OLD-TIME CLOCKS
There is something quaintly pathetic about an old colonial clock. Its
sociability appeals to all home lovers, as it cheerily ticks the hours
away, with a regularity that is almost human.
The first clocks, if so they might be called, were composed of two bowls
connected by an opening through which water trickled, drop by drop, from
one to the other. Next came a simple contrivance consisting of a greased
wick tied into knots. The smoldering of the lighted wick determined the
flight of time.
The first clock, which was made in 807, was given as a present to the
Emperor Claudius. It was a small clock of bronze inlaid with gold, and
was fitted with twelve small doors. Each one of these opened at a given
time, and allowed tiny balls to roll out, differing in number according
to the hour represented. Promptly at the strike of twelve, toy horsemen
came prancing out, and closed every open door. This was a marvel of
clock-making that attracted a great deal of attention.
In 1335, a monk, Peter Lightfoot by name, constructed a wonderful clock,
which he presented to Glastonbury Abbey. During the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, many and varied kinds of clocks were made, and we
are assured that this was a successful venture, even in the early ages,
from the fact that in 1500 a clock-makers' union was formed.
To one who is interested in the history of clocks, there is no better
place to view them than in Europe, where the most skilled clock-makers
lived during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Marseilles,
Exeter, and Westminster Abbey are the homes of some of the most
wonderful clocks in the world.
Some of the most beautiful of these were made by Chippendale and
Sheraton, the former manufacturing specimens that stood nine feet high
and measured twenty-five inches across. On the door, was placed a
reliable thermometer, while on the inner circle, the signs of the Zodiac
were marked, the outer circle showing the movable features by means of a
sliding ring.
The manufacture of clocks in America began early in the eighteenth
century. Among the earliest clock-makers was one Benjamin Bagnall, who
learned his trade in England and settled in Boston in 1712. A record of
a meeting of the selectmen of the town on August 13, 1717, reads: "that
Mr. Joseph Wadsworth, William Welstead, Esq., and Habijah Savage, Esq.,
be desired to treat with Mr. Benjamin Bagnall about making a Town
Clock," and according to the record in September of that year he was
paid for it.
The earliest Bagnall clock on record is of the Pendulum type, in a tall
case of pine; on the inside of the lower door was written: "This clock
put up January 10, 1722." Another, very similar to this type, belongs to
the New England Historical Genealogical Society of Boston. The case,
though plain, is handsome and unusual, being made of solid black walnut.
Most of the cases, however, were made of pine, veneered. The use of this
wood was characteristic of old American-made cases, while those of old
English make were veneered on oak.
A particularly fine Bagnall clock is in the Hosmer collection at
Hartford, Connecticut. It is a black walnut veneer on pine. A
peculiarity of the Bagnall make is the small dial, only twelve inches
square. Above the dial is an arched extension, silvered and engraved
with the name of the maker. Samuel Bagnall, son of Benjamin, has left a
few good clocks, thought to be equal to the work of his father.
The clocks of Enos Doolittle, another colonial maker, are not numerous
enough to give him a prominent place among the great manufacturers.
Nevertheless, he deserves much praise for the few good clocks which he
has left behind. One of them is at Hartford, Doolittle's native town.
The case is of beautifully carved cherry, ornamented with pilasters on
the sides of the case and face; the top of the case is richly ornamented
with scrolls and carvings. A circular plate above the dial has the
legend "Enos Doolittle, Hartford."
[Illustration: PLATE XLVI.--Willard Banjo Clock, 1802; Banjo Clock,
1804; Willard Banjo Clock, 1802.]
There were many small clock-makers in colonial days, one, we might say,
in every town, who left a few examples of their work; but none of them
left the number or quality produced by the great clock-makers, the
Willards. Benjamin Willard, who had shops in Boston, Roxbury, and
Grafton, made a specialty of the musical clock, which he advertised as
playing a tune a day and a psalm tune on Sundays. Aaron Willard, a
brother, made tall, striking clocks. One of his productions, owned by
Dr. G. Faulkner of Boston, has run for over one hundred and twenty
years. On the inside of the case is written: "The first short timepiece
made in America, 1784." It is a departure from the ordinary Aaron
Willard clock, because it is so short. The case of mahogany stands only
twenty-six inches high; and there are scroll feet, turning back. A
separate upper part, with ogre feet, which can be lifted off, contains
the movements. Simon Willard, another brother, in 1802 patented the
"Improved timepiece" which later was known as the "banjo" because of its
resemblance in shape to that instrument. The "banjo" which Willard
manufactured had a convex glass door over the face, a slim waist with
brass ornaments running parallel to the curve of the box, and a
rectangular base, which was sometimes built with legs for a shelf,
sometimes with an ornamental bracket on the bottom, in which case the
clock was intended for the wall. The construction of these clocks was
simple; the works were of brass, and capable of running eight or nine
days. There was no strike, but this clock was a favorite, because of its
accuracy.
Hardly less famous than the Willards was Eli Terry, born April, 1773,
in East Windsor, Connecticut. Before he was twenty-one, he was
recognized as having unusual ingenuity at clock-making. He had learned
the trade from Thomas Harland, a well-known clock-maker of the times,
had constructed a few old-fashioned hanging clocks and sold them in his
own town. He moved to Plymouth and continued to make clocks, working
alone till 1800, when he hired a few assistants. He would start about a
dozen movements at a time, cutting the wheels and teeth with saw and
jack-knife. Each year he made a few trips through the surrounding
country, carrying three or four clock movements which he sold for about
twenty-five dollars apiece.
Felt tells in his annals that "in 1770, Joseph Hiller moved from Boston
to Salem and took a shop opposite the courthouse on the exchange." Later
on, in 1789, we learn that Samuel Mullikin made an agreement to barter
clocks for both English and West Indies goods, and also in exchange for
country produce. So popular did they become that we learn that in 1844
there were in Salem ten clock-makers and eleven jewelers all working at
this trade.
While the colonists still imported many of their clocks, yet in 1800
clock-making had become such a thriving industry that wooden cases were
constantly being made, the manufacture of the works being a separate
field.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVII.--English Grandfather's Clock, William Dean
Howells; Collection of Old Clocks, property of Mr. Mills, Saugus, Mass.;
Grandfather's Clock, formerly owned by President Franklin Pierce.
Property of Mrs. Charles Stark.]
One of the most interesting is a tall grandfather's clock, showing the
moon above the face, at the Stark house in Dunbarton. This clock
formerly stood in the old Governor Pierce mansion at Hillsboro. It is
very handsome, showing fine inlaid work on the case.
Varied in shape and size were the numerous clocks which were found in
colonial homes in New England. They ranged from the tall grandfather's
clock to the smaller wall and bracket pieces. One kind that was in use,
though rarely seen to-day, is the table clock, a type highly prized by
the colonists, and recorded as a fine timekeeper.
By the early nineteenth century we find the making of American clocks
had become so universal that they were to be found not only in many New
England houses, but throughout the South and Middle states as well. Many
of the rarest and oldest were at the plantation manors of Virginia and
Kentucky as well as in New England.
There are to-day in many houses colonial clocks valued not only for
their worth, but for association's sake. One of these is in the home of
Mr. John Albree at Swampscott, Massachusetts. It is considered one of
the oldest of its kind in the United States, and was brought from
England in the year 1635 by one John Albree, and has been in the family
ever since. It is known as the weaver's clock, and has one hand only.
These clocks are very rare, only a very few being known of.
Singularly enough, few people, even those who are the most interested in
clocks and their making, know much about their early history and
construction. The purchase of a clock at the present time means not only
the case, but the entire works as well. It was, however, far different
in the early days, at least while the tall clocks were so popular.
Transportation was difficult, so the clock peddlers contented themselves
by slinging half a dozen clock movements over the saddle and starting
out to find purchasers. After the works were purchased, and the family
felt they had twenty pounds to spare, they called in a local
cabinet-maker, and often the whole of the amount went into the making of
the case. Naturally, a certain-shaped case was made to fit a certain
movement, so that definite types of clocks were found, but it must be
remembered that the case gave no indication of the period of the maker
of the movements.
[Illustration: PLATE XLVIII.--General Stephen Abbot Clock; Terry Shelf
Clock, 1824; English Clock, with Ball ornamentation.]
One of the first types of clocks made in America was the wall clock.
This was set on a shelf through which slits were cut for the pendulum
and weight cords to fall. These were known as "lantern," "bird cage," or
"wag-at-the-wall," later replaced by the more imposing "Grandfather,"
which served a double duty as timekeeper and as one of the "show pieces"
of furniture.
The first known Terry clock was made in 1792. It was built with a long,
handsome case and with a silver-plated dial, engraved with Terry's name.
This clock, just as it was when Eli Terry set it going for the first
time with all the pride which he must have had in his first
accomplishment, is now in the possession of the Terry family.
There was an interesting clock of this type in the General Stephen Abbot
house on Federal Street, Salem, and another is still in the possession
of Mr. Henry Mills of Saugus, Massachusetts.
Terry introduced a patent shelf clock, with a short case. This made the
clock much more marketable, because it was short enough to allow of easy
transportation and at the same time offered the inducement of a
well-made and inexpensive case.
The patent shelf clock was a surprise to the rivals of Terry, because
this change in construction had produced an absolutely new and improved
model,--an unheard-of thing in clock making. The conservatism before
shown by the colonial makers had stunted the growth of clock
improvements in many ways, hence Terry's new invention produced a
sensation.
The change was such as to allow the play of weights on each side and the
whole length of the case. The placing of the pendulum, crown wheel, and
verge in front of the wheels, and between the dial and the movement, was
another space-saving device, as was also the changing of the dial wheels
from the outside to the inside of the movement plates. The escapement
was transferred by hanging the verge on a steel pin, instead of on a
long, heavy shaft inside the plates. This allowed the clock to be
fastened to the case in back, making the pendulum accessible by removing
only the dial. Thus Terry fairly revolutionized small-clock making, by
introducing a new form, more compact, more serviceable, and cheaper than
any of the older makes.
In 1807 Terry bought an old mill in Plymouth and fitted it up so as to
make his clocks by machinery. About this time several Waterbury men
associated themselves to supply Terry with the materials, if he would
make the clocks. With this steady income from machine-made clocks, and
the profits from extra sales, he made, in a very short time, what was
then considered quite a fortune.
In 1808 he started five hundred clocks at once,--an undertaking which
was considered foolhardy. People argued that there weren't enough people
in the colonies to buy so many clocks, but nevertheless the clocks sold
rapidly. In 1810 Terry sold out to Seth Thomas and Silas Hoadley, two of
his head workmen. The new company was a leader in colonial clock
manufacturing for a number of years, until competition brought the
prices of clocks down to five and ten dollars.
All these years Terry had been experimenting, and in 1814 he introduced
his pillar scroll top case. This upset the clock trade to such an extent
that the old-fashioned hanging, wooden clocks, which hitherto had been
the leading type, were forced out of existence. The shape of the scroll
top case is rectangular, the case, with small feet and top, standing
about twenty-five inches high. On the front edges of the case are
pillars, twenty-one inches long, three quarters of an inch in diameter
at the base, and three eighths at the top, having, as a rule, square
bases. The dial, which takes up a half or more of the whole front, is
eleven inches square, while below is a tablet about seven by eleven
inches. The dial is not over-ornamental and has suitable spandrels in
the corners. The scroll top is found plain as well as highly carved, but
always the idea of the scroll is present.
Terry sold the right to manufacture the clock to Seth Thomas for a
thousand dollars. At first they each made about six thousand clocks a
year, but later increased the output to twelve thousand. The clocks were
great favorites and sold easily for fifteen dollars each.
Another conservatism of the colonial clock-makers was the sharp division
which they made between the use of wood and brass in the manufacture of
the movements. The one-day clocks were made of wood throughout, and this
prevented their use on water or even their exportation, because the
works would swell in the dampness and render the clock useless. The
eight-day clocks were made of brass, but the extra cost of the
movements sufficient to make the clock run eight days excluded many
people, who had to remain content with the one-day clock.
It was not till 1837 that it occurred to any of these ingenious makers
of timepieces to produce a one-day clock out of brass. To Chauncey
Jerome, the first exporter of clocks from America to England in the year
1824, the honor was reserved of applying the principle of the cheap wire
pinion to the brass, one-day clock. Thus began the revolution of
American clock manufacturing, which has placed this country before all
the world as a leader in cheap and accurate watch and clock making.
The whirr and bustle of hundreds of factories of to-day, which
manufacture watches and clocks at an output of thousands per year, is a
strong contrast to the slow and laborious construction of the old
colonial clocks. And not only is there a contrast in their manufacture,
but when one compares the finished products of the year 1700 and 1900
side by side, one is conscious of conflicting emotions. There is
naturally a decided feeling of admiration for the artistically designed
timepiece of the twentieth century on the one hand, and, on the other,
an irresistibly sentimental sensation when standing before a dignified,
ancient, tall clock, on the door of which one reads:--
"I am old and worn as my face appears,
For I have walked on time for a hundred years,
Many have fallen since my race began,
Many will fall ere my race is run.
I have buried the World with its hopes and fears
In my long, long march of a hundred years."