Meneely bell foundries

A Meneely bell at the Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts

The Meneely Bell Foundry was a bell foundry established in 1826 in West Troy (now Watervliet), New York, by Andrew Meneely.[citation needed] Two of Andrew's sons continued to operate the foundry after his death, while a third son, Clinton H. Meneely, opened a second foundry across the river with George H. Kimberly in Troy, New York in 1870. Initially named the Meneely Bell Company of Troy, this second foundry was reorganized in 1880 as the Clinton H. Meneely Company, then again as the Meneely Bell Company. Together, the two foundries produced about 65,000 bells before they closed in 1952.[1][2]

## Bell locations

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### Meneely Bell Foundry

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Selected bells attributed to the West Troy foundry.

Site  | Image  | Dates  | Location  | Country  | Description

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Boys' Camp, Camp Mini-Yo-We |  |  | Huntsville, Ontario | Canada | Originally cast for Mountainside Gospel Chapel in Mountainside, New Jersey. Later donated to Camp Mini-Yo-We upon amalgamation with Liquid Church.
St. Lawrence Hall |  | 1849 cast  | Toronto, Ontario | Canada  | Unused and virtually inaccessible in the cupola
Wesley Knox United Church  |  |  | Woodville, Nova Scotia | Canada  |
Roddick Gates, McGill University |  |  | Montreal, Quebec | Canada  |
Saint Anthony's Church (Svateho Antonina)  |  | 1918 purchased  | Strossmayerovo Namesti, Prague | Czech Republic |
First Baptist Church  |  | 1869 cast

1887 repaired 1963 moved

| Huntsville, Alabama | United States | Donated by deacon James Hamilton to Enon Baptist Church downtown. Later moved to current site.
Church of the Nativity  |  |  | Menlo Park, California | United States  |
Saint Joseph Parish (Mountain View, California) |  |  | Mountain View, California | United States  | Striker replaced in 2018. A-frames scheduled for replacement in 2024.
San Jose State University |  | 1881 cast

Rehung 1910 and 1960s

| San Jose, California | United States  | Cast to commemorate the California State Normal School. Weighs 3,000-pounds. Silenced after an earthquake in 1903. Re-installed in Tower Hall in 1910 and rung on special occasions. Later retired and relocated to ground level due to seismic concerns.
St. Mary Catholic Church  |  |  | Bethel, Connecticut | United States  |
Bulkley Memorial Carillon |  |  | Danbury, Connecticut | United States  |
Lupton Hall Carillon, Oglethorpe University |  |  | Atlanta, Georgia | United States  |
Faith Chapel  |  | 1901 cast  | Jekyll Island, Georgia | United States  | Chapel built 1904
Lovely Lane Chapel, Epworth By The Sea  |  | 1881 cast  | St. Simons Island, Georgia | United States  |
Lacon Congregational Church  |  | 1890 cast  | Lacon, Illinois | United States  |
St. Paul Lutheran Church  |  | 1860s purchased  | Pontiac, Illinois | United States  |
Rock Island Arsenal Clock Tower  |  | 1867 cast  | Rock Island, Illinois | United States  | Weighs 3,538 pounds
University of Northern Iowa[3] |  | 1926 dedicated  | Cedar Falls, Iowa | United States  |
Mattawamkeag Church of God  |  |  | Mattawamkeag, Maine | United States  |
Joseph Dill Baker Memorial Carillon |  |  | Frederick, Maryland | United States  | Baker Park
Plainville Historical Commission  |  | 1905 cast  | Plainville, Massachusetts | United States  |
First Presbyterian Church of Adrian  |  | 1846 cast  | Adrian, Michigan | United States  | Weighs 1601 pounds. After installation, rang in the New Year in 1847.
Laingsburg United Methodist Church  |  | 1881 cast  | Laingsburg, Michigan | United States  |
Immanuel Lutheran Church  |  |  | Madison, Nebraska | United States  |
Thompson Hall (University of New Hampshire) |  |  | Durham, New Hampshire | United States  | Original church was located on Greenwood Ave. Later relocated behind the "new" church on Dodgingtown Road.
Columbia High School (New Jersey) |  |  | Maplewood, New Jersey | United States  | Large bell chimes the hour
St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church[4] |  |  | New Brunswick, New Jersey | United States  |
Newton Presbyterian Church[5] |  |  | Newton, New Jersey | United States  |
Friendship Fire Company #1  |  | 1875 cast  | Woodbury, New Jersey | United States  | Created for the Woodbury Fire Association
Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack |  |  | Claverack-Red Mills, New York | United States  |
Saint Michael's Church (Rochester, New York) |  | 1847 cast  | Rochester, New York | United States  | 2 bells weighing 1,015 pounds and 525 pounds
St. Anthony's Church  |  |  | Albany, New York | United States  |
First Presbyterian Church  |  | 1848 cast  | Avon, New York | United States  | 33", 700 pound bell
First Presbyterian Church  |  | Purchased 1834  | Ballston Spa, New York | United States  | Purchased for $100 on March 4, 1834
Carlisle Presbyterian Church  |  |  | Carlisle, New York | United States  |
Central United Methodist Church  |  |  | Endicott, New York | United States  |
Jamesville Community Museum  |  |  | Jamesville, New York | United States  | Created for the former 1878 Episcopal church
St. Andrew's Catholic Church  |  |  | Norwood, New York | United States  | 3,100-pound bell of ingot copper and East India tin
Church of the Ascension  |  | 1873 cast

1888 resold

| Rockville Centre, New York | United States  | Cast for Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, New York. Sold back to the foundry and resold to Church of the Ascension.
Saugerties Lighthouse  |  |  | Saugerties, New York | United States  |
Phi Sigma Kappa, Gamma Tetarton Chapter (Troy, NY) |  | 1882 dedicated  | Troy, New York | United States  | The building was originally St. Francis DeSales Church. Dedicated by Rev. William A. Drum.
West Point Cadet Chapel[6] |  |  | West Point, New York | United States  |
King Avenue United Methodist Church[7] |  |  | Columbus, Ohio | United States  |
Mt. Zion Baptist Church  |  |  | Portland, Oregon | United States  | Formerly Deutsche Congregationale Zion Kirche (German Congregational Zion Church)
St. Peter Cathedral (Erie, Pennsylvania) |  |  | Erie, Pennsylvania | United States  |
Christ Episcopal Church (Reading, Pennsylvania) |  | 1874 cast  | Reading, Pennsylvania | United States  | Set of 10 bells
Trinity Church (Newport, Rhode Island) |  |  | Newport, Rhode Island | United States  |
National Patriots Bell Tower carillon  |  |  | Valley Forge National Park, Pennsylvania | United States  |
St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church |  | 1901 cast

3 bells added 1966

| Charleston, South Carolina | United States  | Set of 10 bells. All bells refurbished in 2008 by Christop Paccard Bellfoundries.
Wofford College |  |  | Spartanburg, South Carolina | United States  |
First United Methodist Church (Crockett, Texas) |  | 1859 cast

1901 moved

| Crockett, Texas | United States  |
Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church  |  |  | Sherman, Texas | United States  |
Cathedral Church of St. Mark  |  |  | Salt Lake City, Utah | United States  |
Saint Peter's Catholic Church  |  |  | Rutland, Vermont | United States  |
Wilder Center  |  |  | Wilder, Vermont | United States  |
Eastern State Hospital Medical Library, Building No. 3  |  | 1866 cast  | Williamsburg, Virginia | United States  | Signified curfews and special events at the nation's oldest psychiatric hospital

### Second Meneely bell foundry

[edit]

Selected bells attributed to the Troy foundry:

* Meneely & Kimberly
* Meneely Bell Company of Troy
* Clinton H. Meneely Company
* Meneely Bell Company

Site  | Image  | Dates  | Location  | Country  | Description

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|
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St. Andrew's United Church[8] |  |  | Markham, Ontario | Canada  |
Sainte-Marthe-De-Vaudreuil Catholic Church  |  |  | Quebec | Canada  |
Parish Church of San Andres Xecul  |  |  | Totonicapan | Guatemala |
Hume Memorial Church (A.F.C.C) Congregation  |  | 1914 cast  | Ahmednagar, Maharashtra | India  |
Tunghai University |  |  | Taichung | Taiwan | Cast for Miss Elsie Priest
Veterans Park  |  | 1874 cast

2010 installed

| Poway, California | United States  |
Schofield Barracks Soldiers Chapel  |  | 1911 cast  | Wahiawa, Hawaii | United States  |
Davis County Courthouse |  | 1879 cast  | Bloomfield, Iowa | United States  | Meneely & Kimberly
St. Patrick's Catholic Church  |  | 1910 cast  | Ogden, Kansas | United States  |
First Baptist Church  |  | 1859 cast  | Clinton, Louisiana | United States  |
Cushing Academy |  | 1890 cast  | Ashburnham, Massachusetts | United States  | Clinton H. Meneely
St. Joseph's Catholic Church  |  | 1918  | Waite Park, Minnesota | United States  | MeNeely Bell Company
Church of the Sacred Heart  |  | 1872 cast  | Waseca, Minnesota | United States  | Meneely & Kimberly
First Congregational United Church of Christ (Billings, Montana) |  | 1889 cast

1957 rehung

| Billings, Montana | United States  | Clinton H. Meneely
Wells College, Main Building  |  | 1922 cast  | Aurora, New York | United States  | 9 bells
St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church |  |  | Brooklyn, New York | United States  |
Assumption Church[9] |  | 1922 dedicated  | Staten Island, New York | United States  |
Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower[10] |  | 1930s cast  | Chapel Hill, North Carolina | United States  | Meneely Bell Company. 12 bells supplemented by two bells from Petit & Fritsen in 1998.
Cortland Elementary School  |  | 1876 cast  | Cortland, Ohio | United States  | Meneely & Kimberly
Phelps School  |  |  | Malvern, Pennsylvania | United States  | The "Victory Bell"

## Notable bells

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Ein Feste Burg on Meneely Bells

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God on the Meneely Bell Foundry (1901) bell set at St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charleston, South Carolina

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Problems playing this file? See media help.

### Columbian Liberty Bell

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Harr Wagner received a letter from William Osborne McDowell, stating that his wife, Madge Morris Wagner was appointed honorary member of the committee to create and direct the use of the Columbian Liberty Bell to be rung at the World's Fair. The bell was to be made up of slaves' chains from all parts of the world and contributions of silver, gold and copper money. It was to be cast at Troy, New York. The idea, expressed in one of Wagner's poems, was adopted as the fundamental motive in the casting of the bell, hence her appointment to an honorary position on the committee having the work in charge.[11]

The Columbian Liberty Bell was cast by Clinton H. Meneely's foundry for display at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The bell disappeared while on tour in Europe.[12] [13]

### Saint Anthony’s Church Bell, Prague, Czech Republic

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The Meneely bell that hangs in St Anthony's Church in Prague was purchased by the Mid-European Union in October 1918 to commemorate the independence of Czechoslovakia after World War I and donated to the group's president, Thomas Masaryk, who became the head of the country's provisional government and, in 1920, the Czechoslovak president. The bell cost $2,000 and weighed 2,542 pounds (1,155 kg).

## See also

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* Benjamin Hanks (1755–1824), goldsmith and instrument maker[14]
* Campanology: Carillons (a concise chapter in the general article Campanology)
* Bell tower

## References

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1. ^ Meneely Bell Online Museum
2. ^ "Rensselaer County Historical Society. (RCHS says the financial records of these foundries are located at 1) Hudson-Mohawk Industrial Gateway, Foot of Polk St., Troy, NY 12180; and 2) Manuscripts & Special Collections, New York State Library, Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230.)".
3. ^ "Tower Instruments by State". allchimes.org.
4. ^ "The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America".
5. ^ "Newton, NJ - Churches". www.newtonnj.net.
6. ^ "The Cadet Chapel [at West Point] • Chapter 3".
7. ^ King Avenue United Methodist Church
8. ^ "Home | Markham | St. Andrew's United Church". unitedchurchsite.
9. ^ Assumption-St. Paul Church
10. ^ CHAPEL HILL : USA - NC
11. ^ Mighels, Ella Sterling (1893). "THE WORLD'S LIBERTY BELL.IDEA OF A SAN DIEGO WOMAN TO BE PUT IN EXECUTION.". The Story of the Files: A Review of California Writers and Literature. Cooperative Printing Company. p. 284. Retrieved January 14, 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
12. ^ "WONDERFUL LIBERTY BELL; IT IS TO CONTAIN HISTORICAL RELICS OF GREAT VALUE. It Will Be Cast at Troy Next Month and Will Weigh 13,000 Pounds -- It Will Con- tain Relics of Washington, Jefferson, and Other American Heroes -- Women Have Sent Their Wedding Rings -- Rare Coins Have Been Contributed -- School Children Have Had an Important Share". The New York Times. April 24, 1893 - via NYTimes.com.
13. ^ "COLUMBIAN LIBERTY BELL CAST.; The Operation a Success, It Is Thought -- Mrs. Cleveland Had No Part in It". The New York Times. June 23, 1893 - via NYTimes.com.
14. ^ Skinner, Charles. "Bell Casting in Troy". Meneeley Bell online Museum. Retrieved July 12, 2013.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meneely Bell Foundry.

* Meneely Bell Online Museum
* The Meneely Foundry in West Troy, Troy United Newsletter, December 1999

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