Litchfield enquirer., 1853-05-19
From Me Boston Trcveler History of Yankee ClOck-Nakinr.
BY VIM. ALCoTT, N. D.

- We take no note of time
 :" But by its loss. To give it then n torouo at Is wise in man." et Forty.f five years ago, a plain man. O To lew words, but great mechanical ingenu d l'y' purchased an old glist-mill in Ply, s mouth. at the south. eastern extremity o IF Lltchtield County, Connecticut, and con.
 velted 1t into Wooden Clock Factory v v The writer of this article. then mere Y child and residing in the neighborhood v distinctly remembers the event.
 } Wooden clocks had indeed been made P long before that time, by Leonard liar. , rlson of Waterbury, Gideon Roberts of Bristol, and perhaps others. They were. however, few in number, and sold at
 enormous prices. It was even said that
 the parts of some of those which were
 hfst made were cut out with the pen-
 Knite' They were, many of them, inserted
 m long cases reaching from the floor
 almost to the ceiliug, and were at hest
 made very slowly. ---------- -
 The name of cur tacitun Plymouth adyenturer was Eli Terry. He prqsGac46rrv at the rate of several hundred. perhaps thousand, year. His stream, how. ever, had many tributaries. All the forest hills and valleys. for many miles around-in some directions from twelve
 to twenty-were ransacked by his neigh
 bors for hard wood, such as laurel (pop-
 ularly ivy.) box wood, sugar maple, &c.,
 whereof to make the wheels, pinions and
 pillars ; and from remoter regions they
 procured cherry and pine for other .pur-
 poses. The fields also, far and near,
 were laid under contribution to furnish flax, whence the cords were made by
 which the weights were suspended. And |then, again, the price of labor on the farms around was raised because SO many young men were employed in connection with the factory, or in selling them in adjacent towns when made. Of these
 last individuals, ycleped clock pedlars, some of the more bold and enterprising ; ventured abroad with their one horse ] wagons fifty or one hundred miles from home. and sold their clocks at the amaz- ingly low price of twenty five or thirty dollars
 The business now rapidly increased ; and Mr. Terry was ere long able to man. ufacture more than thousand clocks a year. The public mind in a Yankee county was not content that Eli Terry should make his thousands of dollars year, white ther Snly ee. an old fasl.- toned living at one dollar day or so; and one after another in the contiguous towns above mentioned, they found their way into the same business. The mania spread further even than Bristol and Wa terbury. It extended 10 Wa:ertown. Litch6eld. Harwinton and Southing!on. Mir. Terry soon sold .out his establish> ment 10 Seth Thomas and S,las Hoadley, two enterprising young mechanics. wto after making such changes and adopting such improvements as enabled them to manufacture several thousand clocks yearly, at length separated, and each had a factory of his own. Mr.. Hoadley re- mained on the olG spot, where he made clocks many years. and ultimately cutle~ ry; but was, in many respects. unfortu. rate, and though he still lives. is far enough from afiluence. His old partner. Mir. Thomas, in lis new location at place called Plymouth Hollow. not only made himself extremely rich, but build ed quite ca city," He has done more good as we'll as gained more money than almost any other mechanic in that region. He has manufactured his thousands of clocks yearly, and it is believed. in some 1 years his tens of thousands: besides much cotton cloth and other goods. The pioS neer in the business. Mr. Terry, with his 1 sons, and other associates, continued to make clocks till the time of his death. | which happened only few years since,
 when at an advanced age. In a pecun> iary view, he was more fortunate than
 most pioneers, though he was never so
 wealthy as some of those who succeeded
 him.
 Thirty years ago, Chauncey Jerome of
 Plymouth, a young man of enterprise.
 also engaged in the business. It is said
 by some that he made his first clock by
 the hand but for the truth of this res
 port I cannot vouch, as the business had
 been carried on by machinery. in that
 town, at that period. more than dozen
 years. But in any event. MT. Jerome with his coadjutors. was destined. as q
 clock maker, to eclipse all his predeces.
 sors. The price of clocks had indeed somewhat fallen before he commenced the business, but only little way. Il , was reserved for this gentlemen to re- ], duce it to three or four dollars.
 Mr. Jerome moved from Plymouth to Bristol nearly thirty years ago. where he 5 remained til nine years ago, when he re| | moved to New Haven, where he still res | sides. He has had many reverses of Tor s tune. but like the fabled Phenix that IT, ses again from it's own ashes. each reverse ], in his affairs has seemed only to increase ,. ,. his energies. He has probably manutac' otooLo all thI