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Lighthouse Clocks
The master clockmaker, Simon Willard, working in Roxbury, Massachusetts invented the lighthouse clock and filed its patent in 1822. A rare clock with only about two dozen known, the lighthouse clock’s typical thirty inch form is usually a slightly tapering mahogany cylinder topped by a glass dome housing the clock’s dial and exposed works. Some cases have bronze mounts, some plain, and some are foreshortened and sit atop an integral square or [...] Click here to continue reading.
Levi & Abel Hutchins, New Hampshire Clockmakers
An apprentice of Simon Willard, Levi Hutchins began making clocks in Concord, New Hampshire in 1786. He was joined in this venture in 1788 by his brother Abel Hutchins, also an apprentice of Simon Willard, and they continued working together in Concord until 1819.
Silas Hoadley (1786-1870)
Seth Thomas and Silas Hoadley worked for Eli Terry (circa 1807 to 1810) during the period when Terry invented the “factory system” to produce large quantities of identical, inexpensive clocks which then could be installed in a case of the customer’s choice (and purse), or simply hung on the wall.
Circa 1810 Thomas and Hoadley bought Eli Terry’s clock shop in Plymouth, Connecticut and remained partners for about three years. Seth [...] Click here to continue reading.
Gutta Percha
Gutta percha is defined as a tough plastic substance made from the latex of several Malaysian trees (generally Payena and Palaquium) of the sapodilla family that resembles rubber but contains more resin, and is used especially as insulation and in dentistry.
Johannes Jacob Guthart (Goodhart) (1779 to 1867)
Johannes Jacob Guthart (Goodhart), the son of Johannes and Magdalene (nee Rightmeyer) Guthart, was born February 25, 1779. He was apprenticed to a clockmaker in Reading and upon finishing his training moved to Lebanon. He established his home and clock business at the corner of Market Street and Spring Alley next to Zion’s Church. On February 21, 1908 Jacob married Elizabeth Uhler. He served in various elected [...] Click here to continue reading.
Gilbert Clock Co.
Clocks bearing the Gilbert label or name began to appear in 1828 when William L. Gilbert and George March formed Marsh, Gilbert & Company to buy their own clock shop in Bristol, and later Farmington, Connecticut. In 1835 John Birge replaced Marsh and the company became Birge, Gilbert & Company and became known for their Empire-style shelf clocks. For a brief time around 1840 the company worked with Chauncey Jerome to [...] Click here to continue reading.
Stanislaus Fournier (????-1853)
Clockmaker Stanislaus Fournier was born in St. Aubin de Cauf in Normandy and apprenticed with the Lepaute firm of Paris. Lepaute sent Fournier to install a large clock in New Orleans’ St. Louis Hotel in 1841 or 1842. Prompted by the lack of clock and watchmakers in the city, Fournier opened a shop on Toulouse Street after his seven month St. Louis Hotel project was complete. Fournier soon relocated to [...] Click here to continue reading.
John Field, Clockmaker
John Field, clock and machine maker, was born in 1756 in Beverly, Massachusetts and died in January 1829 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
From the “Town of Pawtucket Historical Sketch”, 1876, by Rev. Massen H. Goodrich: “…an ingenious clockmaker early in the 19th century by the name of John Field introduced the casting of brass in Pawtucket.”
From the Pawtucket Gazette: “After the Revolutionary War John Field settled in Pawtucket and for [...] Click here to continue reading.
Dudley Emerson
Born in Lyme in 1765, little is know of Emerson’s early years. By 1788 he had finished his apprenticeship and advertised in the Connecticut Gazette that his “Clock & Watch-making & Jewelry” business was open and located “on the road from New London to East Haddam” (Hoopes, Connecticut Clockmakers of the Eighteenth Century, New York, 1930, page 76). Emerson touted that he made “Chime Clocks that carry hours, minutes and seconds, day [...] Click here to continue reading.
William Cummens, clockmaker
Massachusetts clockmaker William Cummens worked in Roxbury from about 1788 to 1834 making tall case, shelf clocks and timepieces following an apprenticeship to Simon Willard. His clocks usually signed “Warrented by William Cummens, Roxbury”. His son, William Jr. apprenticed as a clockmaker with him circa 1816.
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