It Happened Here -- Big Bells, Little Bells
Part I
Part I
One of the enduring icons of the holiday season is the tolling of bells--large bells from church steeples, and the jingling of sleigh bells. For the origin of many of these bells we need to look no farther than eastern New York State.
 |
| Broadway, Watervliet |
In 1808 Benjamin Hanks and his son Julius, came to Gibbonsville, on the west bank of the Hudson, across from Troy. (The hamlet, combined with other small hamlets, would become known as West Troy in 1831, then Watervliet in 1896) Hanks, an instrument maker from Mansfield Connecticut had built a forge in Litchfield CT., and produced bronze cannon and church bells as early as 1795. In 1816 he patented a method for molding and casting bells. Hanks took on an apprentice, Andrew Meneely.
In 1825 Julius left the Gibbonsville works for a new factory at 5th and Fulton St. in Troy where he continued to manufacture church bells, large town clocks and brass surveying instruments. (This location would eventually house W.E. Gurley Co., surveying instrument makers who would continue at this location to the present.) The Hanks' apprentice took over the Gibbonsville works in 1826 and established the Meneely Bell Foundry. Meneely's two sons, George and Edwin, continued in the family business when he died in 1851, but their tenure was a troubled one. The following year, their foreman and Andrew's brother-in-law James H. Hitchcock, backed by Eber Jones set up a competing foundry, Jones and Hitchcock (aka. The Troy Bell Foundry.) Andrew's youngest son, Clinton H. Meneely, dissatisfied with his share of the family business, struck out on his own in1870, forming Meneely and Kimberly, with his brother-in-law, George Kimberly. The older brothers sued the younger brother over the use of the Meneely name in a case that dragged on for five years before being decided by New York's highest court in 1875. By this time there were three bell factories in Troy and one in West Troy, all run by several intermarried families.
Over their history the bell foundries of Troy and Watervliet produced some 65,000 bells--mostly large church bells, but also smaller ship and school bells. In 1868 George Meneely designed a rotary yoke for large bells. One of major sources of a bell's failure, over time, was from it being struck every time in one place by its clapper. (The crack in the Liberty Bell was attributed, in part, to this problem.) Meneely devised a mechanism that would turn the bell slightly in its yoke every time it was struck, thus evening out the wear on the bell, and prolonging its life.
The Troy/Watervliet bell makers developed techniques to tune their bells. The Troy Bell Foundry claimed to have produced the first complete set of carillon chimes which it supplied to St. Stephen's Church in Philadelphia in 1853 but Andrew Meneely claimed to have produced a prize winning set of chimes for a New York City exposition in 1850, but they were never hung and have disappeared.
One of the area's largest bells was produced by Meneely and Kimberly for the United States Centennial in 1876. Weighing 13,000 lbs -- a half ton for each of the original thirteen states, it was to be an exact replica of the Liberty Bell. Three cannon from the revolution, and two from the civil war (one union, one confederate) were donated for its bronze.
A second replica 13,000 lb. bell was created for the Columbian Exposition in1893 . Donations were received from across the country of historic metallic artifacts to be incorporated into the bell. After the exposition concluded, it was sent on a world tour, as its promoters proclaimed "...conceived in the idea of peace and liberty... its purpose is to help perpetuate peace the world over." Unfortunately, like Andrew Meneely's prize winning chimes it disappeared, having been last seen in Russian customs in 1905. Its likely, and highly ironic fate was that it was melted down to be used in shell casings in the decades of revolution and counter-revolution that followed in Russia.
But if the Columbian bell had a dubious and uncertain fate, the fates of thousands of other Troy/Watervliet bells are well known. They hung and continue to hang in church steeples and bell towers across America and across the world, reminding people of the time, calling them to work, calling them to school, calling them to worship.
In 1825 Julius left the Gibbonsville works for a new factory at 5th and Fulton St. in Troy where he continued to manufacture church bells, large town clocks and brass surveying instruments. (This location would eventually house W.E. Gurley Co., surveying instrument makers who would continue at this location to the present.) The Hanks' apprentice took over the Gibbonsville works in 1826 and established the Meneely Bell Foundry. Meneely's two sons, George and Edwin, continued in the family business when he died in 1851, but their tenure was a troubled one. The following year, their foreman and Andrew's brother-in-law James H. Hitchcock, backed by Eber Jones set up a competing foundry, Jones and Hitchcock (aka. The Troy Bell Foundry.) Andrew's youngest son, Clinton H. Meneely, dissatisfied with his share of the family business, struck out on his own in1870, forming Meneely and Kimberly, with his brother-in-law, George Kimberly. The older brothers sued the younger brother over the use of the Meneely name in a case that dragged on for five years before being decided by New York's highest court in 1875. By this time there were three bell factories in Troy and one in West Troy, all run by several intermarried families.
Over their history the bell foundries of Troy and Watervliet produced some 65,000 bells--mostly large church bells, but also smaller ship and school bells. In 1868 George Meneely designed a rotary yoke for large bells. One of major sources of a bell's failure, over time, was from it being struck every time in one place by its clapper. (The crack in the Liberty Bell was attributed, in part, to this problem.) Meneely devised a mechanism that would turn the bell slightly in its yoke every time it was struck, thus evening out the wear on the bell, and prolonging its life.
The Troy/Watervliet bell makers developed techniques to tune their bells. The Troy Bell Foundry claimed to have produced the first complete set of carillon chimes which it supplied to St. Stephen's Church in Philadelphia in 1853 but Andrew Meneely claimed to have produced a prize winning set of chimes for a New York City exposition in 1850, but they were never hung and have disappeared.
One of the area's largest bells was produced by Meneely and Kimberly for the United States Centennial in 1876. Weighing 13,000 lbs -- a half ton for each of the original thirteen states, it was to be an exact replica of the Liberty Bell. Three cannon from the revolution, and two from the civil war (one union, one confederate) were donated for its bronze.
A second replica 13,000 lb. bell was created for the Columbian Exposition in1893 . Donations were received from across the country of historic metallic artifacts to be incorporated into the bell. After the exposition concluded, it was sent on a world tour, as its promoters proclaimed "...conceived in the idea of peace and liberty... its purpose is to help perpetuate peace the world over." Unfortunately, like Andrew Meneely's prize winning chimes it disappeared, having been last seen in Russian customs in 1905. Its likely, and highly ironic fate was that it was melted down to be used in shell casings in the decades of revolution and counter-revolution that followed in Russia.
But if the Columbian bell had a dubious and uncertain fate, the fates of thousands of other Troy/Watervliet bells are well known. They hung and continue to hang in church steeples and bell towers across America and across the world, reminding people of the time, calling them to work, calling them to school, calling them to worship.
(Next week)
No comments:
Post a Comment