Clock

Creator

Terry, Silas Burnham, 1807-1876

Date

• 1831-1852

Summary

• Shelf clock, Silas Burnham Terry, Connecticut, 1831-1852; used in Mineral Point, possibly by Henry Dodge. This mahogany shelf clock has a brass eight-day movement and two painted and gilded glass doors, one with an image of a seaside cliff with buildings and the other illustrating an eagle.
• A paper label pasted in the interior reads: "Eight Day Brass Clocks, Made and Sold by Silas B. Terry, Terryville, Conn." and includes instructions for operating the clock. A stencil on the interior reads: "Repaired by/ D. Jenkins The JEWELER/ Mineral Point Wis./ September 16, 1895."
• The affordable pillar-and-scroll shelf clock type developed by Eli Terry of Connecticut is carried on in this clock, manufactured by his son, Silas Burnham Terry, who apprenticed with his father and then made clocks under his own name from 1831-1852. According to the records of the Mineral Point Historical Society, the clock may have belonged to Henry Dodge, governor of the Wisconsin Territory from 1836-1841 and 1845-1848. Although there is no firm evidence of the Dodge connection, later Mineral Point ownership is confirmed by a 1895 repair label from a local jeweler.