Keeping Time in the Outward Commons: The Langdon Grandfather’s Clock

Among the earliest and most cherished artifacts of the Outward Commons, later Wilbraham, and eventually the town of Hampden, is the old Langdon grandfather’s clock. Long before factories, railroads, or public time signals, this tall, weight-driven clock served as the principal timekeeper for the entire west side of the southern district. For decades, it regulated daily life, marking the hours for work, worship, meals, and rest in a frontier community where time was otherwise measured by the sun and the seasons.

The clock itself is an early eighteenth-century English piece, brought to New England sometime in the early 1700s. It is a traditional longcase clock with brass works operated by hanging weights and includes a calendar attachment, an advanced and valuable feature for its time. Its survival through generations makes it not only a functional timepiece but also a tangible link to Hampden’s earliest settlers.

The Langdon Grandfather’s Clock. Carl C. Howlett

In 1741, Lieutenant Paul Langdon arrived in the Outward Commons from Upton, Massachusetts. Like many early settlers, he brought his household goods with him, but one item in particular drew wide attention: the grandfather’s clock. It was transported in a four-wheeled wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen. Such a wagon was still a rarity in western Massachusetts at the time and was likely among the first of its kind to travel this far west of Worcester. As Langdon made his way along the rough colonial roads, settlers repeatedly stopped the party to inspect both the wagon and its unusual cargo. The journey itself became a small event, remembered locally for years afterward.

Soon after his arrival, on September 17, 1741, Lt. Langdon purchased Pynchon Lot No. 81, located on the West Road (now Wilbraham Road in Hampden), near the area where GreatHorse Country Club stands today. He initially lived in a house built earlier by the Pynchon family. However, Langdon soon turned his attention to a more desirable tract of fertile land farther south, near the Scantic River, along what is now Somers Road.

Between 1741 and 1743, Langdon worked the farm near the present GreatHorse property while also constructing a small house on his Somers Road land, at what is now 229 Somers Road. This modest dwelling still survives today as the rear portion of the brick house now standing on the site. After 1805, when the Langdon family sold the property, Barton Bradway added a brick front, making the bricks on the land itself. The original ell, built between 1741 and 1743, is believed to be the oldest surviving structure in Hampden.

The original ell, built between 1741 and 1743, is believed to be the oldest surviving structure in Hampden. Carl C. Howlett

The Somers Road land was part of the “overplus land” from the third division of the Outward Commons. This land was jointly owned by all 125 inhabitants of the Commons, who still lived in Springfield. Acquiring it required Langdon to secure signatures and payments from each of the co-owners, a time-consuming and complex task. By 1743, he had completed the purchase, moved into his newly built house, and sold Pynchon Lot No. 81 back to the Pynchon family.

Lt. Langdon kept a personal record book, and one of his surviving entries offers a glimpse into his agricultural life. In 1745, he wrote, in old-style English:

“1745. What wheat has been thrached and yoused and sold this being a memorandum of wheat reased in ye year 1745 on my nue field (in Wilbraham) 102 fh bushels.”

The entry documents a harvest of approximately 102½ bushels of wheat, evidence of both the fertility of the land and the steady development of farming in the region.

Like many early settlers, Langdon also made practical use of the vast quantities of wood cleared from his land. The ashes left behind exceeded household needs, so he began manufacturing potash, an important commodity used in soap making, glass production, and fertilizer. This enterprise gave rise to the local name “Potash Hill,” referring to the hill on which his house stood—a name that longtime residents still remember.

After Lt. Paul Langdon’s death, the grandfather’s clock passed to his son, Captain Paul Langdon. During his ownership, it was widely regarded as the only clock in the district. For many years, it functioned as the community’s official time signal. Each day at noon and again at nine o’clock in the evening, Captain Langdon or a member of his family would step outside the old homestead on the West Road (today’s Somers Road) and blow a long, loud blast on a horn so that neighbors across the countryside could mark the hour.

The noon signal helped regulate daily work, while the nine o’clock blast was widely understood as a kind of informal curfew. It likely served as a reminder for residents to extinguish their lights, end the day’s labors, and retire for the night, a simple but effective means of maintaining order and routine in a scattered rural settlement.

Around 1828, the clock’s owner, grandson of the original Lt. Paul Langdon and great-great-grandfather of the present owner, commissioned a new case for the aging timepiece. The work was done by William Lloyd, a cabinetmaker whose shop stood at South Ferry near the site of today’s South End Bridge in Springfield. The new case was crafted from cherry wood and featured finely fluted columns at the corners and on either side of the dial, supporting a rounded top. The workmanship was of high quality, transforming the already venerable clock into a handsome piece of furniture as well as a functional instrument.

Today, the Langdon grandfather’s clock stands not merely as a family heirloom but as a rare survivor from Hampden’s earliest years. It recalls a time when one household’s clock set the rhythm of an entire community, when potash kettles smoked on wooded hillsides, and when a horn blast in the evening marked the close of another day on the New England frontier.