For an explanation of what this index contains (and does NOT contain), and of the additional details on each entry, see the Bellfoundry Indexes Advice.
This chime is of unknown date. When its date is discovered, it will be moved into the proper group and sequence below.
CLINTON : USA - IA 1??? C [chime] First Methodist Church
OHIO RIVER : USA - OH 1856 C [chime] Floating Palace (circus showboat)
CINCINNATI - E/1 : USA - OH 1871 C [chime] Cincinnati Exposition of 1871 CINCINNATI - E/2 : USA - OH 1872 C [chime] Cincinnati Exposition of 1872 PHILADELPHIA - CR : USA - PA 1880 C [chime] Cooper, Bailey & Co.'s Circus
NASHUA - FC : USA - NH 1893 F chime Mary Park Nutt Memorial Chime The First Church, Congregational (UCC) * cast for a different site; installed here in 1894 OAKLAND - M : USA - CA 1893*C chime El Campanil Mills College * cast for a different site; installed here in 1904
NASHUA - FC : USA - NH 1894 E chime Mary Park Nutt Memorial Chime The First Church, Congregational (UCC) JAMESTOWN : USA - NY 1894 C chime St.Luke's Episcopal Church ATLANTA - CSE : USA - GA 1895 C [chime] Cotton States Exposition Cincinnati : USA - OH 1896 - great St.Francis de Sales Catholic Church CINCINNATI - W : USA - OH 1897 C (chime) Westwood United Methodist Church NASHVILLE - T : USA - TN 1897 C chime Tulip Street United Methodist Church INDIANAPOLIS - STP : USA - IN 1900 C [chime] St.Paul's Lutheran Church LOUISVILLE - TT : USA - KY 1900 C [chime] Trinity Temple United Methodist Church MORGANTOWN : USA - WV 1904 F chime Wesley United Methodist Church MORGANTOWN : USA - WV 1904 I chime Wesley United Methodist Church CINCINNATI - W : USA - OH 1905 R chime Westwood United Methodist Church PORTLAND - LC : USA - OR 1905 C [chime] Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition LOS ANGELES - HP : USA - CA 1905 C chime Otis Memorial Chimes "The Bells of Hollywood" Hollywood Forever Memorial Park (was Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery) QUINCY : USA - IL 1905 C chime Arethusa Helen Woodruff Memorial Chime St.John's Parish (ACNA) DAYTON - F : USA - OH 1907 E chime First [English] Lutheran Church (ELCA) SCOTTDALE : USA - PA 1907 C chime First Regular Baptist Church (ABC)
The Buckeye Bell Foundry was established in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1837, by George W. Coffin. (For years, it was thought that his name was George Washington Coffin; however, no documention of his middle name has yet been found.) He produced by far the most ornately decorated bells of any American bellfounder, but almost all of them were small- to medium-sized single bells.
That foundry name was maintained throughout more than a century of operation, in spite of various changes in proprietorship, which were reported in a Vanduzen catalog issued in 1922. (See sub-headings above.) The name "Vanduzen" has been selected for this index because it best represents the relatively short portion of this foundry's history during which chimes were being produced.
E.W.Vanduzen and C.T.Tift operated the Buckeye Bell Foundry under a partnership agreement. Following the death of Cornelius Tacitus Tift in January 1890, Ezra Williams Vanduzen operated the foundry as a single proprietorship for a few months. However, C.T.Tift's interest in the business was preserved for his widow Elsie (nee Van Zandt) by the incorporation of the Vanduzen & Tift Company in early 1891. (The 1891 city directory, which went to press in June of that year, shows both the single proprietorship and the newly formed company in various places, including the company under Alterations & Removals.) By 1896, ownership had been reorganized as The E.W.Vanduzen Company, while H.T.Loomis is listed as the administrator of the estate of C.T.Tift. Loomis continued in this office until Elsie's death in March, 1900.
A photo of a 1907 Vanduzen chimestand shows the maker's nameplate clearly. However, not all of their chimestands carried nameplates, and outside of this business the family name sometimes appears as "Van Duzen."
A Vanduzen & Tift catalog published in 1883 (#11) claimed the ability to manufacture chimes, but listed only four that no longer existed (see 1856-1880 above). The chimestand illustrated in that catalog might have been suitable for lightweight chimes, but does not resemble those actually produced between 1893 and 1908.
An E.W.Vanduzen catalog published in 1922 (#20-D) confirms production of most of the chimes listed above between 1893 and 1908. Oddly, it claims Cincinnati/Westwood twice, but omits Atlanta and Oakland. It also claims production of the two surviving chimes made by the Hanks/Niles bellfoundry, which Vanduzen purchased some years after those two chimes were made; possibly this claim was based in part on Vanduzen's expansion of the Dayton chime in 1907. Unfortunately, this catalog, like that of 1883, includes no dates, so these have had to be obtained from other sources.
The last three complete chimes made by Vanduzen incorporated a unique engineering development - double-action chimestands and transmissions.
About 1951, the foundry was sold to Joseph H. Homan, a scrap metal dealer. Apparently his venture was unsuccessful, as the Vanduzen business disappeared from the city directories in the mid-1950s. After that, the Verdin Company of Cincinnati bought its remaining assets. Although Verdin did not keep the foundry open, they do have some records of the foundry's production after 1937, and may be able to answer inquiries on the subject. (All foundry records for prior to 1937 were destroyed by the great Ohio River flood of that year.)
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This index page was built from the database on 11-Nov-01 and last revised on 17-Mar-24.
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