Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about the history and genealogy of the Blasdel family, makers of beautiful colonial clocks. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

This spring, early American clock specialist Gary R. Sullivan is set to present a lecture and slide show on the beautiful and sculptural 18th-century craft of the Blasdel (Blaisdell) family of blacksmith clockmakers. (Note: the family surname has various spellings including Blasdel/Basdell/Baisdell/Blasdale and others.)

Sullivan is a nationally recognized early American clock and furniture scholar, researcher, multi award-winning author, exhibit curator, and appraiser for 16 seasons on PBS Antiques Roadshow. For more on Gary, see: Antiques and the Arts Weekly.

The lecture will take place at 2:00 PM on 28 March 2026 at the Willard House and Clock Museum (featuring the period rooms of the 1718 Joseph Willard Homestead), 11 Willard St., North Grafton, Massachusetts.

Sullivan notes that the Blasdels were some of the earliest clockmakers in America, and multiple generations of the Blasdel family have plied their metalworking craft in places such as the rural New Hampshire border town of Amesbury, Massachusetts.

Blasdel clocks incorporate movements (the mechanism that keeps time, moves the clock’s hands, and strikes the hour) with beautifully wrought frames of sculpted iron, housing hand-cut brass gears and featuring charming pewter and brass dials with naïve engraving.

The provincial vernacular of the local woodworkers who made cases for these movements leave the viewer utterly charmed. Sullivan will show examples of their work, which will be available for examination at his lecture.

Early Blasdel History and Genealogy

Colonial families handed down trades through the generations. The Blasdels of Amesbury perfected clockmaking. They were among the many ingenious families who helped establish Essex County as the center of industry. Generational expertise was passed down through multiple professions.

David Blasdel was the son of Jonathan and Hannah (Jameson) Blaisdell. He married Abigail Colby, daughter of Samuel and Dorothy (Ambrose) Colby, and lived on Main Street in a house located on the property that is now the Amesbury Historical Society and Bartlett Museum.

David and Abigail were descendants of the first settlers of Amesbury. Many of their children married into these lines. Below is a photograph of the Golgotha Monument, located next to 52 Macy Street, Amesbury, which was the burial ground for Amesbury’s first settlers. They called the site “Golgotha” meaning “a place of great suffering.”

David was described by many as a mechanical genius and made his first clock in 1735. He conducted business from Kendrick’s Lane in the front yard of his Uncle Charles Blasdel’s home, and sources say a more industrious or useful man was seldom found. His talents went well beyond clocks.

Entries in his account book (whereabouts unknown) reveal that he repaired augers, andirons, steelyards, gunlocks, tin and brass ware, shod horses, and forged iron work for vessels. He also sold groceries, dry goods, meat, wood, and operated a cider mill.

His clocks are still ticking today, and the fine craftsmanship and quality come through the brass and pewter dials. There are more than 20 clocks on record made by him. One of them is a tall clock originally owned by Josiah Bartlett, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Four sons born to David and Abigail (Colby) Blasdel became master clock makers.

(1) David Blasdel Jr. (1736-1794) married Judith Jewell, daughter of Joseph and Anne (Quimby) Jewell, and 2nd Sarah (Currier) Bagley, daughter of Daniel and Electa Currier and widow of Valentine Bagley.

David Jr. took over his father’s business in 1756. According to Amesbury historian Steve Klomps, his contribution to the clock world was mastering the sophisticated eight-day brass, time and strike movement, rather than the standard 30-hour lantern one.

In 1777, Salisbury made history when the frigate Alliance was forged by the Hackett family. Klomps says that David’s talent as a blacksmith was utilized in that enterprise. An impressive account of work performed is listed in the records of Timothy Cushing.

(2) Isaac Blasdel (1738-1791) married Mary Currier, daughter of Ebenezer and Anne (Jones) Currier.

He was a silversmith and clockmaker and one of the settlers of Chester, New Hampshire.

Below is a photograph of the dial from a grandfather clock made by Isaac, published in the Union Leader. This clock is now housed at the Chester Historical Society.

(3) Capt. Nicolas/Nicholas Blasdel (1743-1800) married Susannah Merrinor/Merriman on 22 January 1761 in Amesbury.

He was a blacksmith, silversmith, and clockmaker. He moved from Amesbury to Newmarket, New Hampshire, and then to Portland, Maine. He led the first company of soldiers from Maine to Boston and served a long time in the Revolutionary War.

According to Sullivan, clocks produced by Nicholas are among the rarest by any Blasdel clan member. One of his, a tall clock made in 1765, is an important example of colonial clock making – and only three others by him have been documented.

This clock, Sullivan notes, has “a rare sarcophagus top and a fine early painted surface,” and “survives in an almost perfect state of preservation.”

(4) Jonathan Blasdel (1748-1781) married Hannah (unknown).

He was a blacksmith, gunsmith, and clockmaker. Four of his clocks are known – one was made in 1768.

There are more generations of clockmakers born from these first two generations of Blasdel men.

If you own an example or have information on Blasdel clockmakers, please contact me at melissadavenportberry@gmail.com Thank you!

Explore your family history by creating your free account at GenealogyBank for 7 days, because every life deserves to be remembered, recorded, and rediscovered.

Note on the header image: a Nicholas Blasdel tall case clock, c. 1765. Credit: Gary R. Sullivan Antiques.