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The Liberty Bell is a revered symbol, but its fascinating saga is little known by those who cherish it. Strangely the crack that rendered it useless for utilitarian purposes is now as sacred as the bell itself.
The State House Bell - as the Liberty Bell was known for its first 100 years - cracked the first time it was struck to hear the tone. It was recast, cracked, repaired, cracked and finally retired to symbolic duty.
Upon the fiftieth anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges for his Pennsylvania colony, the State Assembly ordered a bell for the State House.
An order for a one-ton bell, suitably inscribed, was ordered from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry at London in November 1751. Isaac Norris, Assembly Speaker, asked the colony's agent in London, Robert Charles, to buy a bell:
"Let the Bell be cast by the best Workmen and examined carefully before it is shipped with the following words well shaped in large letters round the vizt, 'By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania for the State House in the city of Philada. 1752' - and underneath - 'Proclaim Liberty thro' all the Land to all the inhabitants thereof, Levit. XXV/10.'"
The full verse in Leviticus reads: "Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
It should be understood that the proclamation of liberty meant by the Assembly was that conferred by Penn for his colony -- not a forecast of rebellion by 13 colonies a quarter-century later.
The bell was cast by master founder Tom Lester. He followed the instructions carefully, even the misspelling of Pennsylvania. Whitechapel charged 150 Pounds 13 Shillings 8 pence, which included insurance and shipping.
Adventures of the bell, following its casting, is compiled here from the consensus of reliable historians. Principally they are John Paige's "Special History of the Liberty Bell;" David Kimble's "Story of the Liberty Bell;" and E.M. Halliday's "Whose Fault Was It?"
The bell arrived in August 1752 on the snow (type of sailing ship) Hibernia captained by William Child. Norris dashed off a letter to Charles in London: "The Bell is come ashore & in good order. We have not yet try'd the sound."
Several days later, the bell was set up on a cradle in the foreyard - now Independence Square - of the State House to be tested. On the first stroke of the clapper, the bell cracked. Norris described the incident in another letter to Charles:
"I gave information that our Bell was generally liked & appvd of, but in a few days after my writing, I had the Mortification to hear that it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper without any other violence as it was hung up to try the sound."
RecastThe State House superintendents decided to send the bell back to England on Capt. Richard Budden's ship the Myrillia for recasting. However, he could not find room for the bell and left it on the dock.
Two local foundry men, John Pass and John Stow, were hired to recast the bell. They knew that the ideal bronze alloy for a large bell was 77 percent copper and 23 percent tin. They reasoned, correctly, that Whitechapel had put in too much tin. This improved tone but increased brittleness.
Pass and Stow made a clay cast of Bell-1 - adding their names and changing the date to 1753. They melted the bell, added one and a half ounces of copper per pound of bronze and recast the object in four stages over a 48-hour period.
Bell-2 remained solid after repeated blows with a hammer but had a dull sound. Nevertheless, the bell was hoisted into the State House belfry. A feast was held April 17, 1753, to mark the event.
When the bell was rung, town people hooted. It had no "ring." Norris wrote: "They (Assembly) were so teized (teased) by witticisms of the town that they .... will be very soon ready to make a second essay."
Pass and Stow recast the bell again - tossing in a few silver coins "to sweeten the tone." The result was deemed acceptable but not entirely satisfactory.
Norris wrote Charles in London: "We got our new Bell recast here, and it has been used some time. Tho some are of the opinion it will do, I own I do not like it." Nevertheless Bell-3 was hoisted into place - destined to be a famous icon for a new nation yet to come.
The New York Mercury, under Philadelphia date line June 11, 1753, reported: "Last week was raised and fix'd in the Pennsylvania Statehouse Steeple, the new great Bell weighing 2080 pounds- cast by Pass and Stow."
The Assembly ordered a "sister" (duplicate) bell from Whitechapel to replace Bell-3. When it arrived, everyone agreed it sounded no better. The sister bell was hung in a cupola on the State House roof and attached to clocks at each end of the building to ring time. Bell-3 was kept in place.
Bells Hidden
Bell-3 joined all other town bells July 8, 1776, to peal the public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The British won the Battle of Brandywine in September and were advancing toward Philadelphia. All the bells in town were taken down and hustled 60 miles north to Northampton (Allentown) to prevent the British from capturing the metal and converting it to cannons.
Col. Benjamin Flowers was put in charge. He enlisted scores of farmers who had brought produce to Philadelphia. Col. William Polk and 200 North Carolina and Virginia cavalry escorted the caravan. The State House Bell was loaded onto the wagon of John Jacob Mickley of Northampton.
At Bethlehem (Quakertown), Mickley's wagon broke down. The State House Bell was transferred to a wagon driven by Frederick Leaser who carried it on to Northampton.
A diary entry of the Moravian Church of Bethlehem on Sept. 24, 1777, records the accident. "The bells from Philadelphia brought in wagons. The wagon with the State House bell broke down here, so it had to be unloaded. The other bells went on."
All the bells arrived safely the next day at Northampton and were stored in the cellar of the Zion Reformed Church until the British left Philadelphia a year later.
The State House bell was not re-hung since the steeple was in disrepair. Instead, the bell was stored in a munitions shed adjacent to the State House for seven years until the steeple was repaired.
Philadelphia bought a new bell for the clocks in 1821. The State House was renovated in 1828. Its two identical Whitechapel bells were offered for sale. No one would buy them because of the cost of moving.
State House Bell (3) was replaced with a new Wilbank bell and moved to a cradle within the State House where it was rung on special occasions. City officials transferred the Sister Bell and one of the clocks -- on permanent loan -- to Olde St. Augustine Catholic Church.
St. Augustine was burned by an anti-Catholic mob in May 1844. The over-heated Sister Bell fell to the ground and broke into many pieces. These were gathered and recast into a smaller bell that hangs today at Villanova University.
Cracked Again
The Old State House Bell-3 - now indoors -- cracked slightly while being tolled during the funeral procession for Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. The crack widened when rung on several other occasions.
As George Washington's birthday anniversary approached in 1846, the Common Council requested the "Independence Bell" be repaired for ringing on Feb. 22.
Bell Ringer Henry Stone machined the crack into a half-inch slot 24 inches long and inserted two, copper rivets to prevent the two edges of the crack from rubbing together. The filings were collected and cast into a small bell.
Analysis of the filings revealed the Liberty Bell still has too much tin - 24 percent instead of the ideal 23 percent -- despite the addition of copper and silver by Pass and Stow.
While tolling on the Washington anniversary, the Liberty Bell was irreparably damaged - as reported by the Philadelphia Public Ledger:
"The old Independence Bell rang its last clear note on Monday last in honor of the birthday of Washington and now hangs in the great, city steeple irreparably cracked and dumb.
"It had been cracked before but was set in order for that day by having the edges of the fracture filed so as not to vibrate against each other.
"It gave out clear notes and loud, and appeared to be in excellent condition until noon. Then it received a sort of compound fracture in a zig-zag direction through one of its [slotted] sides [to the top of the bell]. This put it completely out of tune and left it a mere wreck of what it was."
Whitechapel in 1945 offered to melt down and recast the bell with a dash more tin, but the offer was politely declined. The slot-formerly-crack is too firmly entrenched in American history.
Today
During the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration, the Liberty Bell was moved to an outdoor pavilion in the foreyard of Independence Hall. There, visiting Americans can visit the relict any time.
May 18, 2003
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Source by
Lindsey Williams
