Benjamin Morrill of Boscawen, New Hampshire. A cherry case tall clock made circa 1810. ZZ-56.
This a fine country example of a cherry case tall clock made by Benjamin Morrill of Boscawen, New Hampshire.
The cherry case stands up on a cutout bracket base. The four feet retain good height and form a very unusual scrolled apron that drops or hangs below the base section. The waist section features a rectangular-shaped waist door. This door is trimmed with an applied molding along its perimeter. Through this waist door, one can access the interior of the case, where you will find the original drive weights and the brass-faced pendulum bob. Finely reeded quarter columns flank the sides of the waist and terminate in brass quarter capitals at both ends. The bonnet is surmounted with a pierced and open fretwork pattern that exhibits a local design. Three long and narrow-reeded finial plinths support this decorative feature. Each plinth is capped at the top and fitted with brass. Smoothly turned bonnet columns support the molded arch. These are free-standing and mounted in brass capitals. They flank the arched bonnet door, which is fitted with glass.
This iron dial was paint-decorated by the Boston ornamental artist Spencer Nolen. This dial features Autumn New England colors. Pears are the recurring theme. A single large and ripe pear is depicted in the four spandrel areas. These are set on foliage. In the lunette, a full basket of fruit and flowers is painted in this location. A gilt ring frames the outer border of the time ring. The quarter-hour markers are depicted in Arabic numerals. A closed minute ring separates the quarter-hour markers from the hour numerals. These are displayed in Roman font. A subsidiary seconds dial and the month calendar display are in their traditional locations. This dial is signed by the Clockmaker. This signature is located below the calendar date and above the Roman hour numeral six. It reads, “Benj. Morrill / BOSCAWEN.”
This movement is constructed in brass and is of good quality. It is weight-driven and designed to run for eight days on a full wind. It is a time-and-strike design with a rack and snail striking system. As a result, it will strike each hour on the hour. This is done on a cast iron bell, which is mounted above the movement.
This fine example was made circa 1810 and stands 7 feet 9.5 inches (93.5 inches) tall to the top of the center finial.
Inventory number TT-56.
Benjamin Morrill was born in Boscawen on January 16, 1794, and died on April 21, 1857. His parents were Samuel Morrill and Sarah (Atkinson) Morrill. He was their fifth child. The small village of Boscawen is located just to the northwest of Concord, NH. He lived in the house his grandfather, Reverend Robie Morrill, built-in 1769. It is located on King Street. It was the first framed house in that town. Robie was a graduate of Harvard College in 1755. It is summarized that Benjamin was a practical and educated man. His work demonstrates creative skills in mechanical matters. It is not presently known who trained Benjamin as a clockmaker. He was first recorded as setting up a shop in 1816. Benjamin’s oldest sister Judith married Joseph Chadwick. He was also a clockmaker from the same town and was seven years older than Benjamin. On November 22, 1818, Benjamin married his first of two wives, Mehetable Eastman. She was the daughter of Simeon and Anna (Kimball), Eastman of Landiff, New Hampshire. They had two children before she died on July 6, 1828. Benjamin remarried six months later to Mary Choate of Derry, New Hampshire. Together, they also had two children. Benjamin died on April 21, 1857. As a clockmaker, signed examples of tall cases, banjos, shelves, mirrors, and tower clocks are known. As production clocks made their way into his region, he was also known to manufacture scales and musical instruments that included melodeons and seraphines.
A tower clock made by him was set up in Dover, NH, at the cost of $300. It was installed in the 1st Parish Meeting House. The whereabouts of this clock are not known. A second clock was installed in Henniker, NH. The Henniker clock is now at the American Clock and Watch Museum in Bristol, Connecticut. It was given to them by the late Frederick Mudge Selchow. A third tower clock had been originally installed (date unknown) in the 1839 Advent Church in Sugar Hill, now part of Lisbon, NH.
A fine example of a mirror clock is in the New Hampshire Historical Society collection.
