February, 19 lo 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



63 



because of its resemblance in shape to that in- 

 strument. The "banjo" which Willard manu- 

 factured had a convex glass door over the face, 

 a slim waist with brass ornaments running par- 

 allel 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 in- 

 tended 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 in the surrounding coun- 

 try, carrying three or four clock movements 

 with him, which he sold for about twenty-five dollars apiece. 



The first known Terry clock was made in 1792. It was 

 built with a long handsome case and with a dial, silver- 

 plated, 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 accomplish- 

 ment, is now in possession of the Terry family. 



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 in- 

 expensive case. This 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 un- 



An old banjo clock show- 

 ing the Constitution and 

 Guerriere in battle 



heard of thing in clock-making. The conser- 

 vatism hitherto shown by the Colonial makers 

 had stunted the growth of clock improvements 

 in many ways, hence the sensation produced by 

 Terry's new invention. 



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 an- 

 other space-saving device, as also was the 

 changing of the dial wheels from the outside 

 to the inside of the movement plates. The es- 

 capement 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 pen- 

 dulum accessible by removing only the dial. 

 Thus Terry fairly revolutionized small clock- 

 making, by introducing a new form of clock, 

 more compact, more serviceable, and cheaper 

 than any of the older makes. 



In 1807 Terry bought an old mill in Ply- 

 mouth, and fitted it up so as to make his clocks 

 by machinery. About this time several Water- 

 bury men associated themselves to supply Terry 

 with the materials if he would make the clocks. 

 What with this steady income from machine- 

 made clocks, and the profits from extra sales, he made, in 

 a very short time, what was considered quite a fortune. 



In 1808 he started to build five hundred clocks at one 

 time, an undertaking which was considered foolhardy. Peo- 

 ple argued that there weren't enough people in the Colonies 

 who could buy so many clocks ; but nevertheless the clocks 

 sold rapidly. In 18 10 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 

 I 8 14 he introduced his pillar scroll top case. This upset 

 the clock trade to such an extent that the old-fashioned 



A bureau full of clocks 



Old clocks and old china 



