David I. Stagg from New York received a U.S. patent for an improved seat and desk. Patent no. 58908 was issued on October 16, 1866.
This model functions as a seat and desk or simply as a seat. This is accomplished by a design allowing the desk to be placed to the side. The desk is made of a dark, unpolished, red-tinted wood with brass tacks and a junction for the desk that is on a metal rod. There is storage available under the seat. here are no curves for back support, and the seat is on a completely wooden foundation. It is meant to accommodate both children and adults.
David I. Stagg was born September 6, 1816 in Patterson, New Jersey. For fifty years he served as an apprentice and journeyman in the New York school system. In his last post he served the New York City Board of Education as Superintendent of School Buildings, overseeing school construction from 1872-1886. The museum owns four of his school desk patent models. He died May 11, 1886.