Miners Candlesticks/Jones Folded

Miners Candlesticks

Jones Folded.JPG - JONES PATENT - Rare steel folding hook and spike model candlestick, patented by John Jones of Oregon City, Oregon, patent awarded as No. 270,316 on Jan. 9, 1883, delicate construction, 7 3/4 in. long unfolded and 4 3/8 in. long folded, clasp gang stamped with patent date, No. 247 in Wilson’s Miners’ Candlestick Guide,ex-Roger Peterson collection [The Jones patent stick is an experiment in futility. The halberd hook as it has been called could be raised to a vertical position and locked by the clasp for hanging the stick but without a counterbalance weight forward of the hook, the candle would tilt backwards. Coupled with the light construction which would appear to not last long in underground use, the candlestick was likely a failure which accounts for its rarity. Four examples of the stick are known including both marked and unmarked versions. One is in the collection of the Oregon Historical Society in Portland and 3 others including the one shown here are known in private collections. An extensive online search for John Jones in the Oregon City locale via US Census, death and other records leads me to believe the patentee is John H. Jones. Born in 1831, Jones travelled from New York with his wife Janse to Oregon arriving prior to 1865. He fathered three daughters and one son and was listed in the 1870 census as a lumber dealer living in Oregon City. At the time, Oregon City was a bustling community being the first city west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated in 1844. As a supply center for the mining, agricultural and lumber industries, its population by 1880 was nearly 1400. Jones filed his candlestick patent on Sept. 25, 1882. He earlier filed a patent for a miner’s combination tool on April 11, 1882. As it happens, somewhat unusually, the two patents were both awarded on Jan. 9, 1883 with the tool as No. 270,315 and the stick as No. 270,316. I have not seen an example of the fuse cutting and crimping tool, but I would hope it was more successful than his candlestick. Jones was not done as an inventor though. On Jan. 25, 1905 while still living in Oregon City, he was awarded patent No. 795,619 for a combination clothes rack, wardrobe and bath cabinet. Jones died on Oct. 12, 1919 and is buried in Oregon City.]

Jones Folded | JONES PATENT - Rare steel folding hook and spike model candlestick, patented by John Jones of Oregon City, Oregon, patent awarded as No. 270,316 on Jan. 9, 1883, delicate construction, 7 3/4 in. long unfolded and 4 3/8 in. long folded, clasp gang stamped with patent date, No. 247 in Wilson’s Miners’ Candlestick Guide, ex-Roger Peterson collection [The Jones patent stick is an experiment in futility. The halberd hook as it has been called could be raised to a vertical position and locked by the clasp for hanging the stick but without a counterbalance weight forward of the hook, the candle would tilt backwards. Coupled with the light construction which would appear to not last long in underground use, the candlestick was likely a failure which accounts for its rarity. Four examples of the stick are known including both marked and unmarked versions. One is in the collection of the Oregon Historical Society in Portland and 3 others including the one shown here are known in private collections. An extensive online search for John Jones in the Oregon City locale via US Census, death and other records leads me to believe the patentee is John H. Jones. Born in 1831, Jones travelled from New York with his wife Janse to Oregon arriving prior to 1865. He fathered three daughters and one son and was listed in the 1870 census as a lumber dealer living in Oregon City. At the time, Oregon City was a bustling community being the first city west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated in 1844. As a supply center for the mining, agricultural and lumber industries, its population by 1880 was nearly 1400. Jones filed his candlestick patent on Sept. 25, 1882. He earlier filed a patent for a miner’s combination tool on April 11, 1882. As it happens, somewhat unusually, the two patents were both awarded on Jan. 9, 1883 with the tool as No. 270,315 and the stick as No. 270,316. I have not seen an example of the fuse cutting and crimping tool, but I would hope it was more successful than his candlestick. Jones was not done as an inventor though. On Jan. 25, 1905 while still living in Oregon City, he was awarded patent No. 795,619 for a combination clothes rack, wardrobe and bath cabinet. Jones died on Oct. 12, 1919 and is buried in Oregon City.]

Original Image

Total images: 342 | Last update: 8/22/20 3:28 PM | Help