The Portland daily press., 1896-03-11
THE OLDEST CLOCK.
Once Owned by Oliver Cromwell, Now
in the Philadelphia LIBRARY,

UnCe OWHeu ny OilFer CrOmWeIl, NOW
in the Philadelphia Library,
Another Quaint Old Time Piece With
History-David Rittenhouse Made 1t,
and Ben Franklin Once Owned 1t.
philadelphia Bulletin.)
A time piece that can lay claim to be-
Ing the Oldest in the city and is probably
the Oldest that can be found in the coun-
try, is the clock which complacently
ticks away the hours of the days and
nights in the building of the Philadel-
phia Library Company, at Juniper and
Locust streets. Philadelphia is unques-
tionably first and foremost in it's col]eo-
ton OF historical relics. There is INDIE
pendence Hail. filled with them; Car
penters' Hall has It's share; in the Frank
lin Library we find valuable store
they are in Memorial Hall in Paramount
Park, and. in fact. wherever the sight
seer goes he finds curiosities and relios
Of days Of old. How many of the daily
visitors to the Philadelphia Library
stop to read the legend on the card which
informs them that "this clock was made
for and belonged to Oliver Cromwell,
the Protector" or think of examining
the two other aged time pieces which 90
cupy spaces in the reading room Of the
| library2
Yet the Cromwell clock has been part
of the furniture OF the Philadelphia IL
brary since 1t was presented to the COM
pany in 1893. The remarkable feature of
this piece Of mechanism is that although
fully l4o years of age it still keeps perfect
time.
AN OLD-FASHIONED CLOCK.
The Cromwell clock stands against the
wall on the east side of the reading
room. 1t is wonderfully we'll preserved
| and runs with perfect regularity. 1t is
one of those old-fashioned time-pieces
which stands on the floor, with its face
about halt a foot above the head of q man
of average height. The box containing
the mechanism extends about three In
ches over the four sides of the pedestal,
which has sort OF pyramidal form. The
| pedestal Ia SO constructed as to preserve
| the equilibrium Of the clock. The face is
plain, polished brass, with steel circles
containing the hours in Roman figures.
The minute hand is perfectly plain, but
the hour hand is ornamented nv sort
Of scroll work. There ia really nothing
particularly remarkable about its work
manship or its general appearance. Its
style is familiar to everyone as that of
| the grandfather CLOCK Of ancient date. Its
| mechanism is simple in the extreme,
there being but q few brass wheels. a
| weight Suspended by apiece of Irvine and
a penu ulum.
In very fine script letters at the bottom
of the face is the name of Johannes Fra
| mantech, London, who constructed the
time-piece.
Naturally, the clock has history,
but 1T is no easy matter to trace 1t. On
ly a few details can be obtained, but
| they are sufficient to show that the clock
was once the property of Cromwell.
BOUGHT AT AUCTION.
1t Is interesting to know, of course,
how the clock came to this country. It
Was formerly the property of Samuel
Hudson After his death, in 1893, his
son. William Hudson. presented it to the
Philadelphia Library Company. Tho
great grandfather of Samuel Hudson
one day attended an auction sale in Lon
don. Among the articles under the
hammer Was the clock. The auctioneer
informed his audience that it had once
been in the possession of Oliver Crom-
well. Mr.. Hudson's great grandfather
purchased the timepiece. but neither
history nor tradition tells how much he
paid for 1t. 1t issupposed that at the
death of his great TaEdfathar the clock
descended to SamNe1S Hudsons' grand
father and from him to his father, who
brought 1t to this country. At any rate,
when his father died., he found himself in
possession of the clock, which he priced
very highly. In his will he bequeathed
| it to his son, who presented it to thu IL
brary.
At the lowest estimation the clock is
40 years old, and it certainly carries it's
age well.
OTHER VENERABLE TICKERS.
On the other side of the room are two
other clocks of similar construction.
One was once the property of William
Penn and the other belonged to Benja-
min Franklin.
The Franklin timepieoe recalls to mind
the Oldest clock in the service of the gov
eminent, which stands directly outside
the door of the office of the disbursiDg
officer OF the Postoffi3e department, in
Washington. Prior to the time Of DR..
Lippinoott, appointed dishursing officer
of the Auditors Office b. President
Buchanan, no one had paid any atten-
tion to this clock. 1t was known that
the clock had boon there for years, even
that Benjamin franklin had at one time
owned it, but how or when ir was pur-
chased, no one knew. In 1887, the year
in which franklin was appoin ted post
master at Philadelphia, the post rider
went south from Philadelphia as far as
Newport, v, once month, and north
as far as New York once in TWO weeks.
After franklin had demonstrated his
ability as an organizer he was made an
assistant to the Deputy Postmaster Gen
eral for the Colonies :, In 1853 be and
William Hunter. Of Virginia, were nade
Deputy Postmaster Generals for the Col
onies. 1t was about this time that
Franklin purchased the clock in ques-
ton.
MADE BY DAVID R1TTENHoUsE.
In those days clockmakers were also
the makers of scientific instruments. and
many OF them were astronomers, inven-
-