Take a Second: Tall Case Clocks in Early America

While most people today own multiple clocks and watches, only very wealthy Americans in the 18th and early 19th centuries could afford those devices. Tower clocks in churches and government buildings, sundials, and the sun itself informed most people of the time.

A tall case clock is a weight-driven mechanism housed in a tall wooden case that tells time and chimes the hours. The clock movement was usually made of brass and steel with a long brass pendulum and iron weights. Most run for 30 hours or eight days between windings depending on the mechanism.

The weights in the clock's case slowly descend, powering the clock mechanism and keeping the pendulum swinging. Each second-long arc of the pendulum moves the gears forward, advancing the hands, date, and moon dial.

Once the weights fully descend, the clock needs to be wound. Winding the clock brings the weights back to the top of the case and begins the cycle again. Eight-day clocks need to be wound once a week while 30-hour clocks are wound daily.

The dial (also known as the face) of a tall case clock displays the time: hours and minutes on the large ring and seconds on a smaller round dial below the XII. The phase of the moon can be seen in the dial’s arch at the top.

The date of the month often appears in a small aperture (an opening) just above the VI on the dial. The clockmaker’s name and location might also be engraved on the dial, and the two holes flanking the hands provide access for the key to wind the clock.

Around 1790–1800, white dials began replacing brass dials in popularity. Painted on sheet iron, these included all the same information: hours, minutes, seconds, date, and on some, phase of the moon.

Clockmakers either cast their own brass parts or purchased pre-cast elements that they cut, refined, and installed according to their own designs. The gears on most clocks are barely visible due to the solid, rectangular brass plates to which they are anchored.

John Bailey’s clocks are recognizable today for his use of skeleton plates. Skeletonizing the plates uses less brass and was thus more economical for him and his customers.

The clockmaker’s name often appears on the dial, yet many specialized craftsmen were typically involved in a single clock’s production. The names of the brass founders, painters, blacksmiths, and cabinetmakers are often no longer known.

The cabinetmakers who made the wooden cases occasionally relied on specialists for detailed work such as inlay, carving, or brass mounts. Cabinetmaker Theodore Cushing likely inlaid into his case pre-made geometric banding and a decorative oval panel purchased from a specialist maker.

Clockmaker Aaron Williard of Boston labeled this elegant tall case clock on the inside of the trunk door as well as on the dial. As the owner of a major clockmaking business, Willard’s label advertised his wares and…

…included “directions for setting up the clock.” Tall case clocks had to be plumb (level) to run smoothly, so these instructions would have assisted with customer satisfaction both for local clients and those who purchased Williard’s exported clocks.

The “L Lovell” whose name appears inside this clock’s backboard may have been the clock’s original owner. Researchers have identified two Massachusetts men who this could have been based on their name and age: Capt. Lazarus Lovell (1770–1808) of Barnstable and Boston and Lemuel Lovell (1774–1854) of Weymouth.

Tall case clocks were often important family heirlooms. In 1896, J. Webster Hayward wrote the history of this clock's ownership from the time of his great-grandfather's purchase in 1793 from Mr. Edwards at Acton, Massachusetts. Hayward brought the clock with him as he migrated to Iowa around 1880.

The clock stood on Hayward’s Vinton, Iowa, stair landing, as seen in a photo from around 1896. It remained in the family as they relocated to Nebraska and California in the 20th century before being donated to Colonial Williamsburg in 2013.

As cherished family heirlooms, tall case clocks were a physical representation of a family’s history. The name “grandfather clock,” which became popular with the creation of the 1876 song “My Grandfather’s Clock,” fueled the nostalgia associated with these timepieces based on family histories like the Haywards'.