John Nicholl (1784–1862), Belvidere
John Nicholl (1784-1862), Belvidere. Tall Case Clock, Mahogany, c. 1825. Inscribed on the dial: “Jno Nicholl / Belvedere / W,C,” Dial possibly by William Jones, Pennsylvania. Collection of The Newark Museum of Art, gift of James Carlile Paul, 1965. Executed with high grain crotch Mahogany panels and veneers. The waist door is flanked by spiral turned quarter columns with Tiger Maple capitals. Irish panel below the door. The base with recessed panel continues to a shaped apron with “cupid’s bow” all on straight French feet. Eight day brass striking movement with four hands off the center shaft: sweep seconds, calendar, minute, hour. American painted iron dial with unmarked, thin iron false plate. The dial with gilt decorated calendar track and geometric fan decorated spandrels. 93” tall.
Dating to 1825-30, this clock by John Nicholl is probably the latest in the exhibition. The face is inscribed: “Jno Nicholl / Belvedere / W,C,” The “W,C,” probably stands for Warren County. Notice the four hands on the main dial—an unusual feature in New Jersey clocks. In addition to hour, minute, and second hands, this clock has a hand indicating the day of the month on the inner chapter ring. In Nicholl’s own records, he wrote that he made a “small clock” that was musical.
John Nicholl was born in Cullybackey, Ireland on August 9, 1784. With his sister Mary and her husband, he traveled to America in 1801; John was only 17 years old. Mary and her husband died of dysentery during the voyage, leaving Nicholl to start his new life alone. After his arrival in Staten Island, Nicholl moved around quite a bit working different jobs going as far south as Charleston, South Carolina and up north to Quebec.
After returning from a trip to Ireland in 1818, Nicholl lived in Easton, PA, where he made his first clock in 1819. In 1821 he moved to Washington, NJ where he continued to work as a clockmaker. By the mid-1820s Nicholl was selling “eight and ten day Brass mantle timepieces, from 25 dollars upwards, with and without Moon, all of his own manufactury.” There are several tall case clocks known to be made by Nicholl, as well as several shelf clocks. Nicholl moved to the neighboring town of Belvidere the following year, and would have made this clock around this time. He lived in Oxford, Warren County in 1840.
He married Eliza Stewart (c. 1802–1883) of Hackettstown, NJ in 1822. The couple had a house full of at least five daughters, Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary, Ann, and Caroline. Incredibly, Nicholl’s oldest daughter Margaret saved scraps of paper on which Nicholl wrote down details about his life from 1859-60 (see Sperling, David A. “John Nicholl, Clockmaker of Belvidere, New Jersey.” In Maine Antiques Digest. February 2006).
John’s cause of death is listed as “Palsy” and he died October 3, 1863. His inventory, proven December 1, 1863, shows a number of items related to the trade of clock and watch making. Among the list were: 1 clock sign, 1 clock, 2 large clocks, 1 mantle clock, 1 Box of watch hands, 1 silver watch, 1 Tool case and contents, Lot of watch crystals, 9 clock springs, 2 clock works, 6 clock weights. Other items like buckles and jewelry were possibly for selling as “other articles” as listed in his 1849 shop advertisement. He also had three pairs of spectacles (his failing eyesight was recorded by Margaret as one of reasons he stopped making clocks). His daughter Ann was the administratrix of the will. Interestingly, his widow Eliza did not select any clocks as items she wanted to retain for the family.
John and Eliza, and their daughters are buried at the Belvidere Cemetery. Today, a historic marker on Wall Street, Belvidere marks the home of the clockmaker and his family.
Click images below to enlarge. Press the “Esc” button to return to this page. All historic ads on this page were accessed in the Joseph Hammond Collection (Box RF009748305), Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
