time, with systematized labor and complicated machinery, it gives
employment to thousands of men, occupying some of the largest factories
of New England. Previous to the year 1838, most clock movements were
made of wood; since that time they have been constructed of metal, which
is not only better and more durable but even cheaper to manufacture.

Many years of my own life have been inseparably connected with and
devoted to the American clock business, and the most important changes
in it have taken place within my remembrance and actual experience. Its
whole history is familiar to me, and I cannot write my life without
having much to say about "Yankee clocks." Neither can there be a history
of that business written without alluding to myself. A few weeks since
I entered my sixty-seventh year, and reviewing the past, many trying
experiences are brought fresh into my mind. For more than forty-five
years I have been actively engaged in the manufacture of clocks, and
constantly studying and contriving new methods of manufacturing for the
benefit of myself and fellow-men, and although through the
instrumentality of others, I have been unfortunate in the loss of my
good name and an independent competency, which I had honorably and
honestly acquired by these long years of patient toil and industry, it
is a satisfaction to me now to know that I have been the means of doing
some good in the world.

On the following pages in my simple language, and in a bungling manner,
I have told the story of my life. I am no author, but claim a title
which I consider nobler, that of a "Mechanic." Being possessed of a
remarkable memory, I am able to give a minute account and even the date
of every important transaction of my whole life, and distinctly remember
events which took place when I was but a child, three and a half years
old, and how I celebrated my fourth birthday. I could relate many