A color newspaper photograph of the National Clock of Millersburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. From the Philadelphia Inquirer, January 11, 2013. The photo caption: The most unusual lot in the Pook and Pook sale might be a folk art diorama titled “National Clock Millersburg,” expected to go for $20,000 to $40,000. The three panels took Pennsylvania Jacob A. Light 18 years to carve with a penknife.
Presented here is a group of newspaper articles describing the clock and noting some of the places it was exhibited:
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From the Lykens Standard, Millersburg News Column, January 18, 1900:
Jacob A. Light, one of our townsmen, exhibited the Apostolic Clock if his making, in Smoyer’s Hall last Saturday evening and will have it on exhibition again next Saturday evening.
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From the Lykens Standard, August 1, 1924:
Among the attractions of West Borough Park this week is a large mechanical clock. It is 11 feet long, 6 feet high and 8 feet wide, and was built by Jacob A. Light of Millersburg and took eighteen years of labor with a pocket knife. It is educational, historical and mechanical. Among the features of the clock are features of all the Presidents, the Union and Confederate Generals, the Apostolic Tower, Christ and the Twelve Apostles, The Lord’s Supper, Rock of Ages, Christ falling beneath His Cross, the Crucifixion, The Old Rugged Cross, and many other features. There is also a miniature Battleship Maine on Exhibition. Another novel exhibit is a corn farm made by a life prisoner in a Missouri penitentiary. It consists of several miniature buildings. The frame work of these buildings is of wood and over 85,000 grains of corn were used, giving it a stucco effect, being placed in position grain by grain. The exhibit will be at Hegins Old Home Week, August 4-9 [1924].
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From the Lykens Standard, 26 September 1924:
“NATIONAL CLOCK” SEEN BY THOUSANDS AT FAIR
One of the features that aroused universal wonder at the Dauphin County Grange Fair last week was the “National Clock” carved out of wood with a pocket knife by Jacob A. Light of Millersburg.
The clock is run by electricity. It is divided into three tower-like sections, in each one of which are manipulated in time with the ticking of the clock. In the central section, figures of the Presidents of the United States, from Washington to Coolidge, come out a little trapdoor as the clock ticks away the hours and minutes and march across the stage in a procession, something like the little bird in a cuckoo clock. Uncle Sam grinds out the music for them as they march.
Flanking each side of this central section are the two others with scenes taken from the life of Christ. The “Apostolic procession” is the main feature here. The twelve apostles march jerkily past the figure of Christ, each one bowing his head before Him, excepting Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot. Peter turns his back on His Master and denies Him, while Judas Iscariot ignores him completely. From a little trapdoor to the left, Satan pops out every now and then to see what they are doing, and at the last, when Judas Iscariot passes, he comes out a trap door on a level with the traitor apostle, and “gets him.”
The clock is eleven feet long, six feet high, four feet wide, and weighs 1800 pounds. It is owned at present by Harry Smith of Gratz, but light explains its mechanism. It took eighteen years to carve it and get everything adjusted properly.
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From the Lebanon Daily News, October 11, 1960, which indicated that Jacob A. Light was originally from Lebanon:
ELABORATE CARVED CLOCK SHOWN NEAR COURTHOUSE
The pocket knife craftsmanship of a Lebanon native — a project that required 18 years to complete — is currently being exhibited on the eighth Street side of the courthouse.
Known as Harry Smith‘s National Clock, the 1,800 pound exhibit of a woodworker’s skill and ingenuity, is being exhibited by its owner, Michael Percell of South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The exhibit was carved almost a half century ago by Jacob A. Light, the son of Cyrus Light, an early Lebanon broom manufacturer. The clock exhibit, which comprises an elaborate series of moving religious and historical scenes, was constructed by Light while he was a resident of Millersburg. It passed to other owners prior to his death in 1953.
Housed in a truck, the exhibit originally revolved around a clock which no longer functions but which is still on exhibit. The historical and religious scenes, which include intricate carved figures of men and women, are animated. Formerly controlled by the movement of the clock, the scenes are now powered by electric motors.
The scenes include a depiction of Christ and the Twelve Apostles, the Lord’s Supper, Rock of Ages, Christ falling beneath His Cross, The Crucifixion, the Old Rugged Cross, Union and Confederate Generals, and all the Presidents from Washington to Coolidge.
The wooden exhibit is 11 feet long, six feet high and four feet wide.
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Jacob A. Light’s obituary appeared in the Elizabethville Echo of February 4, 1954:
JACOB A. LIGHT
Jacob A. Light, age 90 years, of Millersburg, died in a Harrisburg hospital on Tuesday.
Survivors are his wife, Mrs. Alice Light, one daughter, Mrs. Martha L. Jarnagin, of Summit, New Jersey; a sister, Mrs. Jack Schroeder of Harrisburg, one brother, George Light of Reading, and a grandson.
Services will be held from the Sterner Funeral Home, Millersburg, at 10 o’clock Saturday morning. Rev. S. A. Sitler, pastor of Grace Evangelical United Brethren Church will officiate and interment will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Millersburg.
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Finally, the portions of the article David Iams from the Philadelphia Inquirer, January 11, 2013, which describes the sale of the clock:
While Pook and Pook’s sale Saturday of fine art and accessories at its Downingtown gallery offers extraordinary area antiques, notably a circa-1750 Delaware Queen Anne tall case clock, its 500 lots also offer vivid items in other fields, such as a delightful piece of illustration art depicting a Gold Rush bonanza scene and a 19-scene, 380-figure folk art diorama of national and religious icons….
The folk art diorama, titled National Clock Millersburg and expected to bring $20,000 to $40,000, is more difficult to explain. Created by Jacob A. Light, a Pennsylvanian and a religion and history buff who apparently had trouble settling down, it consists of a folding triptych 64 inches high by 114 inches wide that unfolds to reveal a parade of the presidents from Washington to Coolidge, Civil War generals, and Jesus and his apostles at the Last Supper, among other figures. It took Light 18 years to make, using only a penknife.
The clock that gives its name to the main structure actually sits apart from it. “It’s almost like a second thought,” Pook and Pook associate Jamie Shearer said this week.
It was exhibited in the early 1960s when it was taken to local fairs on the back of a flatbed truck. Then it disappeared, until it was acquired about 15 years ago by the consigner, a Pennsylvanian living near the New York state line.
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The clock was acquired by the Millersburg Historical Society and was featured on its Facebook page on November 28, 2016:
News articles from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.