Meneely Bell Foundry

The first Meneely bell foundry was established in 1826 in West Troy (now Watervliet), New York,[1] by Andrew Meneely, a former apprentice in the foundry of Benjamin Hanks.[2] Two of Andrew's sons continued to operate the foundry after his death, and it remained a family operation until its closure.

The second Meneely bell foundry was established in 1870 by a third son, Clinton H. Meneely, across the river in Troy, New York. Initially he was in partnership with George H. Kimberly, under the name Meneely & Kimberly; this second foundry was reorganized in 1879 as the Clinton H. Meneely Bell Company, then later as the Meneely Bell Company. Like its related competitor, it remained a family operation until its closure.

Business cards for both of the competing Meneely bell foundries appearing in the Troy Daily Times May 20, 1891.

The two foundries competed vigorously (and sometimes bitterly) with each other, and their products cannot be confused. Together, they produced about 65,000 bells before they both closed in 1952.[3][4]

Locations of bells from the "First Meneely Bell Foundry"

List of known locations of Meneely foundries bells from the First Meneely Foundry (West Troy. est. 1826):

Memorial in Watertown, Massachusetts
Bloomfield, Connecticut
The Justice Bell at the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge, PA
National Patriots Bell Tower, Washington Memorial Chapel
Washington Memorial Chapel and National Patriots Bell Tower, which holds a Meneely carillon

United States

New York

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Connecticut

  • Bulkley Memorial Carillon in Danbury, Connecticut
  • Torrington Fire Department Headquarters, Torrington, Connecticut. Meneely & Co. 1900. Bell originally hung in the tower at the headquarters station built in 1900. The station still stands and is now private property. The bell was removed and placed in the lobby of the present headquarters station next door at 111 Water Street and is accessible for public viewing.
  • St. Mary Catholic Church, Bethel, Connecticut.(this bell was in the original church, located on Greenwood Ave. in Bethel but was taken out of the steeple and placed on display behind the "new" church on Dodgingtown Road)
  • Bloomfield, Connecticut

Rhode Island

Massachusetts

  • Millbury Baptist Church, Millbury, Massachusetts. Bell made by Clinton H. Meneely Bell Company, Troy, N.Y. A.D. 1884 – Bronze Bell
  • First Baptist Church of Arlington Massachusetts[12] The bell was cast in 1903 and is 5' in diameter. The bell is manually struck on special occasions only.
  • Memorial in Watertown, Massachusetts

Maine

Vermont

New Hampshire

Maryland

Virginia

Georgia

South Carolina

Other Southern states

  • Prattville Male & Female Academy (Prattville, Alabama)
  • First Baptist Church, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1886, replacing the original bell of about 1859
  • Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Federal Point, Florida Historical records indicate that the bell was purchased for $32 and was installed in the bell tower on April 22, 1883.
  • First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, Florida. Bell cast in 1859 Cost unknown

Ohio

  • A 1919 Meneely bell located at Woodbury Elementary School, Shaker Heights, Ohio, 44120. The bell was cast in 1919 and weighs 2,000 lbs.[18]
  • King Avenue United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio[19]
Illinois
  • Perry, Illinois Church of Christ: bell was cast in 1855 (date on bell), but was bought by the Perry Church of Christ congregation at a later date. Bell hung in church building dating to 1880 (placed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of 'Carpenter Gothic' architecture) until the building was destroyed by fire in 2014. The bell survived and is mounted in memorial park at the same site. The bell is about 29.5 inches in diameter.
  • St. Paul Lutheran Church, Pontiac, Illinois ... purchased in the late 1860s.
  • Second Congregational Church, Rockford, Illinois (cast in 1865; in 1891, moved to the church's current location)
  • St. Paul Lutheran Church, Rockford, Illinois has three bells in the church building that was dedicated in 1906.
  • Second Congregational Church, Westfield, Massachusetts (cast in 1867; in 1962, moved to the church's new building but mounted on the grounds outside)
  • Lombard, Illinois, in the Maple Street Chapel (1870)
  • Naperville, Illinois, on display at Naper Settlement
  • Rock Island Arsenal Clock Tower in Rock Island, Illinois has a 3,538 lb bell stamped "1867 Meneelys' West Troy, N.Y."[20]
  • Lacon Congregational Church, Lacon, Ill. (bell cast in 1890)
  • St.Patrick's Catholic Church, Camp Grove, Ill. Dated 1904. Church closed in 2013, bell now property of Peoria Catholic Diocese.
  • DeKalb High School, Dekalb, Ill, dated 1912, originally installed along with clock in tower of 1903 (2nd) DeKalb High School. Now on ground display at 4th DeKalb High School as of June 2011. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12775695/old_bell_ringing_at_new_dhs/
Iowa
  • A Meneeley & Co. bell dated 1891 sits in the Bell Chapel of the Christian Conference Center in Newton, Iowa. Originally installed in 1891 in the German Congregational Church of Muscatine, Iowa, the building became home to the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Muscatine in 1931. FCC Muscatine donated the bell in 1965 to the Christian Conference Center for the Center's Opening Dedication.
  • University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa dedicated in 1926[21]

Other Midwestern states

  • City of Grand Rapids 1878 Fire Bell, Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan. First hung in a temporary wooden fire tower at Ottawa and Pearl Sts, 1878–1888 until it is installed in the tower of City Hall (1888–1969). It now stands at the entrance of the Grand Rapids Public Museum since 1995.
  • Laingsburg United Methodist Church, Laingsburg Mich. (1881 bell) www.laingsburgumc.org
  • Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church, Sherman, Texas
  • Salado Antique Mall, Salado, Texas. Currently on display. Manufacturers date of 1866. Meneely, West Troy, NY. No other inscription. Bell is intact and it has been placed on a stand for display purposes. No information is available as to where the bell was first installed.
  • Minneapolis City Hall, Minneapolis, contains 10 bells from 1896 and 4 more added in 1923. Bells chime every quarter-hour. Live performances are regularly held by the Tower Bell Foundation.[22]
  • Immanuel Lutheran Church in Madison, Nebraska

First Congregation United Church of Christ, Benton Harbor, MI

Western states

  • First Presbyterian Church (Portland, Oregon);[23] installed in 1864, transferred in 1889 to new building, where it remains in use today[24]
  • Mt. Zion Baptist Church, formerly Deutsche Congregationale Zion Kirche (German Congregational Zion Church) in Portland, Oregon
  • San Jose State University in San Jose, California "Cast to commemorate the California State Normal School in 1881, this 3,000-pound bell was rung at 8 a.m each morning until the earthquake that stilled its voice in 1903. In 1910, the bell was re-installed in the main building of the newly constructed Tower Hall, where it was rung on special occasions. In the early 1960s, seismic concerns led to its retirement and relocation at ground level." Source credit: plaque on San Jose State campus.
  • Church of the Nativity, Menlo Park, California
  • Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Star Hotel (Renamed the Keystone Hotel in 1926), Lampasas, Texas. Hotel was built as the stage coach stop for the Austin Stage in 1856. The bell was cast in 1860 and used by Mrs. Gracy, wife of the owner, to tell the residents of Lampasas when meals were being served at the hotel. At that time the bell was located in a cupola on the roof. In the late 1890s the bell was relocated to a courtyard on the East side of the building when the roof was changed from wood shingle to metal. (Facebook: Keystone Star Hotel)

International

Canada

  • St Lawrence Hall, Toronto, Ontario. (This bell, cast in 1849, is unused and virtually inaccessible in the cupola of St Lawrence Hall. See also http://www.slna.ca/the-st-lawrence-hall-bell.html
  • Wesley Knox United Church. Woodville, Nova Scotia. Canada.
  • Church of St. John the Evangelist, Montreal. Dated 1917. Still in daily use.
  • Roddick Gates McGill University in Montreal
  • Saint Thomas Anglican Church in Orrville, Ontario, inscription: "Meneely & Co West Troy NY – I was given by Friends in Depot Harbour in the Diocese of Algoma 1901 "When I do ring, God's praises sing" "When I do toll, Praise heart and soul"

Other international locations

  • St. Helena Baptist Church, Jamestown Chapel, Jamestown, island of St. Helena, South Atlantic Ocean. Bell from West Troy cast in 1852. Unsure of weight, but approx. height and diameter at bottom 70 cm.[25]
  • Saint Anthony's Church (Svateho Antonina) in Strossmayerovo Namesti, Prague, Czech Republic (see below)

Locations of bells from the "Second Meneely Bell Foundry"

List of known locations of Meneely foundries bells from the Second Meneely Foundry (Troy, est. 1870):

United States

New York

  • St. Paul the Apostle Church, Mechanicville, NY. The approximately 1900 lbs. bell was originally installed in the previous edifice in 1872, and moved to the present church building in 1919.
  • Most Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, New York.
  • Assumption Church - Staten Island, N.Y. Assumption - St. Paul Parish. Bells dedicated August 6, 1922.[26]
  • SS. Cyril and Methodius Russian Orthodox Church in Hartshorne, Oklahoma. Inscription on the bell - MENEELY BELL Co., TROY N.Y., 1909
  • *Firemen's Memorial Lot, Charlotte, North Carolina; Bell stamped Meneely & Co., West Troy, N.Y. 1881 (bell is for display only)
  • First United Methodist Church of Westfield, New Jersey. A single 2,048 lb bell stamped Clinton H. Meneely Bell Company, Troy NY and dated 1886. Controlled to ring hourly, by a clock mechanism made by the E. Howard & Co of Boston, MA from the same year. It was originally in an earlier wooden church steeple and in 1910 was moved to its current stone church steeple.
  • Christs Church at Ballard Corners, Sparta, Michigan; Bell stamped Meneely's Troy, N.Y. 1869
  • Van Norden Carriage House at the Jay Heritage Center Rye, New York; bell stamped "Meneely Bell Co. Troy, NY 1907"
  • Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, Elmira Heights, N.Y. Inscription on the bell - Meneely Bell Co., Troy, N.Y., 1916.
  • North Creek United Methodist Church, North Creek, N.Y. Inscription on bell: Clinton H. Meneely Bell Company, Troy New York, A.D. 1887.
  • Church of the Good Shepherd, Granite Springs, New York. Inscriptions on the bell read, "To the Glory of God and In Memory of Samuel Jennings Murphy and Serena Deas Murphy...this bell is presented by their children...1908," and "Meneely Bell Co. Troy, N. Y."

Connecticut

  • United Congregational Church, Bridgeport, Conn., 1926.

Massachusetts

  • North Brookfield Elementary School (North Brookfield, Massachusetts) | North Brookfield Elementary School, North Brookfield, MA Created by Meneely & Kimberly Founders. Presented to the North Brookfield High School By Theodore C. Bates November 1, 1878. On display in the center of area called “the bell”.

Pennsylvania

  • Fairview Presbyterian Church, Fairview, Pennsylvania. 1887, bell marked Meneely & Kimberly, Troy, NY. On one side the bell is inscribed "May all who heareth come."
  • First Presbyterian Church of York, Pennsylvania, 1861, purchased by Philip Albright Small and Samuel Small
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, Irwin, Pa., one bell installed shortly after 1880.
  • The Phelps School's "Victory Bell" in Malvern, Pennsylvania
  • The Upper Moreland Middle School in Montgomery County, Pa. It was originally hung in the Belfry of the Willow Grove school which opened in Willow Grove, PA in 1895. It is marked "MENEELY BELL COMPANY, TROY, N.Y. USA, AD 1894"
  • Church of the Good Shepherd in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, one bell marked "Meneely & Kimberly, Makers, Troy, N.Y." on one side, with the church name on the other side. Although in a church, this bell is part of what is also known as the Boyertown Town Clock, being restored in 2017.[27]

Tennessee

  • Thornwood Clock Tower, Germantown, TN. 1902 Bronze bells. Installed 2018.

Midwestern states

  • A Meneely & Kimberly bell remains in front of the Cortland Elementary School in Cortland, Ohio. The school was once named Cortland Union School as cast on the bell 1876. This bell will soon be relocated to the Cortland High School.
  • A Meneely & Kimberly bell (cast with the date 1876) is displayed inside Barker Hall (Trinity Episcopal Church), Michigan City, Indiana. Inscription: +Feast of S. Andrew+ +MDCCCLXXVI+ +O Come, Let Us Worship+
  • A Meneely & Kimberly bell dated 1877 is located in and used at the First Presbyterian Church of Cadillac, Mich.
  • Davis County Courthouse (Meneely & Kimberly Bell Co., 1879) in Bloomfield, Iowa
  • St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Ogden, Kansas. Bell dated 1910
  • St Joseph Catholic Church in Waite Park, Minn., cast in bell: Meneely Bell Co, Troy N.Y., 1918.
  • St. Mark's Church, Geneva, Ill. Inscription: October 1, 1868 This bell was a gift to the parish given by Mr. and Mrs. John Hobart Warren of Troy, N.Y., as a token of respect and esteem for the rector The Reverend William S. Greene.
  • Faith Lutheran Church, Pelican Rapids, Minn., has an 1886 Clinton H. Meneely Bell in its clock tower.
  • Meneely's bell dated 1879 in front of a replica of Texas' 1st State House, in West Columbia, Texas.

Other U.S. locations

  • St. Patrick Church, Lowell, Massachusetts. Bells dated 1905
  • St. Johns Episcopal Church, Kula Hawaii (Maui) Bell dated 1909
  • St. Saviour's Episcopal Church, Bar Harbor, Maine. Bells dated 1938
  • Soldiers Chapel - Schofield Barracks; Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii. Church steeple built 1913. Bell dated 1911.
  • West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Parkersburg, West Virginia. Bell cast in 1902
  • The Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower, Chapel Hill, N.C. The twelve original bells were cast by the Meneely Bell Company[28] in the early 1930s, and supplemented by two bells from Petit & Fritsen, Belgium in 1998.

International

Canada

  • Christ Church Windermere, Ontario, Canada. Inscription on the bell- (one side) "In memory of Charles Henry Mockridge, Priest and Doctor, February 25th 1913". (other side) "Meneely Bell Company, Troy, NY, 1914"
  • Sainte-Marthe-De-Vaudreuil Catholic Church, Quebec, Canada.
  • St. Andrew's United Church in Markham, Ontario[29]
  • Tower Clock of the old Parliament building, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Meneely & Kimberly dated 1875. Damaged by fire of 1916.
  • Saint Patrick's Catholic Church, Fallowfield, Ontario, Canada. (http://www.stpatricksfallowfield.com) Maneeley & Kimberly Bell cast in 1875. Still in daily use.
  • Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Prospect, Nova Scotia, Canada. Meneely Bell Co., 1928.
  • Halifax Explosion Memorial Sculpture, Fort Needham Park, Halifax. Nova Scotia. Still in daily use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion_Memorial_Sculpture Formerly used at United Memorial Church, 5375 Kaye St, Halifax, NS B3K 1Z4, now in disuse and sold for development.

Other international locations

Other notable Meneely bells

The Columbian Liberty Bell

The Columbian Liberty Bell was cast by Clinton H. Meneely's foundry for display at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The bell disappeared while on tour in Europe.[30][31][32][33]

Saint Anthony's Church Bell, Prague, Czech Republic

The Meneely bell that hangs in St Anthony's Church in Prague was purchased by the Mid-European Union in October 1918 to commemorate the independence of Czechoslovakia after World War I and donated to the group's president, Thomas Masaryk, who became the head of the country's provisional government and, in 1920, the Czechoslovak president. The bell cost $2,000 and weighed 2,542 pounds (1,155 kg).

See also

References

  1. "Meneely and Company Records, 1825-1945". The New York State Library. University of the State of New York. March 5, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  2. "Benjamin Hanks". delaney@delaneyantiqueclocks.com. Delaney Antique Clocks. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  3. Meneely Bell Online Museum Archived July 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. Rensselaer County Historical Society. (RCHS says the financial records of these foundries are located at 1) Hudson-Mohawk Industrial Gateway, Foot of Polk St., Troy, NY 12180; and 2) Manuscripts & Special Collections, New York State Library, Cultural Education Center, Albany, N.Y. 12230.) Archived August 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. Lyman, Susan C. The Story of Norwood, NY: A Nice Place to Live: 1850–1995. Norwood: Norwood Historical Association, 1995.
  6. "Meneely Bell Rings Again" Archived July 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., Jamesville Community Museum Newsletter, February 2, 2008
  7. "Saugerties Lighthouse".
  8. Physical inspection of bell on 9 September 2018.
  9. Newton Churches
  10. TowerBells.org
  11. parish historian
  12. "First Baptist Church of Arlington, MA".
  13. "(dead link)". Archived from the original on 2010-05-16.
  14. "Wilder Center".
  15. Church records
  16. "Spotsylvania Courthouse". visitspotsy.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  17. Wofford's Bell, From The Archives, January 25, 2008 Archived January 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  18. "Bell Removed from Woodbury Clock Tower". Shaker Heights Schools.
  19. King Avenue United Methodist Church
  20. "The Rock Island Clock Tower - From Ordnance to Engineers" Archived October 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  21. Tower Instruments By State
  22. http://www.towerbellfoundation.org/bells.html
  23. Graydon, Charlotte (May 1, 1987). "Church centennial entrenched in history". The Oregonian. p. D3.
  24. Hardt, Ulrich H. "First Presbyterian Church (Portland)". The Oregon Encyclopedia.
  25. physically inspected bell, which is still in use
  26. Assumption-St. Paul Church
  27. "History". Save Our Boyertown Town Clock. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  28. TowerBells.org
  29. "St. Andrew's United Church – Markham, Ontario, Canada". ]
  30. "Wonderful Liberty Bell - It is to Contain Historical Relics of Great Value - It Will Be Cast At Troy Next Month and Will Weigh 13,000 Pounds", The New York Times April 24, 1893
  31. "Columbian Liberty Bell Cast - The Operation A Success, It Is Thought", The New York Times, June 23, 1893
  32. Columbian Liberty Bell, Liberty Bell Museum Archived March 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  33. Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference
  34. Skinner, Charles. "Bell Casting in Troy". Meneely Bell online Museum. Archived from the original on June 30, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2013.

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