Meneely Bell Foundry

The Meneely Bell Foundry was a bell foundry established in 1826 in West Troy (now Watervliet), New York, by Andrew Meneely. Two of Andrew's sons continued to operate the foundry after his death, while a third son, Clinton H. Meneely, opened a second foundry across the river with George H. Kimberly in Troy, New York in 1870. Initially named the Meneely Bell Company of Troy, this second foundry was reorganized in 1880 as the Clinton H. Meneely Company, then again as the Meneely Bell Company. Together, the two foundries produced about 65,000 bells before they closed in 1952.^[1][2]

Bell locations

Below is a sample of locations where Meneely Bell Foundry bells can be seen and heard:

• St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church Set of 10 bells cast in West Troy in 1901. Three bells added in 1966. All bells refurbished in 2008 by Christop Paccard Bellfoundries, Johns Island, SC.
• Thompson Hall, University of New Hampshire - Durham, New Hampshire
• Columbia High School (New Jersey) - large bell chimes the hour
• Bulkley Memorial Carillon in Danbury, Connecticut
• St. Mary Catholic Church, Bethel, Connecticut (this bell was in the original church, located on Greenwood Ave. in Bethel but was taken out of the steeple and placed on display behind the "new" church on Dodgingtown Road)
• Central United Methodist Church in Endicott, New York
• Immanuel Lutheran Church in Madison, Nebraska
• Jamesville Community Museum, former Episcopal church built in 1878 in Jamesville, New York ^[3]
• Joseph Dill Baker Memorial Carillon in Baker Park, in Frederick, Maryland
• King Avenue United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio^[4]
• Lovely Lane Chapel at Epworth By The Sea on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Chapel built in 1880 and the bell was cast in 1881.
• Lupton Hall Carillon at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia
• Mt. Zion Baptist Church, formerly Deutsche Congregationale Zion Kirche (German Congregational Zion Church) in Portland, Oregon
• Newton Presbyterian Church in Newton, New Jersey ^[5]
• Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack, NY
• Rock Island Arsenal Clock Tower in Rock Island, Illinois has a 3,538 lb bell stamped “1867 Meneelys’ West Troy, N.Y.” ^[6]
• Saint Andrew's Catholic Church in Norwood, New York has a 3,100 lb bell of ingot copper and East India tin in a 70-foot (21 m) tower. ^[7]
• Saint Anthony's Church in Albany, New York
• Saint Anthony's Church (Svateho Antonina) in Strossmayerovo Namesti, Prague, Czech Republic (see below)
• Saint Peter Cathedral in Erie, Pennsylvania
• St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in New Brunswick, New Jersey^[8]
• Wesley Knox United Church. Woodville, Nova Scotia. Canada.
• Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church, Sherman, Texas
• Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island
• University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa dedicated in 1926 ^[9]
• Washington Memorial Chapel has a carillon in the National Patriots Bell Tower at Valley Forge National Historical Park
• Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina ^[10]
• Eastern State Hospital Medical Library, Building No. 3, Williamsburg, Virginia is the location of a Meneely Bell carrying the manufacturer's date of 1886. It was originally utilized to signify curfews and special events at the nation's oldest psychiatric hospital, established in 1773. You may visit the Eastern State Hospital website at www.esh.dbhds.virginia.gov
• Mattawamkeag Church of God in Mattawamkeag, Maine (Dated 1900)www.mattawamkeagcog.com
• Carlisle Presbyterian Church, Carlisle, New York
• Roddick_Gate McGill_University in Montreal
• Church of the Nativity, Menlo Park, California
• Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Salt Lake City, Utah [3]
• St Lawrence Hall, Toronto, Ontario. (This bell, cast in 1849, is unused and virtually inaccessible in the cupola of St Lawrence Hall.
• Laingsburg United Methodist Church, Laingsburg MI (1881 bell) www.laingsburgumc.org

Below is a sample of locations where bells from the second Meneely bell foundry can be seen and heard:

• Davis County Courthouse (Maneely & Kimberly Bell Co., 1879) in Bloomfield, Iowa
• The Phelps School's "Victory Bell" in Malvern, Pennsylvania
• A Meneely & Kimberly bell remains in front of the Cortland Elementary School in Cortland, Ohio. The school was once named Cortland Union School as cast on the bell 1876. This bell will soon be relocated to the Cortland High School.
• The Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower, Chapel Hill, NC. The twelve original bells were cast by the Meneely Bell Company ^[11] in the early 1930s, and supplemented by two bells from Petit & Fritsen, Belgium in 1998.
• Sainte-Marthe-De-Vaudreuil Catholic Church, Quebec, Canada.
• St. Andrew's United Church in Markham, Ontario ^[12]
• Bell in the name of Miss Elsie Priest, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan.
• A Meneely & Kimberly bell is in daily service in the Parish Church of San Andres Xecul, Totonicapan, Guatemala.
• Most Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn, New York.
• Soldiers Chapel - Schofield Barracks; Wahiawa,Oahu, Hawaii. Church steeple built 1913. Bell dated 1911.
• Assumption Church - Staten Island, NY. Assumption - St. Paul Parish. Bells dedicated August 6, 1922.^[13]

Columbian Liberty Bell

The Columbian Liberty Bell was cast by Clinton H. Meneely's foundry for display at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The bell disappeared while on tour in Europe. ^{[14] [15] [16] [17]}

Saint Anthony’s Church Bell, Prague, Czech Republic

The Meneely bell that hangs in St Anthony's Church in Prague was purchased by the Mid-European Union in October 1918 to commemorate the independence of Czechoslovakia after World War I and donated to the group's president, Thomas Masaryk, who became the head of the country's provisional government and, in 1920, the Czechoslovak president. The bell cost $2,000 and weighed 2,542 pounds (1,155 kg).

See also

• Campanology: Carillons (a concise chapter in the general article Campanology)
• Bell tower

References

External links

• Meneely Bell Online Museum
• The Meneely Foundry in West Troy, Troy United Newsletter, December 1999