This is the bell in the front yard of the Community Church of East Gloucester on Chapel Street. I visited the Church last Sunday, but before that I had no idea it existed. I found the bell interesting, and when I did some research on it, I found it very interesting. Blake Bell Co. dates back to the 1800’s and William Blake was an apprentice of Paul Revere.

“William Blake was an apprentice of Paul Revere. William Blake was involved with, and owned, several metal casting companies in private & with partners from 1820 to 1890.

In this historic time period, firms opened & closed based on the individual financer decision to fund, to continue funding, or to withdraw funding, in order to participate in another financial endeavor. If a financial partner withdrew, it was necessary for the principal owner, usually the craftsman, to locate another individual as a source of funding. A change in the funding partner typically required a name change. (Today, this funding is accomplished by the stock market.)
In 1823, Paul Revere III, Wm. Blake & John Sullivan founded the Boston & Braintree Co. The bells cast are not dated. This same year, the foundry’s name was changed to Boston Copper Co. The Boston Copper Co. closed in 1830. Boston Copper Co. bells are dated.

In 1830-1868, Wm. Blake partnered with Henry N. Hooper, & Richardson forming the Hooper, Blake & Richardson Company located in Boston, casting bells.
In 1859 to 1890, Wm. Blake & Henry Hooper formed another bell foundry: Henry N. Hooper & Co., also known as Hooper & Co. in Boston. Hooper bells dated 1859 are located at St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Lynn, Mass., and Old Round Church in Richmond, Vermont.

W. Blake & Company located at Allen Streets in Boston, Massachusetts was in operation from 1820 to 1890. At that time, he operated under the names of W. Blake & Co. and Blake Bell Co. In 1825, Blake cast the first set of chimes by an American foundry. (Previously, all chimes were cast in Europe.) Two chimes were cast: one of eight bells and one of eleven bells. The largest bell weighed 3,000 pounds.

In 1881, the Blake, Lamb & Co. at Brighton & Allen Streets in Waterbury, Connecticut was in operation. Little is recorded of this company.”

Source: https://americanbell.org/aba-forum/topic/blake-bell-company/

E.J. Lefavour

This morning’s view of Lobster Cove….yet another misty one but everything is greening up nicely!

Gloucester Gig Rowers crew setting out for their first Essex River Race practice. 

Photo credit: Marielle Yost

http://www.gloucestergigrowers.com/

http://www.blackburnchallenge.com/essex.html

Hi Joey,

I know how you’re always promoting all things Gloucester, so I thought you’d like to know Neptune’s Harvest is up for Green America’s People and Planet Award!

Here is the link, so you can see what it is all about and if it’s worthy of a shout out on GMG. It’s quite the honor to be selected for this national award. http://www.greenamerica.org/green-business-people-and-planet-award/

If you can post this, that’d be great.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or need anything else. There is also a link on our Neptune’s Harvest Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/neptunesharvest/

Thanks Joe, and I hope all is well,

Ann

Ann Molloy

Sales Director

Neptune’s Harvest Fertilizer

An extraordinary event took place this evening on the Back Shore. A ribbon was cut by Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken to commemorate  the successful public campaign by the citizen organization, Save our Shores Gloucester, to raise $100,000 to purchase and protect 4 lots at 166-178 Atlantic Road from development.The land will will be protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement.

Thank you to Save Our Shores Gloucester from a grateful community, our children and our grandchildren.

Save Our Shores Gloucester (SOSG)

Roger Armstrong

Hazel Hewitt

Marty Del Vecchio

Dave Manley

Mark and Pam Poulin

Barbara Silberman

Estae sale

Happy Connecting. Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S® 5

The Rabbit and I are rolling out on our last adventure of the year.

Have fun kids.

Rabbit rocking the duck face like a 16 year old girl.

Flatrocks Gallery’s new show
“Chromatic, Exploring the Language of Color”

Artist Reception
Saturday, May 7th from 6-8pm.

Nate Longcope-Untitled 3

Sandra Douglas-Cascades

Stephen Bates-Imposition of Order

Sandra Douglas’ acrylic paintings are vibrant intuitive works. She explains “Art in the highest sense is beyond explanation. It can only be felt. Therefore, any attempt to explain it on a rational level falls far short of its reality. Color as an expression of light surpasses the gross material of paint. After one develops methods of working with color, the work becomes integrated and the fun begins. The paintings start to flow and the artist becomes a channel. Whatever the springboard, the piece takes on its own persona. When light is truly created by color, an emanation of energy extends from the painting – its soul.”

Sandra received a degree in History of Art from Wellesley Collge and was the head of the Visual Arts department  at Pingree School for many years. She then conducted private workshops and developed her own work. She studied with Don Stone in Rockport and with George Demetrios in Gloucester. She also studied painting, printmaking and design at Montserrat College of Art. As an abstract painter, she trained with Paul Scott and Sam Feinstein – both students of Hans Hofmann.

Nate Longcope describes his paintings as “ still frames from an abstract animation, each one with a deep meditation on form and juxtaposition. The line drawings and painted colored swaths within layers of clear resin create a depth of field that cast shadows that move as the viewer moves. These layers of color and resin are like layers of acetone in cell animation, a comic abstraction, creating form and narrative in the minds eye.” He earned his BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute. There he studied film, collage, and animation. Nate’s  specialization in video installations, led him to working at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and the PS.1 Contemporary Art Museum, and Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Stephen Bates works are essentially collage, using watercolor, acrylic, paper, thin wood and wire, full of energy and movement. “I am a professional musician, and I want to  bring my musical experience into my painting. Music progresses in time and an explosive event may be followed in an instant by something quiet and delicate. If I  bring musical ideas into the realm of painting, those different qualities are brought together in visual form which is seen instantaneously.” Bates’ career as a clarinetist for the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra spanned from 1973 to 2009. During this time he continued to make his unique painting/sculptures and exhibited extensively in the Washington DC area. He now teaches at Ten Pound Island Studios. Stephen will perform three pieces of Igor Stravinsky for clarinet and speak about the relationship of his music and art in the gallery on Sunday May 22nd from 5-6pm.

Flatrocks Gallery, 77 Langsford St., Gloucester MA. 978-879-4683
open Thurs. – Sunday 12-5pm

Genealogy Workshop at the Manchester Historical Museum
Saturday, May 7 (10:30am-noon)

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Come learn how to start researching your family background at this beginner workshop.

Heather Wilkinson Rojo has been doing family history research for 40 years. She started before she was old enough to drive, riding her bicycle to the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, to research her family tree. She has been blogging about genealogy at the “Nutfield Genealogy” blog since 2009, and has won several awards including the Family Tree Magazine Top 40 Genealogy blogs in 2011 and 2013. She is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Societies of Genealogists, The National Genealogical Society, The New Hampshire Historical Society, and the Mayflower Society.

Topics will include:

• Charts and Forms
• Recording Names and Data
• Julian vs. Georgian Calendar
• Primary vs. Secondary Resources
• Vital Records
• Immigration Records
• Gravestones
• Census Records
• Common Mistakes and Errors
• Other Resources (Ancestry, Family Search, etc…)

 $10 members/ $15 nonmembers
Seats are very limited – preregistration required
call 978-526-7230 or email
info@manchesterhistoricalmuseum.org