Stretch: America's First Family of Clockmakers

This volume presents the definitive history of the UK-born Stretch family of clock-makers who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1703 and played an influential role in the city's early clock-making, civic, and Quaker communities. Initial essays discuss the family and the importance of their Quaker beliefs; time-telling and the clock making community in pre-1750 Philadelphia; innovative mechanical advances made by the Stretches; and their notable civic and cultural contributions to the city.

The catalog section of the book features 84 of the 133 Peter, Thomas, and William Stretch clocks discovered during the course of the project, illustrating and fully describing both the cases and the works. The majority of the clocks, passed down through the generations and still in private collections, are being published for the first time.