Horace Tift of Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Horace Tift was born in Attleboro on December 18, 1804. His parents were Samuel and Nancy (Woodcock) Tift. He lived for 84 years and died in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 11, 1886. He was trained as a machinist in Millbury, MA, and later worked as a journeyman with Joseph Wyman in Dunstable, MA. In 1837, he and his wife, Orinda Blackington of Attleboro, moved back to Attleboro and set up shop. His clocks traditionally featured black and gold decorated glasses in canted frames, turned wooden bezels, and carved side arms. He sold a quality product at modest prices and established trade routes through the local jewelry businesses in New York and Philadelphia. He stopped making clocks in 1850 when he began manufacturing jewelry full-time. Tift maintained an office at 192 Broadway in NYC until 1862. The town of Attleboro became world-renowned for jewelry production.