Hi Tom,
I was wondering if you know who the man was that invented the Abbott Conversion for pocket watches? And was he any relation to this man, Asa G. Abbott born Sept. 11, 1803 in the state of Vermont?
Thanks Tom,
Leonard

Leonard,
I would have to check but off the top of my head I think his name was Henry Abbott
Here is a link to the patent http://www.google.com/patents?...selected_pages&cad=1
Ray

He was Henry Abbott & lived in Newark NJ but also sold out of an address in NYC. I will see if I can figure out where he came from.

Tom

As Ray said he has numerous patents for watch parts

Last page of patent

Hi Ray,
Not that it is any connection but ,dad always said we had a watchmaker in the family that made all wooden clocks but didnt know his name. I think it would be kinda cool if Henry Abbott and the guy dad mentioned were the same and related to me.
Leonard

Yes Leonard, that indeed would be a great thing to add to the old family tree..
Are there any Henry Abbotts in the tree ?..
Are most of your family from New York ?. That would be a good start to finding out. The US Gen Web project in New York has a lot of information and historical societies.

Ray

There was a Samuel Abbott from Boston making clocks in the early 1800's

Ray

Not sure if both these Henry Abbott's are the same but there was also one that lived in Newark that went on to be the President of the CALCULAGRAPH COMPANY which is still in business today. This Henry was born in 1852 in Connecticut, if you search patents with the name calculagraph you will find his patents, some of his patents apply to clocks so they might both be the same Henry

Tom

Ive never done a family tree, i just have family records. Asa was my great great grandfather and i have the names of his children and wife. He came to the town i live in now in 1854 and was a baptist minister here in the only church we have.
I still live in the same place and use the same driveway but, they family house is gone. over the years i have found a few old relics in the front lawn, one was a belt buckle or harness buckle from the war of 1812 i got $750.00 dollars out of
it. i found some old indian head pennys as well. Then i got the idea of buying a metal detector. The first trip out with that i found a gold wedding band. then i couldnt stop and never found another thing worth keeping.Its a big joke here now , the metal detector is in the closet and i dont mess with it !
Leonard

Leonard

Was your Asa G a clergy man born in Vermont but living in NY in the 1860's?

Tom

Well I guess we were typing at the same time & you answered my question.

Tom

Hi TOM,
yes, you have the right one.i dont know any of his brother or sisters names to help you with. but , his wifes name was pheobe.
thanks
leonard

I will see what I can find, yes this must be the right one, in 1860 it shows him Phobe, daughter Susan born about 1822 in Pa., Asa G. Jr born about 1831 in NY & Eli F. born about 1846 but with no state listed.

If you would like copies of these records I can email them to you.

Tom

Tom. thanks. eli was my great grandfather.you can email them just incase something you have has more info than i have. lacat@frontiernet.net
i have no record of asa's father or siblings or if he was related to henry.
leonard

So far I can't find Asa before 1860 in NY, I foound an Asa G. in Pa but I am not sure it is trhe same one.

One of the problems you may know with the early census records, they only listed the head of the house & the number of males & females between certain ages but no names. It makes it hard to find the parents of someone born in the early 1800's since the records won't show them by name.

Tom

his daughter susan was born in pa. 1822 so he may have been there.

I have an 18s Hamilton grade 928, 15j, s/n34441, from 1897. The dial is marked B Yehley and the watch movement is marked B Yehley Delaware Ohio. Can you chase him down Tom?

How about;
Benedict Yehley born about 1855 in Germany, 1930 census living in Delaware, Delaware County, Ohio listed a proprietor Retail Jewelery.

1900 census shows the dob as March 1854, middle initial of M.

He died September 29, 1931 there in Delaware

This is his & his wife's burial info;
Yehley Benedict 09/29/1931 OAK GROVE CEMETERY
Yehley Caroline 05/15/1857 10/23/1940 OAK GROVE CEMETERY

Here is an ad from Nov 3, 1894

Tom

thanks very much Tom. It's always nice to know a bit about where these interesting old watches came from! Charlie

Your welcome Chas, if you want copies of them let me know & I can email the records to you.

Tom

Tom, the watch which is the subject of my inquiry is ebay #250512633789. The watch is in very nice shape, runs like a top and has a beautiful movement, dial and hands. One thing that caught my eye was the complete absence of the usual Hamilton micro adjustment of the hairspring. No holes indicating missing parts.

quote:

ebay #250512633789

quote:

Benedict Yehley

Dear Tom Brown,
I was excited to find this discussion on B. Yehley. Attached is a photo of my grandmother's watch brooch. It was her pride and job to her death in 2014 (age 93). Do you have any additional information on B Yehley or this watch?

Thank you,
Lisa (NYC via KY)

Photo of stamp on back pin

Dear Ms. Spencer
Great that you have such a nice keepsake of your grandmother’s!

Unfortunately due to budget constraints I no longer have access to the records I used to use for my research, so I can no longer provide additional information.

I did just now search the internet for Benedict Yehley and did locate newspaper articles that were free to view, so if you haven’t tried that you might give it a go.

Good luck & treasure the watch.

Tom