In 1885, the community of Fredonia, New York agreed to order a new clock from the E. Howard Watch company of Boston. The new clock was placed in the tower of the Fredonia Baptist Church, known for its founding of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in 1873 .
Fredonia was a small community that grew out of the Holland Land purchase in early 1791 where 6,000,000 acres of land, unused by Massachusetts, was sold for $1,000,000. At the turn of the
nineteenth century, territorial settlements began to grow. As early as 1805, there is a record
of a number of Baptist brethren- five men and four women- meeting “on Lord’s Day to recommend the cause of Christ and confirm each other in the faith and the Lord blessing their labors.” This small group was the beginning of the Fredonia Baptist Church.
The idea of a village clock to sound out the hours and regulate the lives of the townspeople
began in 1866 when the church purchased and hung a tower bell. It would wait twenty years
for the new tower clock’s installation in 1886.
This tower clock was installed at a total cost of $666.90. The bid for maintaining the clock was accepted by the town council for $20.00 per year. The successful bidder requested he be paid quarterly.
For 92 years, the people of Fredonia relied on their clock for the timely conduct of each day. In 1978, the clock was removed from the tower and replaced with an electric mechanism.
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