Thomas Pearsall of New York City.

Thomas Pearsall was born on September 13, 1744, in Cow Neck, New York, into a prominent Quaker family. His parents were Nathaniel Pearsall (1712-1758) and Mary Latham (Abt 1714-1799.) He had an older brother, Joseph (1740-1834), who was also a clockmaker and silversmith. On November 13, 1765, Thomas married Elizabeth Dobson in New York City. Together, they had five children. Thomas Pearsall was a successful New York City clockmaker working in partnership with family members and on his own during the late 1760s and 1780s. Thomas and his brother Joseph were in partnership in 1765-1773. Their business was located "at the House formerly occupied by Haydock and Bowne, between Burling's and Beekman's Slips," and their products included "a Variety of Clocks ... with Japan'd and Mahogany Cases" and "gold, silver, metal, skeleton, plain, and Day of the Month Watches." In June 1773, the brothers announced that their partnership was dissolved, and based on their advertisements in The New York Journal or the General Advertiser (New York City, NY), June 17 and September 9, 1773, as separate proprietors. Thomas appears to have remained in the same location while Joseph moved to Hanover Square. In 1781, Thomas Pearsall partnered with Effingham Embree (1759-1817). Embree most likely was trained by Thomas, and he married Thomas' sister Sarah married Lawrence Embree, the brother of Effingham Embree, in 1780. Over the next nine years, Pearsall and Embree advertised their business, located at the corner of Beekman's Slip and Queen Street (1781, 1784), No. 43 Queen Street (February 1789), and No. 185 Queen Street (September 1789, 1790). In addition to an array of clocks and watches, both of their own and imported from London Makers, their products included watch parts, tools, silverware, and jewelry. Upon the dissolution of the partnership in 1790, Effingham Embree noted that for the previous seven years, he had "solely conducted the business of the late house of Pearsall and Embree," suggesting that Pearsall was a name partner only and not an active craftsman. Nothing is known of Thomas Pearsall's activities after this time, and it is possible he retired from clockmaking long before his death on January 28, 1825.