Abijah Goold (Gould) (1777-1848), Hollis, New Hampshire. Clockmaker, watchmaker, and repairman.

Abijah Goold was born on May 20, 1777, in Temple, New Hampshire. His parents were Abijah Goold (Sr) (1735-1818) and Sarah (Spaulding) Gould ( -1821). The family moved to Hollis in about 1777 when they purchased a 70-acre farm from Joseph Goold in the southern part of Monson Village. Abijah moved from the farm to the center of Hollis before 1803. On October 10, 1804, Abijah married his first wife, Mary Shattuck of Hollis. She died less than three years later, on May 7, 1806. Abijah married Mary T. Sargent of Milford on September 17, 1807. He had a total of seven children

Abijah Jr. was an abolitionist who served on the School Committee for several years, including 1815, 1817-1819, and 1821.

On April 20, 1812, he advertised in the Framer's Cabinet, a shop near the meeting house, where he commenced the business of clock and watchmaking. In this ad, he expanded his line of goods and services to include organ building and various machines. He now employed Mr. King, who worked with the celebrated Boston organ builder, Mr. William Goodridge. 

Where Abijah Jr learned clockmaking has yet to be confirmed. Abijah's earliest group of clock movements were wooden geared 30-hour clocks made of local woods. The construction and their design suggest that he trained in Ashby, Massachusetts, with Abraham and Calvin Edwards. Due to the similarities in construction, he was undoubtedly very familiar with their work. Even the dials of these early clocks have an Ashby feel. They are constructed of wood and painted in a similar folk art style. The second generation of Abijah's mechanism is closely related to those made by Samuel Foster. Samuel Foster was a clockmaker who moved from Andover, Massachusetts, to Amherst, NH, in 1796. He worked in the shop of Deacon Barker near the Courthouse until 1804 when he moved north to Concord. In fact, a Foster-signed clock is known as signed with the place location of Hollis. These second-generation movements are very unusual. They are designed with wooden plates and motion work. The trains are constructed with brass wheels supported on steel shafts and run eight days once fully wound. In about 1822, Goold moved to New York State to escape debt. On October 1, 1830, Gould was granted a clock patent. He died in Rochester, NY, in October 1848.

A wooden, geared thirty-hour clock is in the collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society. Charlie Parsons gave them this clock.