Inventor and clock manufacturer, born in East Windsor, Connecticut, USA. After an apprenticeship (178692), he made his first clocks by hand, and turned to using water power to drive his tools (1800) when he established the USA's first clock factory in Plymouth, CT. In 1807 he formed a partnership with Seth Thomas, and their factory eventually produced 10 00012 000 clocks per year. Terry himself patented 10 improvements in clockworks, and introduced several popular innovations in clock design.
Eli Terry Sr (April 13, 1772 – February 24, 1852) was an influential clockmaker in Connecticut, and the first inventor to receive a United States patent for a clock mechanism.
Background
Terry was the son of Samuel and Huldah Terry, born in East Windsor, Connecticut and began his career as an apprentice under Daniel Burnap ("the forerunner of manufacturing"). Cheney specialized in the making of wooden clocks, which was fairly unusual at the time. In 1801, Terry was granted a patent on an equation clock. This was the first patent for a clock mechanism that was ever granted by the United States Patent Office.
Career
Soon after 1800, Terry's production of wooden clocks grew considerably. He was later able to use jigs and fixtures to produce a large number of interchangeable clock parts. This allowed for the rapid assembly of clocks, freeing Terry from the task of fitting and modifying each individual piece of each clock. Using his own ingenuity and inventiveness, Terry was able to speedily cut wheels, pinions, and other important clock parts accurately.
In the year 1808, he received and accepted an order for 4,000 wooden clock movements, a number previously unheard of by most clock manufacturers. For many years after this commission he was occupied with the large scale manufacture of affordable clocks.
Around the year 1815, Terry designed the 30-hour wooden shelf clock, which made clocks available and affordable to a much larger market than ever before. Terry is credited with the design of the pillar and scroll case, which was remarkably functional for the time period (although former employee Seth Thomas may have been using the case style before Terry). Despite the small scale of the clocks, he was able to provide a sufficient amount of weight for the clock to run a full thirty hours before it needed to be turned.
Hundreds of thousands of Terry's wooden shelf clock were produced, signaling a tremendous departure from contemporary clockmaking practices, where each clock was made entirely by hand by a trained specialist. Terry was granted many patents for his advances in clockmaking, most of which were immediately infringed upon by local competitors eager to participate in satisfying the demand for an affordable clock.
Terry also produced wooden-movement tower clocks, such as those found in the steeples of churches and meetinghouses, one of which is still operational today in the town of Plymouth.
Heritage
Between 1808 and 1833, Terry focused the majority of his time and effort on the production of standardized wooden clocks, which helped him accumulate a modest fortune. At this point, he abandoned involvement in quantity production, and returned to clockmaking as the world had known it before his innovations, focusing on the production on a few high-end special clocks and the development of original clock mechanism.
His achievements place him in an unusual position in the history of clockmaking, leaving him as one of the last of the clock craftsmen, but also as the first of the true manufacturers.
Terry's brother Samuel (1774-1853) was also involved in the production of wooden-movement clocks, and for several years he worked as Eli's partner, manufacturing improved pillar and scroll clocks after his brother's design.
Most of Terry's sons also became clock makers.
His son Andrew Terry began a very successful malleable iron foundry that later became OZ/Gedney, which has since moved to Mexico. That business was in operation for more then 150 years just down the stream from Andrew's brother Silas's clock shop.
Silas had many finacal diffuclties in his time, but was eventually a founding member of the Terry Clock Company.
User Comments Add a comment…