Dudley Emerson
Born in Lyme in 1765, little is know of Emerson’s early years. By 1788 he had finished his apprenticeship and advertised in the Connecticut Gazette that his “Clock & Watch-making & Jewelry” business was open and located “on the road from New London to East Haddam” (Hoopes, Connecticut Clockmakers of the Eighteenth Century, New York, 1930, page 76). Emerson touted that he made “Chime Clocks that carry hours, minutes and seconds, day of the month and moon’s age”.
It is not currently known with whom Emerson trained though he noted in his 1788 ad that he had “served a regular apprenticeship”. There are several possible masters, the most fitting is Thomas Harland of Norwich, now thought of as one of the greatest Connecticut clockmakers of his time. The tall case clock recorded as p4A.com item no. 109617 has a dial with engraving bearing a close resemblance to those of Harland (Hoopes, no. 23). The connection with Harland is furthered in that the case of this clock shares similar features with the case of a Harland clock, both exhibiting rope-carved columns and Newport features in the paneled door.