Oilwick Lamps/Davis & Magee Internal Reservoir

Oilwick Lamps

Davis & Magee Internal Reservoir.JPG - DAVIS & MAGEE - Very rare take apart tin wick lamp marked faintly on outside fontDAVIS & MAGEE PAT’D OCT 14, 1879, this lamp looks like a typical tin drivers lamp with a screw on lid until one realizes that the top screw on lid and shoulderare attached to a separate internal reservoir that lifts out of the external font, the internal font is equipped with a brass screw on wick holder on the bottom with a separate wick; an additional wick that feeds the spout is inside the external font; patented on October 14, 1879 by John O. Davies, John O. Jones and Timothy Thomas, all of Plymouth, PA as Patent No. 220,582, filed on Oct. 19, 1878; Jones assigned his share to Davies and Thomas assigned his share to Henry Coffin Magee also of Plymouth; assembled lamp is 2 3/4 in. tall to lid, 1 5/8 in. base dia. and 3 1/2 in. single spout, internal font from lid to brass wick holder is 2 1/4 in. tall, screw lid top is 1 in. in dia. and is marked with the script shield CFJ for Consolidated Fruit Jar Company with 1858 and 1872 patent dates, ex-Bob Guthrie collection, unfired condition [Very little is known of John Davies other than the Davies family was well known in Plymouth and worked in the mines. The same is true of John Jones and Timothy Thomas. It is interesting to note that Davies name was misspelled in the lamp stamping. However H. C. Magee is a notable person in the history of Plymouth. Henry Coffin Magee was born in Carroll Township, Pa. in 1848, son of Richard L. Magee who was a carpenter and wife Margaret. Magee graduated from the State Normal School, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1871. He taught school and was the principal of the public schools of Plymouth from 1871-1876. He was admitted to the Luzerne County Bar in October 1875, and began to practice law. In 1880, he was an attorney and lived at 115 Main St. in Plymouth. That year he was elected burgess, the ninth to hold the office. He was a member of the Pennsylvania state legislature between 1885-1886. Magee died at Plymouth on April 27, 1888. It is presumed that Magee either purchased Thomas’s share of the patent or received it as compensation for legal work. The Davis & Magee patent lamp is quite rare with less than a handful of known examples in collections. Of the 136 miners' oil wick lamp patents, this one is the only patent that features two fuel reservoirs. Although the patent claims for the lamp emphasize safety in that the fuel in the reservoir is protected from the flame and explosion (stated claims), it’s hard to see how the dual reservoirs and dual wicks isolated the fuel from the flame any more than the typical oil wick lamp. The extra expense of making the separate reservoir and soldering a screw on brass wick holder to the bottom certainly limited the market for the lamp. That in itself probably accounts for how few of these lamps were made and how few have survived.]

Davis & Magee Internal Reservoir | DAVIS & MAGEE - Very rare take apart tin wick lamp marked faintly on outside font DAVIS & MAGEE PAT’D OCT 14, 1879, this lamp looks like a typical tin drivers lamp with a screw on lid until one realizes that the top screw on lid and shoulder are attached to a separate internal reservoir that lifts out of the external font, the internal font is equipped with a brass screw on wick holder on the bottom with a separate wick; an additional wick that feeds the spout is inside the external font; patented on October 14, 1879 by John O. Davies, John O. Jones and Timothy Thomas, all of Plymouth, PA as Patent No. 220,582, filed on Oct. 19, 1878; Jones assigned his share to Davies and Thomas assigned his share to Henry Coffin Magee also of Plymouth; assembled lamp is 2 3/4 in. tall to lid, 1 5/8 in. base dia. and 3 1/2 in. single spout, internal font from lid to brass wick holder is 2 1/4 in. tall, screw lid top is 1 in. in dia. and is marked with the script shield CFJ for Consolidated Fruit Jar Company with 1858 and 1872 patent dates, ex-Bob Guthrie collection, unfired condition [Very little is known of John Davies other than the Davies family was well known in Plymouth and worked in the mines. The same is true of John Jones and Timothy Thomas. It is interesting to note that Davies name was misspelled in the lamp stamping. However H. C. Magee is a notable person in the history of Plymouth. Henry Coffin Magee was born in Carroll Township, Pa. in 1848, son of Richard L. Magee who was a carpenter and wife Margaret. Magee graduated from the State Normal School, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1871. He taught school and was the principal of the public schools of Plymouth from 1871-1876. He was admitted to the Luzerne County Bar in October 1875, and began to practice law. In 1880, he was an attorney and lived at 115 Main St. in Plymouth. That year he was elected burgess, the ninth to hold the office. He was a member of the Pennsylvania state legislature between 1885-1886. Magee died at Plymouth on April 27, 1888. It is presumed that Magee either purchased Thomas’s share of the patent or received it as compensation for legal work. The Davis & Magee patent lamp is quite rare with less than a handful of known examples in collections. Of the 136 miners' oil wick lamp patents, this one is the only patent that features two fuel reservoirs. Although the patent claims for the lamp emphasize safety in that the fuel in the reservoir is protected from the flame and explosion (stated claims), it’s hard to see how the dual reservoirs and dual wicks isolated the fuel from the flame any more than the typical oil wick lamp. The extra expense of making the separate reservoir and soldering a screw on brass wick holder to the bottom certainly limited the market for the lamp. That in itself probably accounts for how few of these lamps were made and how few have survived.]

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