Benjamin Hanks

Benjamin Hanks
Born	Benjamin Hanks (1755-10-29)October 29, 1755[1] Mansfield, Connecticut, USA
Died	December 15, 1824(1824-12-15) (aged 69)[1]
Residence	Litchfield, Connecticut, USA
Nationality	American
Occupation	Goldsmith, brazier, military drummer
Employer	Foundry owner
Known for	Making large church bells, silversmith / goldsmith, bronze cannon maker instrument maker;[2] took part in the Lexington Alarm triggered by Paul Revere's "Midnight Ride"
Title	Colonel
Spouse(s)	Alice Hovey
Children	Truman, Horatio, and Julius Hanks
Parent(s)	Uriah and Irene (Case) Hanks
Relatives	Brother, Rodney Hanks (1782-1846), and eight other siblings

Benjamin Hanks is generally accepted to be the first person to make bronze cannons and church bells in the United States. He was a goldsmith, instrument maker, clockmaker, bellfounder, and foundry owner.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Early life

According to historian Susan Whitney Dimock's 1898 book "Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths: From the Records of the Town and Churches in Mansfield, Connecticut, 1703-1850" Benjamin Hanks was born 29 October 1755 in Mansfield, Connecticut. ^[9] The vital records of the Town of Mansfield, however, states he was born on December 15, 1755. Hanks' parents, Uriah and Irene (Case) Hanks, were married March 20, 1755.^[10] Hanks had nine siblings, all of whom were younger.^[2] Hanks lived at home until he was seventeen years old, when in 1772 he was apprenticed to Thomas Harland, a well-known clockmaker in Norwich, Connecticut, until Hanks established a clock business in the city.^[11]

Mid life and career

Hanks was a military drummer in the American Revolutionary War and took part in the Lexington Alarm triggered by Paul Revere's "Midnight Ride" of which he served about a month then.^[12] Later Hanks re-enlisted and served in the Third Regiment under Israel Putnam from mid May through mid December 1775.^[12] He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, commandant of the fifth regiment of militia in Connecticut.^[12][13]

Hanks married Alice Hovey around 1775 to 1777 in Windham, Connecticut. In 1780 they moved to Litchfield, Connecticut and built a house from which he ran his home business as a goldsmith / silversmith, maker of instruments, clocks, looms, and compasses.^[2][14]

In 1786 Hanks established a foundry just south of the Court House in Litchfield and ran a "Brazier's business".^[15] He was famous for making church bells at this foundry.^[15] He ran his businesses out of his home until 1790 when he moved to Mansfield, Connecticut, where he continued his businesses.

In 1808 Hanks became a partner in a foundry with his son Julius Hanks in Troy, New York.^[3] They took out a newspaper advertisement describing the brass cannons and church bells they manufactured.^[3] Their foundry also made goldsmith's items, stocking looms, clocks, and surveyor's compasses based on David Rittenhouse's designs.^[16][17] Hanks obtained a patent for "Molding and Casting Bells" in 1816. The Troy foundry manufactured large church bells under this patent.^[18] The Troy foundry also manufactured tower clocks and surveying tools.^[3] One of the apprentices, Andrew Meneely, went on to open a foundry of his own, which eventually became the Meneely Bell Foundry.^[3] After Hanks' death in 1824, the Troy foundry was operated for a year by his son Julius and eventually absorbed by the Meneely Bell Foundry (owner: Andrew Meneely) in 1826.^[19]

Innovations

Hanks' first large church tower bell was mounted in The Old Dutch Church in New York City in 1780 when he was contracted to make the church tower clock.^[20] Hanks obtained a fourteen-year intellectual rights patent in 1783 on this tower clock that automatically wound itself by air.^{[20][15][21][22][23]} The patent said the clock would wind itself up to operate by the use of air. It would automatically continue to wind itself up and operate until the mechanical parts wore out due to friction.^{[24][25][26][27]}

Hanks made the first two bronze cannons made in the United States in 1797.^[28] The First Company of Connecticut Artillery carried them.^[28]

Family

Hanks and his wife had three children.

• Truman Hanks
• Horatio Hanks
• Julius Hanks

Death and legacy

Hanks died in West Troy, New York, on December 15 of 1824 at the age of 69.^[29] He is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, NY.^[30] He is considered the father of the church bell and bronze cannon business in the United States.^[31]

References

Bibliography

• American-Irish, Historical Society (1927). The Recorder. American Irish Historical Society. 
• Bailey, Chris H. (1975). Two hundred years of American clocks & watches. Prentice-Hall. 
• Bugbee, Bruce Willis (1960). The early American law of intellectual property: the historical foundations of the United States patent and copyright systems. University of Michigan. 
• Bugbee, Bruce Willis (1967). Genesis of American patent and copyright law. Public Affairs Press. 
• Daughters of the American Revolution (1910). Lineage Book – National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution. 
• Dimock, Susan Whitney (1898). Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths: From the Records of the Town and Churches in Mansfield, Connecticut, 1703-1850. Baker & Taylor Company. 
• Herman, Jennifer L. (2008). Connecticut Encyclopedia. North American Book Dist LLC. ISBN 978-1-878592-52-1. 
• Hoopes, Penrose Robinson (1930). Connecticut Clockmakers of the Eighteenth Century. E. V. Mitchell. Retrieved 12 July 2013. 
• Knight, Edward H. (1876). Knights American Mechanical Dictionary. 
• Nutting, Wallace (1924). The Clock Book. The Plimpton Press. Retrieved 12 July 2013. 
• Perez, Rick (2010). Time: Clocks, Calendars and Dates of Jesus' Birth and Death. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4500-9044-5. 
• Shepherd, Henry L. (1969). Litchfield: portrait of a beautiful town. 
• Smart, Charles E. (1962). The makers of surveying instruments in America since 1700. Troy, N.Y.: Regal Art Press. 
• Sons of the American Revolution (1916). Register of Members. The Society. 
• The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (1932). The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. New England Historic Genealogical Society. 
• The Society (1996). Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society. The Society. 
• White, James Terry (1967). The National cyclopaedia of American biography: being the history of the United States as illustrated in the lives of the founders, builders, and defenders of the republic, and of the men and women who are doing the work and moulding the thought of the present time. University Microfilms. 

External links

• Benjamin Hanks Litchfield home
• Benjamin Hanks at Find a Grave