Claggett: Newport's Illustrious Clockmakers

In the 18th century, Newport, Rhode Island, was home to some of the most skillful craftsmen in colonial North America. Among them were the clockmakers William Claggett (1694–1748), James Wady (d. 1759), and Thomas Claggett (1730–1797)—individuals whose surviving works became the best-known records of their lives. Although they flourished in an era widely considered as a golden age of prosperity in Newport, their stories remained elusive, with a few magnificent clocks the only testament to t...