Frederick Wingate of Augusta, Maine. Clockmaker, watchmaker and silversmith.

Frederick Wingate, silversmith, watch, and clockmaker, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on January 11th, 1782, and died in Augusta, Maine, on November 16th, 1864. His parents were William Wingate (1745-1821) and Mehitable (Bradley) Wingate (1747-1796). He had an older brother, Paine Wingate (1767-1833), who was working in Boston as a clockmaker as early as 1789. Paine may have trained Frederick. Frederick married Hannah Page of Haverhill on January 17th, 1806. In 1814, he served as a soldier during the War of 1812. 

Frederick worked as a silversmith, watch, and clockmaker and became one of Maine's most prolific clockmakers. He may have been trained in Massachusetts before he moved north to Augusta, Maine, by 1803. As a clockmaker, he made many tall, banjo, and mirror clocks. Many of the tall clock dials are numbered. Our family has recorded examples from low as number 15 to a high of 302. Frederick trained Benjamin Swan to make clocks in 1808. Swan was from Augusta, and his clocks are often very similar in form. They share similar characteristics, such as the use of contrasting woods. Reoccurring features found on many Augusta clocks are the use of figured maple in the waist door and base panel, unusual turned and often shaped waist and hood columns, and Boston-painted dials painted by Spencer Nolen. A fair number of Wingate clocks retain their original setup labels. If present, these can be found pasted inside the waist door.