JEROME, CHAUNCEY

born June 10, 1793, Canaan, Conn., U.S. died April 20, 1868, New Haven, Conn. American inventor and clockmaker whose products enjoyed widespread popularity in the mid-19th century. Learning the carpenter's trade early in life, Jerome spent his leisure time making dials for grandfather clocks and was employed in 1816 by a clockmaker at Plymouth, Conn. Later, he started his own business peddling clocks from farmhouse to farmhouse. The bronze looking-glass clock he designed in 1824 became popular; he then formed a company that soon became the leader in clock production, with branches in Virginia and South Carolina in addition to the main plant at Bristol, Conn. About 1838 Jerome invented the one-day brass movement, an improvement over the wood clock. Applying the mass-production techniques of American inventor Eli Whitney, Jerome flooded the United States with low-priced brass clocks. His clocks quickly spread to Europe and so astonished the English that Yankee ingenuity became a byword. In the 1850s Jerome became associated with unethical businessmen, and his company failed; he died in poverty.