![]() ![]() Six years after his death, in 1865, they unofficially renamed the town ’Thomaston’ in his honor. The townspeople of Plymouth Hollow, where his factory was located, also respected him for providing the businesses that were essential for the town’s growth. Thomas was a very wealthy man when he died. Thomas remained as president and major stockholder until his death on January 28, 1859. He knew he would not live forever and wanted to insure the continuation of his company after his death. On May 3, 1853, when Thomas was 63 years old, he finally organized the Seth Thomas Clock Company as a joint stock corporation. The mill was sold on to Holmes, Booth and Atwood Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut for $400,000. By 1860, it was producing over 170 tons of brass and German silver annually. In 1852, Thomas built a brass-rolling mill which was incorporated as the Thomas Manufacturing Company. The factory employed about 50 men and no women at the time. By 1850, he was turning out 24,000 clocks annually that were valued at $60,000. The brass clocks turned out to be very profitable for Thomas. Only when the new, cheap brass movements became so popular that Thomas was at risk of losing his customers, did he finally change his method of production.īy 1844, Thomas saw that the new brass movement, introduced by Nobel Jerome, was going to end the wooden movement clocks, so he sent his nephew, Marcus Prince, to the Jerome factory to learn the new trade. Rather, he would keep producing his proven clocks that had always been successful in the past. Nor did his company come out with any new case designs or radically new movement designs. This helped him survive through the panic of 1837 that forced many of hisĪlthough he was a good businessman, Thomas was not on the cutting edge of clock development. He started a cotton factory in 1834 and purchased a considerable amount of land. He also had the good financial sense to diversify his holdings. Seth Thomas was a good businessman and managed to build a solid and profitable company that turned out many quality clocks. The lawsuit did keep other clockmakers in the area from infringing on Terry’ patent for a few years though. In 1822, Terry accepted $1000 in lieu of the aforementioned royalty.įor reasons unknown, Thomas began making Terry’s ’new improved’ shelf clock which caused Terry to sue Thomas in 1827 although no financial award was given to Terry. Around 1818, Thomas began making Terry’s wooden movement pillar and scroll clocks, paying a $.50 royalty to Terry for each clock made. This new factory was only a couple of miles away from Eli Terry’s new clock factory. Thomas continued to make wooden movement tall clocks in his new factory, the same as he did with Hoadley at the Thomas and Hoadley factory. Three years later on December 4, 1813, Thomas sold out to Hoadley for $2000 and purchased another clock factory from Herman Clark. After fulfilling this agreement, Terry sold the clock shop to Thomas and Hoadley for $6000 on July 7, 1810. Thomas and Hoadley were hired to help Terry meet this deadline. He was hired by Eli Terry in 1806, at the age of 21, along with another local woodworker, Silas Hoadley, to work in his new clock shop in Plymouth, Connecticut.Įli Terry, only in his mid-thirties at the time, had agreed to make 4000 wooden clock movements (see photo above) for Edward Porter and Levi Porter of Waterbury, Connecticut. After finishing his training, he bought 42 acres of land in Wolcott, intending to settle there. ![]() He was apprenticed to a joiner, Daniel Tuttle, at the age of 14. This area of western Connecticut was a busy center for the manufacture of wooden clockworks at the time Seth Thomas was growing up, so it is no surprise that he would work in this industry as a young man. Seth Thomas was born Augin Wolcott, Connecticut. The story of the Seth Thomas Clock Company is indeed an American success story. They are all well made quality clocks, and are rapidly increasing in value. The Seth Thomas Clock Company - An American Success StoryĪny Seth Thomas clock catches my eye. ![]()
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