Page 30 - joa-october-rev

The J. Cheney Wells

Clock Collection

at Old Sturbridge Village

Lafayette
Mantle Clock

he J. Cheney Wells collection
of over 100 early New
TEngland clocks is not what
one would expect to find when
visiting Old Sturbridge Village in
Sturbridge, Massachusetts, an early
19th century living museum village
that re-creates everyday life in rural
New England through the use and
display of the tools and technology
of the time.
Yet, these two distinct collections
with seemingly little in common are
the legacy contributions of two
brothers from Southbridge, MA
who pursued different passions but
shared a vision in the founding of
Old Sturbridge Village (OSV).
Joel Cheney Wells (1874-1960)
was the younger brother of Albert B.
Wells (1872-1953), the collector who
spearheaded the museum project in
1936 as a way to give context and
renewed purpose to his extensive
collection of Americana primitives,
at the time housed in a family home
turned local history museum in
downtown Southbridge. The two
worked with their brother, Channing,
and their father George W. Wells
in the family business, American
Optical Corporation. In fact, Cheney is credited with “forty patents and Title image: The main gallery
some applications pending relating to improvements in eyeglasses of
various types also of bifocal lenses.” Row 1 from left:
Cheney, as he was known to family and in business, is described as a Dome Mantle Clock, Joel Cheney Wells,
meticulous man who liked order and had a “flair for tinkering.” “It was Patent Timepiece Variations.
the mechanical precision of clocks that appealed to him,” says Thomas Row 2 from left:
Kelleher, Historian and Curator of Mechanical Arts at Old Sturbridge Central and Northern New England Tall Clocks,
Village, in an attempt to shed light on Cheney Wells’ fascination with Close-up of Caleb Wheaton Tall Clock Face,
early New England clocks. “For Wells, clocks represented the best Caleb Wheaton Tall Clock
continued on page 30
28 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles