bars g


D 866
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Champion] Cooking Stove
January 13, 1857
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John
Assigned to: WOLFE & WARREN

FLICKR. Drawing.


D 867
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Union] Parlor Cook Stove
January 27, 1857
Witnesses: Savage, J.J. & Moran, John
Assigned to: WOLFE & WARREN [Troy]

no PICTURE.


D 870
Stevenson, J.E.
Albany
Cooking Stove
February 10, 1857
Witnesses: Johnson, J.I. & Comstock, C.

Photos -- OK. FLICKR.


D 877
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[The Economy] Radiator [Todd] Stove
March 24, 1857
Witnesses: Park, Austin F. & Moran, John
Assigned to: GALBRAITH & CASSELL [Jacksonville, IL]

FLICKR. Oval sheet-iron stove with cast-iron ends, feet, hearth etc.


D 878
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Artizan] Cooking Stove
March 24, 1857
Witnesses: Denison, Gorham & Stone, Lucius
Assigned to: PECKHAM, J. & Merritt [Utica, NY]

FLICKR


D 884
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Amaranth] Cooking Stove Plate
April 14, 1857
Witnesses: Moran, John & Park, Austin F.
Assigned to: SMITH & SHELDON

FLICKR -- photo (but still refers to "annexed drawings").


D 895
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Elevated Oven] Stove
June 16, 1857
Witnesses: Kelly, W.S. & Gibbs, H.H.

Photos, not drawings. Not worth reproducing.


D 899
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Elevated Oven] Cooking Stove
June 23, 1857
Witnesses: Kelly, W.S. & Gibbs, Henry H.
Assigned to: NORTH, CHASE & NORTH (Phila.)

Photos of 8 plates -- small, dark, but some definition.


D 900
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Parlor Cook] Stove
June 23, 1857
Witnesses: Stone, Lucius & Colby, D.S.
Assigned to: NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Philadelphia]

Parlor stove, 2 boiler holes in top plate PHOTOS of plates, not drawings, good definition. FLICKR.


D 902
Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
[Cook] Stove-ornament
July 7, 1857
Witnesses: Adams, J.N. & Cullen, John

COOKING stove side-plate. FLICKR


D 903
Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
[Oval Heating] Stove-ornament
July 7, 1857
Witnesses: Adams, J.N. & Cullen, John

OVAL sheet-iron heating stove castings. Muddy photos of 4 plates.


D 904
Vose, Samuel D.
Albany
[Heating] Stove-ornament
July 7, 1857
Witnesses: Adams, J.N. & Cullen, John

"The drawings ... represent the new design I have produced, and are a fac-simile of my invention." -- photos of 2 plates.


D 905
Smith, J.C.
Troy
[Cottage Parlor] Stove
July 7, 1857
Witnesses: Moran, John & Park, Austin F.
Assigned to: RESOR & Co., W. [Cincinnati, OH]

Photo, not drawing, but good-enough quality to repro. FLICKR.


D 906
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Commonwealth Cook] Stove
July 7, 1857
Witnesses: Kip, Leonard & De Witt, Richard Varick
Assigned to: RATHBONE & Co.

Square cook stove -- COMMONWEALTH Extended Fire Chamber, A.T. (Air Tight) stove Muddy photos but FLICKR


D 907
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[United States Elevated Oven Cook] Stove
July 7, 1857
Witnesses: Kip, Leonard & De Witt, Richard Varick
Assigned to: RATHBONE & Co.

Illustrated with a catalogue engraving -- "Arranged with Dairy Top, if desired, and also, with or without holes in Oven Top."


D 908
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Golden Fleece Elevated Oven Cook] Stove
July 7, 1857
Witnesses: Kip, Leonard & De Witt, Richard Varick
Assigned to: RATHBONE & Co.

Muddy photos -- "the annexed delineations"


D 911
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Parlor] Stove 
July 14, 1857
Witnesses: Stone, Lucius & Converse, Henry M./W. [?]
Assigned to: NORTH, CHASE & NORTH

Muddy PHOTOS, apparently of drawings, not plates, but still says "drawings" -- a heating stove, topped with an urn.


D 912
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Golden Era Cook] Stove
July 14, 1857
Witnesses: Kip, Leonard & De Witt, Richard Varick
Assigned to: RATHBONE & Co.

Photo, combining a catalogue illustration with photos of plates and leg. FLICKR.


D 913
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Patriot Cook] Stove
July 14, 1857
Witnesses: Kip, Leonard & De Witt, Richard Varick
Assigned to: RATHBONE & Co.

square flat cook


D 914
Cridge, E.J.
Troy
[Model] Parlor Stove
July 14, 1857
Witnesses: Gay, S.S. & Cridge, James

FLICKR nice *PIC, detailed description [end]


D 915
Hyde, James R.
Troy
[Capitol] Cooking Stove
July 14, 1857
Witnesses: Uniac, Edward H. & Park, Austin F.

Drawings. FLICKR.


D 920
Dulley, James J. & Mann, R.
Troy
Stove 
August 4, 1857
Witnesses: Park, A.F. & Ball, Marcus
Assigned to: EDDY & Co., George W. [Waterford, NY]

Radiator stove -- small photo. Round cylindrical, for anthracite heater.


D 921
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
[Toy Parlor] Stove
August 4, 1857
Witnesses: Kelly, W.S. & Gibbs, H.H.
Assigned to: YOUNG & Bro., Albany

Bulging, fluted design. FLICKR.


D 929
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Northern Light Elevated Oven Cook] Stove
August 25, 1857
Witnesses: Reed, Joel R. & Sparhawk, A.

FLICKR -- combination of catalogue drawing & photos of main plates.


D 930
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Crescent Cook] Stove
August 25, 1857
Witnesses: Reed, Joel R. & Sparhawk, A.

Flat-top, 4-hole stove. Muddy drawing/photo -- FLICKR?


D 931
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Peruvian Parlor] Stove
August 25, 1857
Witnesses: Reed, Joel R. & Sparhawk, A.

Very fancy parlor stove, nice *PIC -- Catalogue illustration + photos of plates, FLICKR.


D 932
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Ocean Cook] Stove
August 25, 1857
Witnesses: Reed, Joel R. & Sparhawk, A.

2-level, 4-hole similar to D930.


D 933
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Evening Star Parlor] Stove
August 25, 1857
Witnesses: Reed, Joel R. & Sparhawk, A.

Very solid parlor stove, FLICKR.


D 934
Ransom, Samuel H.
Albany
[Snow-Bird Cook] Stove
August 25, 1857
Witnesses: Reed, Joel R. & Sparhawk, A.

4-hole, flat-top stove -- illustrations are usual pattern, i.e. catalogue page + photos of plates. Latter not worth imaging. FLICKR.


D 938
Vedder, Nicholas S.
Troy
[Parlor] Stove
September 1, 1857
Witnesses: Ball, M. & Stone, L. [ucius]
Assigned to: NORTH, CHASE & NORTH [Phila.]

Square column parlor stove -- FLICKR. PHOTOS of drawings of plates?


D 941
Gibbs, Samuel W.
Albany
Sad-iron Stove
September 8, 1857
Witnesses: Kelly, W.S. & Gibbs, Henry H.
Assigned to: WINNE & ABEL (Albany)

Very dark photos of plates -- only hearth plate really clear.

1858: 26 of 56 Design Patents (46%); 18 of 84 Improvement Patents (21%)

1859: 12 of 39 Design Patents (31%); 20 of 123 Improvement Patents (16%)

1860: 28 of 72 Design Patents (39%); 20 of 107 Improvement Patents (19%)

t.b.c.

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3 comments:

  1. AllisonApril 21, 2021 at 6:42 PM

    Hello,
    I just came across your amazing blog! I'm wondering if you have heard of the in-situ 5-plate stove at the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum in Frederick, Maryland. I didn't see it written about on your site. It is the only in-situ 5-plate left in the United States. Thought it would be of interest.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Howell HarrisApril 22, 2021 at 2:43 AM

    Thanks for this. No, I've never been there -- will look it up, see if there's a picture of it online.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Howell HarrisApril 28, 2021 at 2:36 AM

    P.S. I did look. All they seem to show is a part of one plate — 1750s I think. Looks like a very fine historic house.

    ReplyDelete

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