Josiah Gooding Bristol, Rhode Island.

Josiah Gooding (I) was born on November 8th, 1777, in Dighton, MA. He was trained in the art of clockmaking by his older brother Joseph. Aside from his older brother Joseph, Josiah had three other brothers that also made clocks. He had three younger brothers whom he most likely trained as clockmakers. Alanson (b. 1789 - d. 1887) worked in New Bedford, MA. Henry (b. 1785 – d. 1875) worked in Duxbury, MA. John (b. 1780 – d. 1870) worked in Wrentham and later in Plymouth, MA. The Gooding family worked throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and Northern Rhode Island from the late 18th Century through the mid-19th Century. Josiah was the most prolific of this family of clockmakers and located his business on the Massachusetts border in Bristol, Rhode Island. Many of his clocks typically feature sophisticated, high-style cases with choice woods and inlays that closely resemble those produced by the first-rate cabinetmakers in the Boston shop of John and Thomas Seymour. These cases were likely ordered from Boston or made by a Boston-trained cabinetmaker that had relocated to Gooding’s area. Josiah is recorded as working in Bristol, Rhode Island, from 1797 until he died in 1867.