62 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 1910 



Old Time Clocks and 

 Their Makers 



... By ... 



Mary H. Northend 



EW people, even admirers of clocks, possess 

 much, if any knowledge of their history, 

 makers and construction. Nowadays the 

 purchase of a clock naturally implies that 

 the clock-case goes with the movement, 

 but in the Colonial times few people 

 bought works and case as one article, at 

 least, not while the large clocks were in use. Transporta- 

 tion was difficult, so the clock pedlers contented themselves 

 with slinging a half a dozen clock 

 movements over their saddles and 

 setting forth to find purchasers. 

 When a family could spare the 

 twenty pounds for a "grandfather" 

 clock movement, the local cabinet- 

 maker was called in, and often an- 

 other twenty pounds was spent for 

 the case. Of course, certain shaped 

 movements required certain shaped 

 cases, so that definite types of clocks 

 are found; but the case is by no means 

 a guide to the make of. the move- 

 ments. 



The first type of American clocks 

 was the wall clock, set on a shelf 

 through which slits were cut for the 

 pendulum and weight cords. These 

 were known as "lantern," "bird- 

 cage," or "wag-at-the-wall," and 

 were replaced by the more imposing 

 "grandfather," which served a double 

 duty of timekeeper, and, as a rule, 

 the show piece of furniture. 



Among the early clock-makers of 

 Colonial days was Benjamin Bagnall, 

 who learned his trade in England and 

 settled in Boston in 17 12. A record 

 of a meeting of the selectmen of that 



town, August 13, 1 7 17, reads "That Mr. Joseph Wads- 

 worth, Willm. Welsted, Esq., and Habijah Savage, Esq., 

 be desired to Treat with Mr. Benj. Bagnall About makeing 

 a Town Clock," and according to a 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. The original case, of pine, is gone, 

 though on the inside of the lower door was written: "This 

 clock put up January 10, 1722." Another of his clocks, 

 and very similar to the first, belongs to the New England 

 Historical Genealogical Society of Boston. The case, 

 though plain, is handsome, and rather unusual, because it 



An old French clock in the author's collection 



is solid black walnut. In most of the cases a veneer was 

 put on over pine. The use of a pine body is characteristic 

 of old American cases, while the old English cases were 

 veneered on oak. 



A particularly fine Bagnall clock is in the Hosmer col- 

 lection at Hartford. 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 exten- 

 sion, 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, an- 

 other Colonial maker, are not nu- 

 merous enough to give liim a prom- 

 inent place among the great early 

 manufacturers. Nevertheless, he de- 

 serves great 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 beauti- 

 fully carved cherry, ornamented with 

 pilasters on the sides of the case and 

 face. A circular plate above the dial 

 has the legend, "Enos Doolittle, 

 Hartford." The top of the case is 

 richly ornamented with scrolls and 

 carvings." 



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, however, owned by Dr. G. Faulkner of Bos- 

 ton, 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 or- 

 dinary Aaron Willard clock, because it is so short. The 

 case of mahogany stands only twenty-six inches high. There 

 are scroll feet, turning back. A separate upper part, with 

 ogee feet, which can be lifted off, contains the movement. 

 Simon Willard, another brother, in 1802 patented the "im- 

 proved timepiece," which later was known as the "banjo," 



