What Is It? #5

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It is a cast iron stove that Dr. Howard Yonet bought at a lawn sale somewhere in the Catskill Mountains around 1963.

Yonet said it was a rusted pot and took him “on and off a year” using steel wool to clean it up. When cleaned and the stove blackened, there is a nickel plaque with “Champion, 1895.” on the nickel plaque. The base notes it is from the Port Jervis Iron Works.

Wood or coal is fed into the stove thru the side door. The top dome swings to the side revealing a stove surface. The stove’s main purpose is room heating.

Port Jervis New York is on the Delaware River at the confluence of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  In 1827, The town built a port on the river and re-named the town Port Jervis in honor of the engineer.

It became an important port for coal mined in north east Pennsylvania, then shipped down the Delaware River to Port Jervis where it was transferred to barges on the D&H canal which brought it to Kingston, New York. From there shipments went down the Hudson to New York City.

Between 1850 -1900 the port and canals gradually became obsolete due to new direct railways and roads to NY from PA. Port Jervis lost most of its transport and commercial business and is now mainly a tourist destination.

Editor’s note: This editor received the following December 1 email from Robert Eurich, the webmaster at Port Jervis:

Thanks for your November 28 piece on a 19th century stove manufactured in Port Jervis, NY. The article appeared today in my daily related news searches. https://www.circlingthenews.com/what-is-it-5/

There are a couple of corrections for your consideration. First, Port Jervis was a “port” on the Delaware and Hudson Canal, not the Delaware River. The upper Delaware where Port Jervis is located is not navigable by the types of boats the canal carried and until the Roebling viaduct was built the only place such boats entered the Delaware River was to cross it from New York State to Pennsylvania. https://www.nps.gov/upde/learn/historyculture/roeblingbridge.htm

Otherwise, along that stretch, the canal itself ran parallel to the Delaware until it changed direction at Port Jervis and headed northeast to its terminus near Kingston, New York, that led to the Hudson River. The canal boats themselves followed the whole distance to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, where coal was transported from nearby mines, loaded on boats there, and then sent back to the Hudson for further distribution.

Finally, the use of the word “confluence” in relation to where New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania meet is a bit skewed. The confluence more properly describes where the Delaware and Neversink rivers meet. The three states meet nearby at a point highlighted in this recent article. https://wpdh.com/why-are-tourists-flocking-to-touch-this-hudson-valley-rock/

I might add that while it is correct to say railroads superseded canals, the D&H company became involved in railroading near the end of the Civil War and continued through various iterations for over another 100 years. Port Jervis itself evolved and became a major center for the Erie Railroad. Today freight trains still run through the city and Port Jervis has a commuter train service to points east and south with transfers available to Manhattan.

Thanks again. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, you’ll be sure to find much of interest in the Port Jervis/Tri-State area. https://portjervisny.com/attractions/

WHAT IS IT?

(Editor’s note: Palisades resident Howard Yonet has an interesting collection of curios from around the world and with his permission, Circling the News is publishing one a week. About the collector: Dr. Howard Yonet was born in Brooklyn in 1934 and attended Brooklyn College. He went to Baylor Medical School and then returned to do an internship at Bellevue Hospital. Yonet completed his residency at the Manhattan V.A. and the Montefiore Hospital. During this time he went skiing in Vermont and the Catskills, and while traveling found barns filled with early American pieces. This led to his interest in American Antiques.

In 1965, he married Daniele, who was originally from Nancy, France. During the Vietnam War, Yonet was drafted as a medical officer and stationed in Landstuhl, Germany (1966-1969). This was close to the French border, which meant he and Daniele and could visit her family.

While abroad, the Yonets took weekend trips through France and Italy, purchasing many interesting pieces at flea markets.

The family settled in Pacific Palisades in 1970 and Yonet practiced general radiology until 2006. He continued to acquire antiques and collectables at estate and garage sales and the Salvation Army Store. He also enjoyed looking for collectibles while traveling in Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Massachusetts. Daniele’s family helped add to his collection.)

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