Benjamin Morrill of Boscawen, New Hampshire. An inlaid mahogany case shelf clock. 26230.
This is a wonderfully inlaid mahogany-cased Massachusetts shelf or case-on-case clock. Of the seven examples currently known by this Maker, this is the most elaborate and visually pleasing in terms of the case form and design. It is unusual in that it features an arched dial. This dial is a smaller version of the standard tall case form. This dial form is considered the transitional form. The earliest shelf clock dials were constructed in brass. The popularity of the painted arch dial and its incorporation of it in its use on tall case clocks is undeniable. By 1810 the circular concave dial was introduced and quickly became the standard form. This arched painted iron dial is signed by the clockmaker Benjamin Morrill of Boscawen, New Hampshire. Interestingly, this may be the only example of a Massachusetts shelf clock form having the combination of an arched dial and a paint-decorated tablet in the door located in the lowercase section.
Inventory number 26230.
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.
