The Clocks of Rippavilla

The Army of Tennessee encamped at the Rippavilla Plantation the night before the Battle of Franklin.  The plan was to capture the Federal Army of the Ohio as they tried to escape Columbia and make their way to Nashville.  Though command failures and misunderstandings, the Union army was allowed to slip past the Confederates in the night.  By the next day the Union army had established defensive breastworks in Franklin.

The clocks and watches at Rippavilla are wonderful examples of late 19th century timepieces.  For many years they sat silent.  Now they are running every day and may be seen during tours of the mansion.

A Seth Thomas Arch Top clock, circa 1860-1865. This is an 8 day spring-driven clock.

The painted metal dial of the Seth Thomas was flaking horribly. A treatment using Liquitex Solvar arrested the problem.

A detail showing the bell and gong of the Seth Thomas clock.

The movement of the Seth Thomas clock.

A New Haven Octagon Prize clock. This is an 8 day spring-driven clock.

Inside the New Haven clock.

The movement of the New Haven Octagon Prize clock.

A detail showing the bell of the New Haven clock.

The New Haven case was falling apart.

The Cheairs family Kundo 400-day clock on display at the Rippavilla Plantation gift shop.

Hamilton pocket watch that still ran.

Elgin pocket watch

Elgin movement

Back of Elgin case with initials "PT".

Columbia pocket watch

Columbia movement

Carter House 30-hr Seth Thomas Clock

On November 30, 1864, the Carter House was at the epicenter of one of most horrific battles of the Civil War.  This clock belonged to the eldest son of the family, Lt. Colonel Moscow Branch Carter.  Moscow Branch, who had been taken prisoner earlier in the war, was home on parole at the time of the battle.  This clock was in his downstairs room.

A overall before shot. The Ogee style case is in good condition, though some veneer is missing or loose.

A tighter shot of the dial and tablet.

Detail of the dial. There is a single ring outside the dot minute markers on an embossed zinc plate. There is no tapering of any numerals and the winding holes are about 9.8mm to 10mm in diameter. All this places the date of the dial to be probably 1852.

The bottom part of the label which would have the printers name is gone. This would have helped us narrow the date of the case. However, the label clearly states “Thomaston” as the city of manufacture. This means that the case was made no earlier than 1865. This clock is looking like a “marriage”. Seth Thomas made Ogee style tall case clocks as late as 1913. However, I doubt that the case is anywhere near that late.

Here you can easily read “Thomaston”. The wire supporting the movement bracket is a post-manufacture enhancement. Perhaps the original case was shot apart during the battle.

First shot of the movement before cleaning.

Strike and time weights.

“PLYMOUTH, CONN” stamped on the movements means it was manufactured before 1865. I am going the guess that the movement is the same age as the dial.

First shot of the movement out of the case. No obvious damage or bad wear. Finish nails in place of tapered pins holding the front plate on.

Way too much nylon twist cord tangled on the time-side arbor.

A bit of rust on the posts. Some navel jelly will bring that under control.

A tangle of nylon on the strike-side winding arbor.

Back plate. No surprises.

Looking between the plates on the strike side.

The movement is mounted to its base using round, not square, threaded nuts.

Detail of time side.

Details of escapement wheel.

Details under the movement after removing the base.

Front plate removed.

Time side center wheel in the foreground.

Top end of movement

Strike side center wheel.

Back side of top place. The count wheel is still attached.

Bottom end view of movement.

First picture of cleaned parts. This is the time side first wheel disassembled.

Lot of cleaned movement parts in a basket.

First picture of the cleaned movement reassembled. Taped pins used instead of finish nails. I will trim the pointed ends a little later.

A cleaned view of the front plate.

Replacing twisted white nylon with a braided nylon. The braid is stained using a black dye to make it less noticeable.

The pallets had pits from years of contact with the escapement wheel. These were sanded out, polished, tempered, and then polished again. Now you can see the reflection of a pencil in the pallet.

The pallets had pits from years of contact with the escapement wheel. These were sanded out, polished, tempered, and then polished again. Now you can see the reflection of a pencil in the pallet.