Background
Thomas Harland was born in 1735 in London, England.
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Thomas Harland
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Thomas Harland arrived in Boston from London on one of the famous tea ships. After a brief survey of that troubled town he decided that Norwich, Connecticut, offered greater opportunities for building up a business. The Norwich Packet on December 9, 1773 carried his advertisement stating that he made “in the neatest manner and on the most improved principles, horizontal, repeating and plain watches in gold, silver, metal or covered cases, spring, musical and plain clocks; church clocks, regulators, etc. ” He also cleaned and repaired clocks and watches, engraved clock faces and made watch wheels for the trade, “neat as London and at the same price. ”
His business judgment was sound, as is shown by the fact that, in spite of the troubled times, his enterprise grew and prospered. In 1790 his name was known all over the states as a master craftsman and apprentices were coming long distances to learn from him. Among these apprentices were Thomas Cleveland, grandfather of President Grover Cleveland, and Eli Terry. By this time twelve people were working in the Harland shop and it has been estimated that two hundred watches and forty clocks were being produced each year. One of his grandfather clocks is possessed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition Harland was fashioning jewelry and making silver table-ware marked with the name “HARLAND” in a rectangle or scroll, between profile and eagle displayed. He died at the age of seventy-two.
Achievements
Personality
That Harland was a man of culture somewhat above the average for his station in life is shown by the inventory of his library, made at the time of his death. He possessed a number of serious volumes on philosophy and history, many of them in French.
Connections
In his forty-fourth year, six years after he arrived in Norwich, Harland married Hannah Leffingwell Clark.
