The Willard Family

Benjamin Willard, Jr. was the eldest of four brothers who were notable clockmaker

Clockmaker

A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches...

s in central Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The other Willard brothers involved in clockmaking include:

• Aaron
  Aaron Willard
  Aaron Willard was an entrepreneur, an industrialist, and a designer of clocks who worked extensively at his Boston factory during the early years of the United States of America.While at the family farm at Grafton, Aaron Willard developed his career conjointly with his three brothers,...
  
  
• Ephraim
• Simon
  Simon Willard
  Simon Willard were produced in Massachusetts in the Grafton and Roxbury workshops of Simon Willard , a celebrated U.S. clockmaker...
  
  

Biography

Born in Grafton, Massachusetts

Grafton, Massachusetts

Grafton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,765 at the 2010 census. Grafton is the home of a Nipmuc village known as Hassanamisco Reservation, the Willard House and Clock Museum, and the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine...

 on March 19, 1743, Benjamin was the first of the Willard family to enter the business of clockmaking, a craft which he began around 1765.

He operated a workshop at his family home in Grafton, but by December, 1771 lived in Roxbury, Massachusetts

Roxbury, Massachusetts

Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...

.

Benjamin died in Baltimore, Maryland in 1803.

Legacy

Although not as famous as his younger brother, Simon, Benjamin nonetheless was a prominent and well-known clockmaker in his day. A number of Benjamin Willard clocks survive today and are considered collectible.

The Willard home and workshop in Grafton are preserved and operate as a museum.

External links

• Willard House and Clock Museum