141-C-0704

CLOCK STYLE	Half Column & Splat Shelf Clock
CLOCK NAME	Connecticut Shelf
MANUFACTURE	Eli Terry Jr., Terryville, Connecticut Eli Terry Jr. (1799 -1841)
CASE MODEL #	N/A
MOVEMENT TYPE	Wooden, 30 hour T&S&A, type 1.117 with type IX alarm. After consulting with some other wooden movement collectors (Cog Counters), it was determined that this is a fairly rare E. Terry Jr. alarm movement. There are only three or four of these movements known to exist within the collecting community. C. Brown lent an intact Terry Jr. alarm movement so the parts to restore this movement could be made. The movement was restored to original condition by The Clock Shop in Middlefield, Oh. All missing alarm pieces were fabricated, and the hour pipe was replaced. Top image is movement as it was with clock when acquired. Bottom image is movement after alarm train was restored.
CASE DIMENSIONS & CONSTRUCTION	Base=17 3/4" , Height=30", Depth=4" Stenciled half columns=26 1/4", and do not sit on pediments, nor are there any at the top of the columns. Mahogany veneer, some of which has been replaced through out the years.
LABEL INFORMATION	Poor Label, but still very legible. The paper is lifting from the backboard in several places and will have to be re-glued down to prevent further loss. "Patent Clocks / Invented by / Eli Terry / Made and Sold at / Terrysville, Connecticut / Eli Terry Jr. / Warranted if well used" Printer can not be determined due to condition of the bottom of the label, however it would have been Folsom and Hurlbut of Hartford, as all of Eli Jr's. labels used this printing company. This label was the second of five labels that Eli Jr. used during production. This label states that the clocks were made in Terrysville instead of Plymouth (which was on the first label used). As near as I can tell, this changed happened around 1831, and provides a beginning date for the manufacture of this clock. Terrysville was named in honor of Eli Jr., and is actually a part of Plymouth. The 's' was dropped from the town name sometime after 1872 and from that point on was known as Terryville.
DIAL INFORMATION	Wooden dial is 11 1/2" X 12 1/2", with a 10" chapter ring. Hand painted with Black Arabic numerals and gold leaf & gesso spandrels. The dial glass is 11 1/8" X 11 1/8" and is old and wavy, but does not appear to be original to the clock, it is held in with wood strips instead of putty. Has the original hour and minute hands Image to the left is the replacement dial which we acquired to complete the restoration of the alarm movement.
MISC FEATURES	The clock has it's original round dust covers and tin sheet covering the back of the movement.
ACQUIRED FROM	Online auction, seller from Louisville, Ky.
CONDITION WHEN ACQUIRED	This clock needed some restoration work. The splat, chimney's and returns are not original but are done well and with period wood. The top door glass is not original, but it is old wavy glass. The bottom reverse painted glass is not of the style that would have originally gone in this clock. KL will create a new reverse painted tablet that is patterned off an original Eli Terry, Jr. Column & Splat clock. The dial, weights and winding key all appear to be original, but the dial is not original to the clock as there were was no provision for the alarm movement. The pendulum bob appears to also be a replacement, it has an eagle on it and is inscribed "Liberty", but it appears to be copper. On the positive side, the columns retain their original stenciled design and overall, the clock is very restorable. The image to the left is the clock before any restoration work was done on it.
RESTORATION	October 2004 - Created a new splat from period wood which KL then applied gold bronzing powder on using a period stencil design. March 2005 - Movement restored by The Clock Shop in Middlefield, Oh. All missing pieces from the alarm train were fabricated from an original Terry, Jr. alarm movement which C. Brown had provided. March 2005 - Lower tablet replaced with a historically correct reverse painting done by K.L. Painting done with ink line work and oil paints, pendulum bob opening was done with gold leaf. December 2005 - Purchased an antique replacement alarm weight to replace the missing one. Only item needed to complete this clock is the alarm setting dial. Top image is the new splat, middle image is the new reverse painted tablet, bottom image is the replacement alarm weight. This reverse glass painting won 2nd Prize at the 2005 NAWCC National Horological Crafts contest in Miami, FL. in the Reverse Glass Painting category.
HISTORICAL DATA Waterwheel built by E. Terry Jr. on the Pequabuck rive to power the tools in his clock shop in Terrysville, Conn. Homestead build by E. Terry Jr. in Terrysville, Conn.	Eli Terry Jr. was the first son of the famous American clock maker Eli Terry, Sr. and his wife, Eunice Warner. He was born on June 25th, 1799 and died in May 1841 at the age of only 42 years. Eli Jr. was followed by his brothers Henry in 1801, James (who died at age 18), and Silas Burnham in 1807. Eli Jr. and Henry started working with their father in the clock making trade in 1814 in Plymouth Hollow, Ct. and by 1818 the firm Eli Terry & Sons was launched and operated out of a converted grist mill on the Naugatuck river. Eli, Sr. was 46, Eli Jr, was 19 and Henry was 17 at this time. By 1819 they were producing 30-hour wooden movement clocks at a rate of 6,000 per year with a retail value of $15 each. This firm continued until 1824 when the prosperous Terry's' split into three separate clock making ventures. Eli Sr. partnered with his younger brother Samuel, Henry continued the old Eli Terry & Sons shop changing the name to Eli Terry & Son, and Eli Jr moved to a site on the Pequabuck River, several miles east of the old Terry & Sons shop. Eli Jr. married Samantha McKee in 1821 when he was 22 years old. In 1825, Eli Jr. employed Milo Blakesley at his factory, and Milo eventually was made a partner in the firm. Milo was also married to a McKee, so he was related to Eli Jr's. wife. Eli Jr. produced clocks at this location from 1824 through the spring of 1841 when illness caused his untimely death. This clock would have sold for around $4.50 back in the early 1830's.
REFERENCES	1. NAWCC Bulletin #208, October 1980 "Wood Movement Identifications" 2. "American Shelf and Wall Clocks" by Robert W.D. Ball (1992), brief historical information. 3. "Eli Terry and the Connecticut Shelf Clock" by Ken Roberts and Snowden Taylor (1994) 4. "NAWCC Bulletin #148 - Wood Movement Alarms" by Ward Francillon, October, 1970 5. "NAWCC Bulletin #177 - Life and Times of Eli Terry, Jr., Clockmaker" by Howard G. Sloan, August 1975
NOTES	Talk about surprises! I had no idea that this clock had an alarm movement in it when I bought it. The dial that was on it only had two winding arbors and no mention of the alarm was listed in it's description. It has been a fun clock to restore back to it's original condition.