Les Filles Anglais
(b. unknown - d. 1729)

An intriguing entry in the NAWCC Bulletin reads:

WOMEN WATCHMAKERS, LATE 17TH CENTURY NUNS,
SR  9  88  437.

The “SR” indicated that the entry referred to a review of another publication, which means all sorts of delays in getting something one wants to read yesterday!  Patience paid off, and an article by Mr. C. C. Baines finally came to hand.  The rest of this story is based primarily on his article in the March 1960 issue of Antiquarian Horology and bits and pieces gathered from further research.  Quoted material is from Mr. Baines’ article.

Anne and Elizabeth Adamson were evidently the daughters of an English Roman Catholic.

In the waning years of the seventeenth century, a Thomas Adamson is listed as a watchmaker in Burnley, just north of Manchester, but there is no way of discovering whether he was the father of these two sisters or whether they were apprenticed to him.  It is of interest that an Adamson, ___, a full century later, is listed in Baillie as Clockmaker to the French Royal Family.

Mr. Baines writes that the sisters were 33 years old (were they, perhaps, twin watchmakers?) when they entered the convent, and the convent diary on the day of their entry in 1689 includes the statement: “Sister Anne Teresa, alias Adomson, was very expert in making of watches of al sortes & her sister in studding of caises.”  The sisters of the order were known by the English as the Blue Nuns because of their blue ceremonial cloaks, while the French referred to them as “les filles Anglais” evidently because the majority of the nuns were from England.  Many Roman Catholics fled England for France in the last days of the reign of James II. By this time the Catholics were in their turn suffering the same persecutions by the Protestants that James II had imposed in his efforts to force Roman Catholicism on his subjects. 

James II wasn’t very popular—he’d run for his life from England to France at the end of 1688 because it was  either that or lose his head.  At the same time, there was a flood of skilled workers and intellectuals running in the other direction.  Louis XIV (the badly inbred Sun King who was to cause a great deal of trouble on both sides of the Atlantic for many years to come) had revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and began persecuting the Huguenots (Protestants) almost as viciously as had the Spanish sovereigns and the Church in the Inquisition nearly two hundred years earlier.  The English historian George Trevelyan wrote: “The sum of human misery thus wantonly brought about is horrible to contemplate.  In the course of years some hundreds of thousands succeeded in escaping, mostly into England...  A large proportion were artisans and high-class merchants who brought to the lands of their adoption trade secrets and new production methods.”

Becoming a nun was evidently an expensive proposition. The sisters’ promised to pay [on] “their entrance to Religion two hundred pounds starling for them both...” which sum was finally paid two years later, along with “twenty pistoles (a Spanish gold coin worth about $4 in 1960) for the care of the pipe organ.”

Very little can be learned about the financial aspects of the sisters’ watchmaking activities inside the walls of the convent. Convent records are “open” (within strict limits) to the public, and they evidently did not publicize their efforts in the trade any more than was absolutely necessary. The trade guilds of Paris did not allow foreigners to practice in the City unless they had exceptional influence or paid heavy fees to enroll in a guild”—which wasn’t much different from the situation in English guilds at the time.  Privileges in the trades were extended to certain groups—particularly religious organizations—whereby “foreigners” were allowed to work, free of police or guild control.

The Blue Nuns sources of supplies, particularly for making watches, “remain a mystery.” Whether they did piecework for other makers in Paris or obtained their materials from England, they obviously required a well-supplied workshop, in terms of both tools and materials.  Some watchcase materials—such as shagreen—were not expensive goods, but there are records that thieves broke into the convent in 1702 and apparently made four more attempts in later years to steal whatever valuables—perhaps raw gold or silver, or finished cases and movements done in precious metals—were to be found in the convent workshop.

It is most likely that the sisters’ income derived from piecework for Parisian makers and from their own work, which they could sell to wealthy English expatriates who had followed their deposed King to France.  There are records that daughters of the one-time English Roman Catholic nobility were sent to the convent to be educated, and several English ladies of high degree were boarders.  These nuns may well have “removed themselves from the world,”  but the world they had left behind seemed to crowd in upon them and influence their lives through their customers, fellow French makers, and boarders in the convent.

Of  the intervening years, full of wars and the ascendancy of Anglican England in the world, there is little information on the Blue Nuns until: “In 1704  Sister Anne lost her reason but recovered 18 months later.” Sixteen years later she was appointed Vicaress, a post she was to hold until a few months before her death in October 1729, at the age of 73.  Her sister Elizabeth had died 21 years earlier at the age of 51, which probably put an end to their movement and case partnership 20 years after it first began behind the walls of the convent of the Blue Nuns.  The Blue Nuns remained in Paris until the time of the French Revolution, when they were driven back to England, where the order finally disappeared completely in about 1810.

Emeline Loomis (b. 1811 -  d. 1911)
2-1/2¢ per dial

Emeline Loomis, the daughter of Abijah and Margaret (Barrett) Loomis, was born July 27, 1811, at New Hartford, Conn. Of her early life, little is known; we must assume that she had what education—most likely in domestic duties—was considered proper for young women of that day.  She moved into the horological limelight at the age of 22 when she went to work for Garret Smith Blakeslee of Plymouth Hollow, Conn.  She was employed as a dial painter, one of 13 women hired by Blakeslee between 1830 and 1834.  Blakeslee was in the business of supplying finished components of clocks and clock cases to clock and case makers. 

Miss Loomis first appears in this entry in the Blakeslee Account Book when she was “hired in”:

Eleanor Humphrey
Emeline Loomis
Commenced Work & Boarding
April 7, 1834

There are no further entries concerning Miss Humphrey, so we can only speculate on the length of her employment by Blakeslee.  Both of these women can be safely called Miss.  Were either of them married, according to the mores of the day, any contract for their work would have been negotiated by the husband, with the actual worker—the wife—merely peripherally mentioned.  Earnings would also have been paid to the husband.

Emeline Loomis worked for Blakeslee for a total of 48 weeks (not necessarily consecutive), for which she was charged $60 for her board at $1.25 a week. Other charges appearing in the account book are two cash advances (one of $10 on September 8, and one of $5 on November 15), and three charges (August 15, $3.18; September 12, $2.05; November 15, $1.98) on her account at a local store.  In those 48 weeks, her total known expenses were $82.21.

I think it is safe to assume that her work-week extended through six days, and began early and ended late.  April 7, 1834 was a Monday, and the full (consecutive) 48 weeks would therefore extend to the last day of February 1835.  At the end of her 48 weeks Emeline was credited with “figuring 9,283 faces and filling 35 faces,” for a total of 9,318 dials.  She therefore worked a (possible) total of 286 days (if we assume that she worked six days a week), and finished an average of 32-1/2 dials each day.  For her efforts she was paid a total of $232.50, or just under 2-1/2¢ for each dial. The final settlement of her account with Blakeslee was on  March 21, 1835, when she was paid $150.29 in cash.  And she was well paid—by comparison—perhaps because she was not charged for lost time, or days off, during the course of her employment.  Of this situation, Dr. Snowden Taylor wrote in his discussion of “The Account Book of Alpha Hart” (Timepiece Journal, Spring 1993, p. 70):

Clarena Apley was charged for ‘lost time’ for ‘sleigh ride to the Village,’ ‘one evening to Mr. Barns.  2 evenings at home.  evening to Doct. Marshs,’ ‘one afternoon and evening at Mr. Austins.’ etc.  Having fun cost money!

The wages for other women in Blakeslee’s employ vary from a high of $78 to a low of $26.

After Emeline ended her employment with Blakeslee, she returned to New Hartford, where three years later she married Henry H. Peck on April 27, 1838.  There were no children of this marriage, and her husband died in New Hartford in about 1878.  Eight years later the 66-year-old Emeline married Frederick Kellogg of Terryville, Conn., who died in 1898.   She was a mere 97 years old in 1908 when the Loomis genealogy noted that, “Her mind is as clear as ever and she reads and writes without glasses.”

Emeline Loomis Peck Kellogg died on the 6th of June, 1911, just weeks short of her 100th birthday.

The data for this article were taken from the microfilm of Blakeslee’s Account Book for 1830-1836, which is now in the collections of the American Clock and Watch Museum.  Grateful appreciation is extended to Dr. Snowden Taylor, Mr. Jacque Houser, and Mr. Chris Bailey for permission to quote from their research.

Clara Stephenson
Watchmaker
(b. 1869 - d. 1941)

In 1855, Samuel Stephenson arrived in Upper Canada (now Ontario) from England, another one of the thousands who were emigrating from England and Europe in hopes of finding greater opportunity and creating a better life in the New World.  Ten years later, he had settled in Elora, Ontario, a few miles west of Toronto and had set himself up in business as a jeweller and watch repairman.

On the first of July 1867, the day Canada became the Dominion of Canada, Samuel married Kate Halls of Upper Pilkington, Ontario.  Two years later, Clara was born, the second of eight children.   The family living quarters were over the store, as were those of many families at that time, and as their family grew, the living quarters gradually expanded downward into the area immediately behind the store.  Kate not only took care of the children and her house, but she also tended to the store in the afternoons while her husband took a nap. (One wonders if Clara’s mother ever got to take a nap?)  When Clara was about fourteen, her mother asked her to mind the shop, an afternoon task with which she was familiar, and very soon she took over completely.

When she had time from her other duties—young women in those days were expected to spend their time in improving their housekeeping talents—Clara would watch her father as he worked on clocks and watches.  She very soon became familiar with all the various parts of watches and  clocks and could anticipate the tools her father needed and would hand them to him.  Her father decided that she was mechanically inclined and began giving her small jobs to do on her own.  Several years later, years during which she essentially served an apprenticeship, she had become so familiar with the intricacies of clocks, watches, and the special tools involved that she was considered to be fully qualified as a watchmaker—as good as, or better than, many of the other (all male) watchmakers in the area.

It was at about this time that a drummer (a travelling salesmen) who had stopped in the store to peddle his goods noticed Clara working on a watch. When he asked what she was doing, he was amazed to discover that she was an expert watchmaker.  He evidently was the prototypically talkative salesman and quickly spread the story of the woman watchmaker of Elora throughout the rest of his territory.  His tale soon came to the ears of someone at the T. Eaton Company in Toronto, and that company decided that Clara would be a novel advertisement and attraction to pull customers into the store.   Clara accepted the invitation and was given her own workbench at the front of the store in full view of the customers.

She remained at Eaton’s for several years, until she accepted a much better offer from P. W. Ellis, wholesale jewelers, where she stayed until 1909.  By then, her mother was dying of cancer, and Clara went home to care for her.  After her mother’s death, she married David Richardson of nearby  Aurora, and they went West—to Idaho, where her career became that of a rancher’s wife, thus probably ending her days as a watchmaker.  I can find  no information about where  she lived in Idaho, or whether she followed (or was able to follow) her profession.

In about 1926 her husband took everything they owned and abandoned her.  Totally destitute, she returned to Toronto where she lived until her death in 1941.  She seems to have been a very private person, as she kept this tale of abandonment a secret, and only a few of her relatives knew the full story.  She was very likely the first woman watchmaker in Canada but only one of several Stephensons to work in the business.  Four of her brothers became watchmakers, and another owned a large jewelry store—yet the family agreed unanimously that she was the best of them all.

Acknowledgements

My special thanks to all those out of some 34,000 members who responded to my request for information on women in horology:  Mrs. Jane Varkaris, FNAWCC; Dr. Snowden Taylor, FNAWCC*; Mr. Frederick M. Shelley, FNAWCC; Mr. Stacy B. C. Wood, Jr., FNAWCC; and Mr. Robert Calhoun.

To the past president of my home chapter, Maine Chapter 89, Mrs. Margaret Crane, for her help and encouragement.

To the headquarters staff (past and present) of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors:  Beatrice Ahearn, Beth Bisbano, Diana Burnett, Dr. Nancy Connelly, Eileen Doudna, Kathy I. Everett, Martha Feagan, Patti Gable,  Sharon Gordon, Marie Killian, Amy Klinedinst, Pamela Lindenberger, Elizabeth Mackison, Bobbi Minnick, Michele Nichols, Nancy Nonnenmocher, Roseann Robinson Nikolaus, Amy Smith, Patricia Tomes, Beverly Rutt, Michelle Vera, and Deborah Wolfe.

And most particularly to that unsung and unremembered multitude of women who not only labored in the trade but who also stood and waited.

Notes

1. Japan or japanning is a coating of a hard, glossy varnish or lacquer, which may be in and of itself decorative, or the japan coat may itself be decorated later.

2. Charles K. Aked, “ The Song of Love, or the Amorous Clock,” NAWCC Bulletin, No. 295 (April 1995): p. 208.

3. The contract between Albro W. Cowles and Erastus Hodges in Erastus Hodges. Theodore B. Hodges, Erastus Hodges 1781-1847 (West Kennebunk, ME: Phoenix Publishing), 1994.

Bibliography

Baines, C. C. “A Seventeenth Century Nun Watchmaker.” Antiquarian Horology (March 1960).

Blakeslee, Garrett Smith. Account Book.  Microfilm, courtesy of the American Clock and Watch Museum, Bristol, CT.

Burrows, G. Edmond.  Canadian Clocks and Clockmakers. Oshawa, Ontario: Kalabi Enterprises Ltd., 1973.

Coffin, Margaret. The History and Folklore of American Country Tinware, 1700-1900. Camden, New Jersey: T. Nelson, 1968.

DeVoe, Shirley Spaulding. The Tinsmiths of Connecticut.   Middletown, CT. Published for the Connecticut Historical Society [by the] Wesleyan University Press,  1968.

—“Candace Roberts; 1785-1806, Japanner and Ornamenter.”  Bulletin of the Connecticut Historical  Society, Vol. 27, p. 85ff.

Distin, William H. and Bishop, Robert.  The American Clock.  New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1976.

Hartley, Craig M.  “Clockmakers and Watchmakers of Canada.”  NAWCC Bulletin, No. 112 (October 1964): p. 461.

Hodges, Theodore Burt. Erastus Hodges, 1781-1847. West Kennebunk, Maine: Phoenix Publishing, 1994.

Loomes, Brian. Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World, Vol. 2. London: N.A.G. Press, 1976.

Langdon, John E. Clock and Watchmakers in Canada, 1700-1900. Toronto, Canada: Anson-Cartwright Editions, 1976.

Taylor, Dr. Snowden. “The Account Book of Alpha Hart.” Timepiece Journal (Spring 1993);

Jacque Houser, Emeline Loomis-Dial Painter, Chris Bailey, Additional Notes, Fall 1994.

Trevelyan, George M.  A History of England. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co. Inc., 1953.

Varkaris, Jane, and Connell, James E. Early Canadian Timekeepers. Toronto, Canada: Stoddard Publishing Co., 1994.

About the Author

Donn Haven Lathrop retired from the U.S. Navy as a Training Devicesman Chief Petty Officer. An electronics specialist, he taught and worked with electronics and electro/hydraulic systems applied to helicopter flight and weapons systems simulators, including the very first digital computer-driven helicopter simulator, and he later wrote specifications for the procurement of state-of-the-art helicopter simulators.

Donn is the author of numerous articles for the Bulletin. His primary interest is in the history of clocks and their makers, with a particular emphasis on the New England states. Donn can be contacted at donnl@sover.net