USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Plymouth > History of the town of Plymouth, Connecticut : with an account of the centennial celebration May 14 and 15, 1895 : also a sketch of Plymouth, Ohio, settled by local families > Part 21
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At about the time last mentioned, Mr. Terry abandoned clock making, and began the manufacture of woolen cloths, just below the village of Thomaston. This business he continued with considerable success up to and through the period of our civil war. About the close of the war, in 1864, he made the mistake of holding on to a large stock of goods for better prices, which declined steadily, and when the goods were finally sold, the loss absorbed all previous gains. After closing up his busi- ness in Thomaston, about the year 1868, he removed to Water- bury.
One of the pleasant incidents of his life in Waterbury was the celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Terry's golden wedding, on the evening of October 16, 1873. At that time, it was stated that of a hundred and fifty friends who were present at their marriage, only a score remained, and that of all the married couples present then, there remained but one unbroken by death.
Mr. Terry's remains were taken to Plymouth for interment. Rev. Joseph Anderson, in a brief analysis of the character of the deceased, spoke of him as a man in whom mind predominated over feeling ; as possessing an intellect strong, sharp, and matter-of-fact ; as an unskillful speaker, but a fluent and pointed writer ; as fond of historical and scientific research; as faithful to his convictions, but independent and liberal, and uncommonly frank in expressing his own views; never in bondage to tradi- tional beliefs, never hesitating to run athwart the sentiments and opinions of others, whether in a political discussion or in a prayer meeting. He had a genuine hatred of pretence and mere sentiment, and a desire that the truth should be proclaimed.
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Henry K Terry, Jr
Dwight H. Terry.
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CLOCK MAKERS.
He possessed wide knowledge-the result of minute research in various fields ; but in two departments he might almost be con- sidered an authority-the history of clock making, the industry to which he had devoted so large a part of his life, and the doc- trines and practices of Congregationalism. There was no man in Waterbury, there were few in Connecticut, who knew more of the Congregational faith and order than he.
SILAS BURNHAM TERRY.
Silas Burnham Terry was born in Plymouth, February 1, 1807. He was married in the year 1832, to Maria Upson, of Wolcott. She died in the year 1863, leaving five children, namely: Caro- line, who married E. S. Beach; Silas B., Solon M., Cornelius E. and Simeon G. In the year 1866 he was married to Lydia Ann Wiard, widow of the late Norman Smith of Plymouth. In 1831 he erected a shop for the manufacture of clocks at the confluence of the Pequabuck and Poland rivers in Terryville, which is still standing.
He was less a managing man than his brother, but a man of unusual and varied intelligence, a superior mechanic, ingenious, and surpassed by no one in his knowledge of the mechanism of a clock. His brother Henry says of him, in an obituary notice published by the Waterbury American of May 30, 1876 :
" After prosecuting the business many years, and making, for the most part, costly clocks, struggling through the financial troubles of 1837 and 1839, when most men not firmly established in business and capital were broken down, he, too, became a sufferer, yet struggled on until he found no way of emancipation from the burden of debt fastened upon him, but to relinquish a business not only not remunerative, but to him disastrous. He had, however, during these years of business adversity, intro- duced new machinery, from which others derived more benefit than himself, and had introduced newly arranged clocks, which have since proved the best in the market. The clock known as the Seth Thomas regulator, No. 1 and 2, is one. It is a perfect timekeeper, and is as reliable, even for astronomical purposes, as the more showy clocks, costing ten times as much. The same clock is also made at Winsted, and by the Waterbury Clock Company. He also made a new gravity escapement regulator, of which we propose to speak farther on." After speaking of the three-legged gravity escapement invented by E. B. Dennison, LL. D., and described in a treatise written by him, he claims that, though different in several respects, the one invented by his brother antedates the former, and says :
"This regulator, when put in its present locality, was kept running four years steadily, during which time its rate of run- ning was very perfect, requiring the use of observatory instru- ments to ascertain the variation at the end of four years. The perfecting of this gravity escapement we therefore claim as an American invention. It has been running five years longer than
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Silas Hoadley.
Samuel Camp,
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CLOCK MAKERS.
the Westminster clock, described in the treatise referred to, and may be seen at the late residence of the deceased in this city.
"About 1852 he invented the torsion balance clock, so called. It was designed for a cheap clock. The movement was carried by a spring, as in other marine clocks, but the balance was a flattened wire stretched from top to bottom of the clock, to which was attached a horizontal rod or wire with a small ball at each end, which by their vibrations served to regulate the motion of the clock and took the place of the hair spring. A joint stock company was formed for the manufacture of this clock, and a new factory was built a short distance below the depot, utilizing the dam built by Eli Terry, Sr., in the later years of his life, after he had retired from business. The directors of this company were James Terry, William E. McKee, Theodore Terry and S. B. Terry. The former was president and financial manager, and the latter superintendent. The clock did not prove a success ; as a consequence the company relinquished the business."
Mr. Terry, however, always insisted that the difficulties were not insuperable, and in the later years of his life, when doing business for himself, contemplated taking it up again and perfecting it. Many will remember the clock, and the beauty and delicacy of its movement.
Mr. Terry was afterwards in the employ of William L. Gil bert, at Winsted, and of the Waterbury Clock Company, and then, with his sons, organized the Terry Clock Company, in which he was engaged until near the time of his death, in May, 1876.
ELI TERRY, 3d.
Eli Terry (3d), the youngest son of Eli Terry (2d) was born in Plymouth in IS41, and is now a resident of Minneapolis, Minn. About the year 1862 he commenced the manufacture of clock springs in the shop built by Silas B. Terry at the con- fluence of the Pequabuck and Poland rivers. Mr. Terry put in practice a new way of tempering, hardening and coiling the springs, and the business was reasonably successful, but an advantageous offer being made by the Seth Thomas Clock Com- pany, it was taken up and the manufacture went to Thomaston. The shop was later used by the Investors' Manufacturing Com- pany of Boston for the manufacture of shears, but the venture did not prove a success.
Since Mr. Terry adopted his process, another of hardening and tempering the springs under tension, and polishing and bluing before coiling, has been introduced and is in general use.
SAMUEL CAMP.
Samuel Camp was a captain in the revolutionary war, was well acquainted with General Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, and rendered efficient services in the cause of his country at Crown Point, Ticonderoga and Staten Island. Four
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Hiram Camp.
Seth Thomas.
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CLOCK MAKERS.
of Samuel Camp's brothers, John, Benajah, Job and Ephraim, also served in the patriot armies. John Camp became a Con- gregational minister. Samuel Camp, after the war, settled in Plymouth and was a deacon in the Congregational Church there. He died at the age of eighty.
The homestead now passed into the hands of Samuel Camp, Jr. He married Jeannette Jerome, sister of Chauncey Jerome, and remained on the farm in Plymouth until 1829, when he moved to Plainville, Conn., where he spent a long life of usefulness. He was a great student of the Bible and had com- mitted not less than half its contents to memory. He died in Plainville in 1876 in his ninetieth year.
Hiram Camp, the son of Samuel Camp, Jr., and Jeannette Jerome, was born in Plymouth, April 9, ISII. Having a taste for mechanical pursuits, rather than the monotonous life on a farm he left home when eighteen years of age, and went to Bristol to work at clock manufacturing with his uncle, Chauncey Jerome. At that time (1829) the clock business was in its
The Seth Thomas Clock Works.
infancy. Since then great improvements have been made, to which Mr. Camp largely contributed, having proved himself an inventor as well as manufacturer. In 1845 Mr. Camp removed to New Haven, where he still pursued the clock business, being president of the Clock Company for about forty years.
His time and thoughts were not all devoted in the one line, he having held several public offices, such as a member of com- mon council, selectman of town, chief engineer of fire depart- partment, and a member of state legislature. The last dozen years or more of his life he was greatly interested in Mt. Hermon's School for Boys at Northfield. He was an active member of the Church of the Redeemer, and one of its oldest deacons. He died in New Haven July 8, 1893, aged eighty-two years. He was the last of the old manufacturers that went from Plymouth to estab- lish large clock shops in other places.
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
SETH THOMAS.
Seth Thomas was the son of James and Martha Thomas, and was born in Wolcott, Conn., August 19, 1785. His advan- tages of education were very meager, consisting of a short at- tendance upon a distant public school. He served an appren- ticeship to the trade of carpenter and joiner, and spent some time on the construction of Long Wharf in New Haven. Leav- ing at his majority with a small kit of tools and a very small sum of money, he associated with Eli Terry and Silas Hoadley under the firm name of Terry, Thomas & Hoadley, in the southeastern part of the town of Plymouth, now known as Hancock Station on the New England railroad, and commenced the manufacture of clocks.
In 1810 Mr. Terry sold his interest, and the firm continued two years as Thomas & Hoadley. He then sold his interest to Mr. Hoadley and came to the western part of the town, then known as Plymouth Hollow, and purchased the site where the case shop is now located, and began the manufacture of clocks on his own account.
He was twice married, first to Philena Tuttle, April 20, 1808. She died March 12, 1810. He was married second to Laura Andrews, daughter of William and Submit Andrews, April 14, 1811, who survived him. She died July 12, 1871. He was the father of nine children, three of whom, and all then living, died in September, 1815, in the year memorable as the one of the dysentery scourge.
The clock business from small beginnings increased rapidly, and he afterwards built a cotton mill and a brass rolling and wire mill. Politically he was a Whig. He was a member of the Congregational Church, and contributed largely to the building of the Congregational Church in Plymouth Hollow
In 1853, feeling the infirmities of years coming upon him, in order to avoid the stoppage of his works consequent upon his death, he organized the Seth Thomas Clock Company under the joint stock laws of Connecticut. He died January 29, 1859. After his death, by act of the Legislature, the town of Plymouth was divided, and the western portion was made into a new town and named Thomaston in his honor.
Six of his children who survived him were: Seth, Jr., Martha, who married Dr. William Woodruff; Amanda, who married Thomas J. Bradstreet; Edward, Elizabeth, who mar- ried George W. Gilbert, and Aaron. At this time, January, IS95, the only ones living are Elizabeth and Aaron.
SILAS HOADLEY.
Hon. Silas Hoadley was born January 31, 1786, in Beth- any, Conn., died December 28, 1870, in Plymouth. He was married to Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Lucina Painter, born October 22, 1789, in Plymouth, who died March 1, 1864. Mr. Hoadley spent his boyhood in his native place. His school ad- vantages were very limited, for at an early age he was appren-
.
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CLOCK MAKERS.
ticed to Calvin Hoadley to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed till 1809. He then associated himself with Eli Terry and Seth Thomas for the manufacture of wood clocks at a small settlement then called Ireland, afterwards termed Hoadley- ville, in the southern part of Plymouth. The village is now called Greystone. In 1810 Mr. Terry sold out to Hoadley and Thomas, who carried on the business till 1814, when Mr. Thomas sold his interest to Mr. Hoadley and set up the manu- facture of wood clocks in Plymouth Hollow, now Thomaston. Mr. Hoadley continued the business till about 1849, when he rented the shops for the making of knives and shears till his death in 1870. By his own efforts he had amassed a good pro- perty by which his family and the public were helped. In a mild way Mr. Hoadley held to his opinion with tenacity, but had the highest respect for other people's, and was genial and courteous to every one. He took an active interest in the affairs of State, town and church. In politics he was a Democrat of the Jackson stripe, and was repeatedly honored by his townsmen, being elected to the General Assembly in the years 1832, 1837 and IS53, and to the State Senate in 1844, positions which he most faithfully and honorably discharged to the satisfaction of his con- stituents and friends. In the legislative halls of his state, his happy way of illustrating his ideas always commanded respect and attention. In religion Mr. Hoadley was an Episcopalian and a regular attendant at St. Peter's Church, of which he was a vestryman, and which was benefited by his counsel and con- tributions and generously remembered in his will. At the con- vention of the diocese he was frequently a delegate, took an active part and was listened to with interest.
Mr. Hoadley was a Free Mason of high standing and one of the most respected and oldest members of Harmony Lodge, No. 42, F. and A. M., having been intimately associated with the order for more than half a century, uniting with the old Federal Lodge in Watertown in 1817. His lodge bears testimony that "his heart was in the right place, with a hand as open as the day to meeting charity. Of him it may be truly said ' an honest man is the noblest work of God.'"
His children were Milo, born July 25, 1809, married Sarah E. Scoville; George Thompson, born September 22, 1811, mar- ried Eunice Tomlinson; Luther Hopkins, born July 29, 1813, married first, Jane E. Welton, second, Ellen Nicholson ; Sarah Jane, born June 22, 1817, married September, 1832, Hon. Henry A. Mitchell, of Bristol ; Mary Ann, born May 4, 1814, married first, September 2, 1836, George B. Seymour, Washington, Conn., second, June 17, George Tomlinson, of Plymouth.
CHAUNCEY JEROME:
Chauncey Jerome commenced his career in clock mading in Plymouth in the year 1818. He was by trade a joiner, and one of the buildings now standing erected by him is the one the post office in Terryville is located in. He began the clock business
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
by purchasing the movements without cases and fitting up cases for them. He afterwards moved to Bristol and carried on the clockmaking business there, where he commenced the making of brass clocks with cheap wire pinion. In the year 1844 he commenced the making of clocks in New Haven, and there prosecuted the business successfully for several years, exporting a large part of his production to European countries. The cor- poration known as the New Haven Clock Company had its origin in the business first commenced by Mr. Jerome. By mis- placed confidence in other men, and by a disregard of rules of safety in pecuniary transactions he was suddenly bereft of his estate, which occurred too late in life for him to recover or to succeed in any undertaking afterward.
HIRAM AND HEMAN WELTON.
Hiram and Heman Welton were two other prominent clock makers in the history of Plymouth. They bought out Eli Terry, Jr., and occupied for several years what is now called the " up- per " lock shop. At the time their business was the most promi- nent in Terryville, and many of the men who subsequently became lock makers were brought to the village by the Weltons. When they failed their shop was immediately utilized for the manufacture of locks. Hiram Welton lived and died in Terry- ville, and both he and his brother Heman, together with their families, were identified for many years with its growth.
In the same building Albert Welton manufactured knobs. He built the house in the rear of the old Mix homestead, which he occupied. He also was prominent in the growth of Terry- ville.
EARLY CLOCK MAKING.
Henry Terry, in 1872, published a small pamphlet on Ameri- can Clock Making, from which is quoted the following :
"Little is known concerning the making of clocks in this country anterior to the period of the Declaration of Independ- ence, 1776. There were indeed a few clock makers in New England and elsewhere before this time. Very few American clocks, however, can be found made before this, and those are brass clocks having a pendulum forty inches in length and vibrating in one second of time and adapted to a long case stand- ing on the floor with a dial six feet from the floor.
" It is not known that any wooden clocks were made before this time, and very few, if any, anterior to the year 1792. The brass clocks made at this early period were all similar to the English brass clocks, and evidently made by men of skill in this department of labor. The clocks are still to be found. The workmanship of these American clocks is not inferior to those imported. An American clock was made in the town of Rox- bury, Mass., by Simon Willard. A patent was obtained on it in the year 1802. This proves what we had supposed to be the truth before, that this kind of clock was an American production,
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CLOCK MAKERS.
and that the art of making clocks in this country at that time was quite in advance of the arts touching other manufactures. These clocks have from that time been considered good time keepers. There is evidence that good brass clocks were made in this country more than a hundred years ago. The same kind of brass clock, with much the same style and form of case, has been made ever since by manufacturers near Boston and else- where. The statement therefore, that has been made in adver- tising circulars and other publications, that American clocks were made wholly of wood until a late period, is not entitled to credit ; nor has the story that 'the wheels were marked on the wood with square and compass, and then cut out with a fine saw and jack knife' any better foundation. It is a traditional fabri- cation-a foolish story. It is wholly needless to give currency to such fabulous stories, and stereotype them as part of the early history of clock making in this country. The clock makers of that age, as well as the artisans in other departments of labor, were not such bunglers as some would make them.
" As part of this history, it should here be stated, that Asa Hopkins, of the parish of Northfield, town of Litchfield, Conn., obtained a patent about the year 1813, on an engine for cutting wheels. This invention was for the introduction and use of three mandrels, by which one row of teeth, on a number of wheels, was furnished by one operation of the engine, a machine still in use, but superceded at the time by a new construction of an engine with only one mandrel. Mr. Hopkins, whose factory was four miles or more north of Thomaston, profitted little by that patent. He had few superiors as to mechanical skill, how- ever, and really did more in the way of improvements in machin- ery, than others whose names have become a trademark for the prosecution and continuance of the business. We speak not here against this use of names. It is right; yet, in giving the history of any branch of industry, it is not right to ignore the skill and enterprise of men who in the early struggle contributed so largely to help along such business."
CHAPTER XI.
LOCK MAKERS.
Troubles Which Beset the Pioneers of the Cabinet and Trunk Lock Business That Was Established in America by Terryville Men of Indomitable Will and Pluck-Sketches and Portraits of All-E. L. Gaylord, the Only Survivor, Lives in Bridgeport.
TO >O Stephen G. Bucknall should be given the credit of making the first cabinet locks in this country. He was an English- man, and had learned the machinest and locksmith trade before coming to this country in 1832. He brought with him a few crude tools, and in company with a man of limited means he began the manufacture of locks in Watertown, Conn. Being unable to continue business because of the lack of funds the firm sold out to Eli Terry, Jr., who moved the machinery and stock to Terryville, Mr. Bucknall being hired to continue making pat- terns by Mr. Terry, and moved into the house opposite the "upper" shop, where he resided until he removed, about 1840, and worked for Russell & Erwin in New Britain several years. Mr. Terry. soon after purching, sold the business to Lewis, Mc- Kee & Co., a company organized for this purpose, and composed of Eli Terry, 2d, John C. Lewis and William McKee, who had previously been engaged in the clock business.
This company was, of course, entirely without experience, and had everything to learn. The managers found themselves ignorant of the nature of their materials and the best manner of working them; and the thousand and one little matters of prac- tice, that seem simple enough now, were the fruits of long, laborious and often unsuccessful trial.
Their workmen were, with one exception, wholly unac- quainted with the business, and he knew only the old English ways, and the tools they made and used were bungling and ill- adapted to the purposes for which they were intended. Their machinery was rude in form and inconvenient in practice. For years after they commenced they had no engine lathe, and such a thing was scarcely known in all the manufactories of the state. For a long time they used only hand presses, cutting out the heavy parts with immense labor, though they were the first to introduce the power press, now universally used in manufactur-
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LOCK MAKERS.
ing every variety of hardware. They imported some of their lock-plates already bent up, for the significant reason that they could import them cheaper than they could the raw stock. The work produced, of course, partook somewhat of the nature of their machinery and lacked finish. Knowing nothing of the de- mands of the trade, they made many goods not at all adapted to the wants of the country.
Thus equipped they made their appearance in a market stuffed with English goods. Here they met with a decided rebuff. It is difficult at this day to conceive of the inveterate prejudice which existed against American manufactures at that time. Hardware men would scarcely look at an American lock, and the man who offered them felt called upon to make a hasty retreat, fearing " extra inducements." The idea that Americans could compete successfully with the English in the manufacture of locks was generally scouted by dealers. A few commission houses were willing to take them, and work them off one by one, but the sales were very slow. The consequence of this, as the reader will readily forseee, was that the company's resources were locked up in piles of unsalable goods, and bankruptcy stared them in the face Such was the position of affairs in 1841, when Eli Terry, 2d, the president of the company, died. In the settlement of his estate, the concern was bought by Lewis & Gaylord. The new company progressed slowly, adding new and improved machinery, introducing styles of locks better suited to the trade, and putting their price where it would meet the English competition. In 1849 Mr. Lewis died, and the Lewis Lock Company was formed, the stock being taken prin- cipally by his heirs and the surviving partner.
In the meantime, Bucknall, McKee & Co. had started the first manufactory of trunk locks in this country. They availed themselves of the experience gained in making cabinet locks, but failed to make the business pay. About 1840, they sold out to Warren Goodwin, who removed to Wolcottville, where he was soon after burned out, and afterwards returned to Terryville. Meanwhile Williams, McKee & Co. had commenced the busi- ness anew at Terryville, where they continued until 1846, and then sold out to James Terry & Co. Each of these companies met with the same difficulties in the shop and in the market that were encountered by Lewis, McKee & Co., and they were barely able to pay their debts and made no dividends. James Terry & Co. added to their business the manufacture of carpet bag frames which was conducted principally at Newark, N. J., and they also made a few cabinet locks. In 1854 the two companies, James Terry & Co., and what was the Lewis & Gaylord Co., consoli- dated and became what is now the Eagle Lock Company. James Terry was made president of the new company, and under his able management dividends as high as 185 per cent. were paid and the stock was sold up to $8 for $1. The stock is quoted now at sixty-seven (par $25), and dividends have declined to twelve per cent., due to severe competition, which the company was unable to check after spending hundreds of thousands of
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