Russell Cheney. A clockmaker working in Springfield, MA, and Putney, Thetford, and Woodstock.

Russell Cheney was born on January 12, 1772, into a well-known and established clockmaking family. He was one of four clockmakers born to Benjamin Cheney 1725-1815 and Elizabeth Long Cheney in East Hartford, Connecticut. Benjamin most likely trained all four of his boys in the art of clockmaking. They all worked in locations on or near the Connecticut River. Asahel, the oldest son, was born in 1759 and worked in Northfield, MA, and the Vermont towns of Putney, Royalton, and Rochester. Elisha was born in 1770 and worked in Berlin and Middletown, Connecticut. He died in Roscoe, IL, in 1847. Martin Cheney was born in 1778. He worked in East Hartford, CT, Windsor, VT, and Montreal, Canada. Russell also moved north along the river. His First stop was in Springfield, MA, around 1800, and then he moved upriver into Vermont, where he worked in Putney, Thetford, and Woodstock. We currently speculate that he may have employed a journeyman clockmaker named P. Boynton while working in Vermont. In 1811, it was recorded that he moved back to Connecticut after abandoning his wife and children.

To date, we have recorded two clocks signed by Russell. Both examples are the Massachusetts shelf clock form and feature kidney-shaped dials. The other clock known is in the New York Historical Society collection. That mahogany case example features a painted dial and is also signed by Woodstock. The clock we owned is a higher-style design and features an engraved brass dial.