Stove Patent Model

Period1842

Place MadeMatawan, New Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumCopper, ceramic

Dimensions4.63 × 3 × 4.25 in. (11.7 × 7.6 × 10.8 cm)

InscribedThe printed paper tag reads "P. Phillips stove Nov. 12 1842 / No. 2831."

SignedThe side of the stove is engraved in elegant script, possibly done by inventor Philetus Phillip himself, "Wood Stove / Philetus Phillips / Middletown Point / Monmouth C. / 1842."

ClassificationsPatent Models

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2024.517

DescriptionA patent model of a parlor stove, constructed of thin sheet copper, molded into a large cylindric compartment with a smaller peaked compartment above, resting on four molded feet. At the front of the stove, a small drawer slides open, lined with white unglazed ceramic. The original patent tag, printed and inscribed in ink, is tied to a small ring at the side of the stove.
NotesThis little patent model was most likely constructed by its inventor, Philetus Phillips. Phillips was born in 1804 in North Salem, Westchester County, New York. He married Elmira Crane in 1833. In the fall of 1836, the couple moved to Middletown Point, now called Matawan, where Phillips took up the position of principal and instructor at the Middletown Point Academy. Phillips taught penmanship and history. Elmira Crane Phillips also taught. Both appeared to be highly regarded. Phillips taught there until 1844, when William Parker took over as Principal. Parker did not teach there long, and Phillips seems to have been rehired as Principal for another period of time. In May of 1868 the Parkers retired and left Monmouth County, eventually settling in Greenville, Greene County, New York. Phillips continued to teach at least for five years, but was later listed in Federal Census records as a farmer. Phillips died in 1881 at the age of 77. The Phillipses did not have children. Phillips held several patents in addition to his stove, including two for a novel way of writing musical notation (#11970 27 May 1856 and #75572 17 March 1868). Phillips also practiced his farming interests while serving as the Academy's principal. He sold silk worm casings as well as strawberry and asparagus plants, advertising all of his items in the local Monmouth papers. One newspaper article in the Matawan Journal said of Phillips that "he possessed considerable inventive genius, and obtained several patents, from which, however, he never derived much revenue."

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