Ephraim Downs (1787–1860) was an early America wooden movement clockmaker. In business from 1810 through 1842, he worked with Eli Terry, Silas Hoadley, and Seth Thomas in the early Connecticut clock trade.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Eli Terry Sr. was an inventor and clockmaker in Connecticut. He received a United States patent for a shelf clock mechanism. He introduced mass production to the art of clockmaking, which made clocks affordable for the average American citizen. Terry occupies an important place in the beginnings of the development of interchangeable parts manufacturing. Terry is considered the first person in American history to actually accomplish Interchangeable parts with no government funding. Terry became one of the most accomplished mechanics in New England during the early part of the nineteenth century. The village of Terryville, Connecticut is named for his son, Eli Terry Jr.
Silas Hoadley was an American clockmaker.
During the 1830s, Ephraim supplied nearly seven thousand wood-movement clocks to the wholesale trade. Eighty percent of his clocks were of the thirty-hour looking glass variety. Wholesale prices for these clocks was $9.00 in 1830, but by 1839 the price was reduced by one half due to competitive price cutting and reduced manufacturing costs.
A mirror is an object that reflects light in such a way that, for incident light in some range of wavelengths, the reflected light preserves many or most of the detailed physical characteristics of the original light, called specular reflection. This is different from other light-reflecting objects that do not preserve much of the original wave signal other than color and diffuse reflected light, such as flat-white paint.
Downs sold some brass movement clocks but it is not believed that he manufactured any of this type. After 1842, he did not participate to any great extent in clock-manufacturing, though he did continue to produce and sell a few wood movements. He continued to work and ran his gristmill until 1850. He died in Bristol, Connecticut on December 8, 1860. His old clock shop burned down around 1865. It was located on the south side of the river as was the mill, but on the east side of the road now called Downs Street, whereas the mill was on the west side. The Downs mill was taken down in 1921 and a stone monument with a water fountain was erected in its place.
A gristmill grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to both the grinding mechanism and the building that holds it.
Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 60,477.
Connecticut is the southernmost state in the New England region of the United States. As of the 2010 Census, it has the highest per-capita income, Human Development Index (0.962), and median household income in the United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford and its most populous city is Bridgeport. It is part of New England, although portions of it are often grouped with New York and New Jersey as the Tri-state area. The state is named for the Connecticut River which approximately bisects the state. The word "Connecticut" is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for "long tidal river".
Bibliography
Hounshell, David A. (1984), From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States, Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN978-0-8018-2975-8, LCCN83016269
Russell, Lynda (2006). Bristol Historic Homes. Charleston: Arcadia.
Smith, Eddy et al. (1907). Bristol, Connecticut. Hartford: City Printing.
David Allen Hounshell is an American academic, and David M. Roderick Professor of Technology and Social Change in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Department of History, and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. He is known for his work of the history of research and development and industrial research in the United States, particularly at DuPont.
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.
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