The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-08-10
History of Yankee Clock-Maiing.
BY WIN. ALCoTT, NJ. d.

Forty FIVE years ago, plain man, of
few words, but great mechanical ingenu-
ity, purchased mn old grist-mill in Plym-
outh, at the southeastern extremity of
LitchGcld County. Connecticut, and
converted it into Wooden Clock Fac
tory. The writer of this article, then
mere child, and residing In the neigh
borhood, distinctly remembers the event |
Wooden clocks had indeed been made |
long before that time, by Leonard Har
rison of Waterbury, Gideon Roberts of
Bristol, and perhaps others They were,
however, few in number. and sold at
enormous prices. 1t was even said that
the parts Of some of those which were
| first made, were cut out with the pen
kuife They were, many of thom. inser-
ted in long cases reaching from the floor
almost to the ceiling, and were at best
made very slowly.
The name of our tacturn Plymouth
adventurcr was Eli Terry. lie proceed
ed to manufacture clocks, at his new fac
tory at the rate of several hundred, per-
baps thousand, a year. His stream,
however had many tributaries. All the
forest hills and valleys, for many miles
around--in some directions from twelve
to twenty--wcre ransacked by his neigh
bors for hard wood, such as laurel (pCp-
ularly iry) box wood sugar maple, sc,
whereof to make the wheels piuious and
pillars and from rcmoter regions they
procured cherry and pine for other pur
poses. The fields, also, far and near,
were laid under contribution to furnish
fax. whence the cords were made by
which the weights we're suspended. And
then, again. the price of labor on the
farms around was raised, because so
| many young men were employed in con
! ncction with the factory, or in selling
clocks in adjacent towns when made. OF
: these last individuals, yelped clock ped
y lars, some of the more bold and enter
!, prising ventured abroad with their one
horse wagons fifty or one hundred miles
7 from home, and sold their clocks at the
amazingly low price of twenty-five OIL
thirty dollars
n The business now rapidly increased
d and Mr.. Terry was ere long able to man
y ufacturc more than thousand clocks
r. year. The public mind, in Yankee
Il county, was not content that Eli Terry
l should make his thousands of dollars ,
=. year,whilc others only got an old fashion
y ed living at one dollar a day or so ant
Il one after another in the contiguous town
q. above mentioned, they found their way
d into the same business. The manii
n spread further even than Bristol an,
10 Waterbury. 1t extended to Watertown
of Litchfeld, Harwlnton and Southington
,e Mr. Terry soon sold out his cstab
ir lshment to Seth Thomas and Sila
10 Hoadley, two enterprising young me
vt chanics who after making such change
in aud adopting such improvements as Gu
a. abled them to manufacture several thou
1T sand clocks yearly, at length separated
IL. and each had factory of his own. Nj
ie Hoadley remained on the old spot,wher
al he made clocks many years, and ulti
Ii mately cutlery but was, in many res
re poets, unfortunate, and though he still
h. lives, is far enough from afflueEce. Hi
IN old partner, Mr.. Thomas, in his now lc
in cation at Il place called Plymouth Hol
I'd low, not only made himself extrcmel
b. rich, but builded quite " city" n
,'~ro naS uVno onn o hsu "In,as, u au o,Ion 81 " az
| chanic in that region. lie has manufaC
. sr nS :, hoI;onaJ i, ao ,o.A ~
II - ,hn,"onSs. ha,;das ,'',oH - o ~
o. and other goods. The pioneer in tn
81 ounn I assaa;,,os oon,;aua1 % ' ,o"' ,,',. "I
o." OIa"l.s ~ ~" 80 oT h;1 Joat ,rh;~ ii~
.UenT ,,""norod I onIy fow ronr. % s;nno "Jo 'rho
u "sir o,ironooI oao In noo,n;an,
&c ,';o" 10 was uaro f,r,nrato Han "n:,
y ,,;onoors thounL hc was novcr 90 woal,L,
III psOnSU ~ tn,'o 81 ,I'osa Who snoo,odo1 H.,
Ill Th;n,r roars ro Channoov -
II of pIrn,o.,L vernc conn m.n Of crtcrnr;ao ay,n
ic Oisa cDmaond i; ,Lo i;,s;mose n T. - 30; 20.
Is d" eo son'o H. H. ho n.do lie lr., olao,, I h'
y 10 Innd hut for ,Lo tru,b os Ills ~ ~
p p'o nov, - 7 canrot T voucb as tho business ha' 80
~ foou oorr;eJ On hv moch;nory ~ ,ha da'
~ .o. ,eur -. 49,, 'a.;cI ',,amo u,ay - Wv
r. r so"n, R", ,m IL 80, anT onon, n W Mn ,a.o uo1ul
yhi y,n;sh l.. oona;r.ar: NV % jos,;no 49, s''o''e
e WI ~ us 80 "" ~, I,Ia, I'n 10
sauS aA IT, nm &c. " IS nIoo,s M he. ;uees $3.50
10 So.o.,.. g. h. h. Iae'o IS ~ naa ."aoe,
LI" ,In t"s;nosS n". | bn, oniv = Tt,is 'IS n", 7
."o ' D"s' nsor,~i So. fos ,IS ~ a,, ",e,O way
r waS te'.l W. W 's," sonti.naA iu W ~
uuS5 A. ~ foS " e"Ioo 1 - ioI, sS, "oip,s. p,.,
I. p:, nt 'o'oIie i aiGseu .i; no'n :, 'iou,u U
~ =, h,''a'o' Hs"l' I'm - a; y& & "so, "n0i'
l. W VA, "'"N "S,i ""v'