Andrew H. Dervan
This book documents the life and career of Richard Cranch, a watchmaker in Boston during the Revolutionary War. The author pieces together this colonial man’s life using primary sources of letters to and from Cranch, plus the watchmaker’s own daybook. As an influential resident of Boston, Cranch was an avid reader with a keen interest in various subjects, and he interacted with many prominent individuals, including his brother-in-law John Adams. He documented his watch repair business in a daybook (1769-1774), providing valuable insights into the period leading up to the Revolutionary War. This book is a biography of Richard Cranch interwoven with discussions of both his non-horological and horological business ventures and important family, friends, and horological correspondents, both before and after the Revolutionary War. This correspondence provides new insight into horological activities occurring in Boston prior to the Revolutionary War.
