Clock, Tall Case

Object Name:

Clock, Tall Case

Object ID:

2019.031

Creator:

Hoadley, Silas (1786-1870) -- Clockmaker

Place of Origin:

Chester, NH (case) / Plymouth, CT (movement)

Date:

circa 1820

Description:

Tall Case Clock. Rectangular painted and grained pine case. Hood with arch and three wooden finials. Rectangular shaped waist door and arched top. Two standing columns on front of case. Hand-painted wood dial: Roman numerals; "S. HOADLEY / PLYMOUTH" painted on circular boss of dial with chapter rings; floral spandrels in corners; masonic columns in arch of dial; pewter hands. Thirty-hour, wooden geared, two-train pull-up weight movement. Cast iron bell mounted above the movement. Signature and date scratched on back of hood: "Caroline Feldham / June 69". Pendulum and two weights.

A. Case
B. Hood
C. Movement
D. Pendulum bob, brass, 3" diam.
E. Pendulum rod, iron wire
F. Large weight, tin canister, 6.7" high x 2.5" diam, wooden plug in top.
G. Small weight, tin canister, 6.5" high x 2.1" diam., wooden plug in top

Material:

Wood
Pine
Metal
Iron
Pewter
Glass

Dimensions:

H-87.5 W-21 D-11.5 inches

Provenance:

The clock movement was made c. 1820 by Silas Hoadley (1786-1870) of Plymouth, CT, and probably sold by a peddler or store keeper to David Porter (1773-1855) and his wife Sarah (Graham) Porter (1784-1851) of Chester, NH who put it in a case of local manufacture. David Porter, the son of Daniel and Sarah Peabody Porter of Topsfield, MA, was a farmer who had settled in Chester during the 1810s. His descendants continued to live in Chester through the early 20th century. The donor was the great-great-granddaughter of David and Sarah Porter.

The town of Chester, where this clock was owned, had been in the 18th century an important center of clockmaking, thanks to the work of the Blasdels who had moved there from Amesbury, MA. Historian Benjamin Chase, the author of the History of Old Chester, discussed the decline of local clockmaking and sales along with the simultaneous influx of mass-produced wooden-works clocks into Chester, where they were sold by peddlers to New Hampshire consumers starting in the 1820s. In Clock Making in New England, 1725-1825, Phil Zea and Robert C. Cheney write about how Silas Hoadley and others revolutionized the manufacture and sale of clocks during the early 19th century. Hoadley was a skilled woodworker living in Plymouth when he was hired by clockmaker Eli Terry (1772-1852) in 1807 to build wood clock cases. Terry believed that the system of interchangeable parts that Eli Whitney had recently developed could be applied to the clock making business, and contracted with businessmen Edward Porter and Levi Porter of Waterbury to manufacture 4,000 clock movements and works in three years. His inventions enabled him to produce, at his peak, about 12,000 clock works per year, at about $4 apiece. The movements were designed for clocks to be hung on the wall, but were often installed in tall clock, standing cabinets. After filling the contract, Eli Terry sold the business to Silas Hoadley and Seth Thomas in 1810. Thomas & Hoadley continued in business through 1813, manufacturing 30-hour tall clocks and adding a new 8-day version to their line. In 1814 Hoadley began mass producing wooden and later brass works clocks, which were shipped and sold throughout the northeastern United States. Silas Hoadley retired in 1849 and died in 1870.

Credit Line:

Bequest of Jane Porter

People:

Porter, David (1773-1855)

Subjects:

Tall clocks