DIAL SIGNED BY SIMON WILLARD (1753-1848), ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1800

As recorded on the interior of the door, this clock was first owned by John Fiske (1741-1819) of Framingham, Massachusetts. Fiske was among the first to fight in what would become the War of Independence and as part of Capt. Simon Edgell’s company, marched on the Alarm on April 19th, 1775 to Concord and Cambridge. Fiske served throughout the War and afterwards enjoyed considerable prosperity through his business ventures. A prominent figure in Framingham, he served on numerous civic committees and was one of the town’s selectmen for thirteen years. In 1812, he built a Federal mansion, which still stands today at 13 Salem End Road. The clock probably stood in this house and since Fiske’s death, has passed down in seven generations of the same family. For more on the Fiske family, see Josiah Howard Temple, History of Framingham, Massachusetts (Framingham, 1887), pp. 277-278, 310, 422, 565; Frederick Clifton Pierce, Fiske and Fisk Family (Chicago, 1896), pp. 270, 400-401.