Levi Hutchins

Summary

Levi Hutchins (August 17, 1761 – June 13, 1855) was a clockmaker of Concord, New Hampshire, who around 1787 built an early American alarm clock that rang only at 4 a.m. by means of an extra gear; he never patented or sold it. Alarm mechanisms existed in Europe before him — his claim is to an early American alarm clock, not the first alarm clock. He died of old age at 93; his wife Phoebe had died in 1829, twenty-six years before him.

Focus areas: Clockmaking · New Hampshire · Invention

At a glance

Field

Clockmaking · New Hampshire

Location

Concord, New Hampshire

Correction: the “first alarm clock” and the murder legend

Hutchins is often credited with inventing the first alarm clock, and circulating lore adds that his wife murdered him. Neither is documented: alarm mechanisms existed in Europe before him — his claim is to an early American alarm clock, unpatented and unsold — and he died of old age at 93 in 1855, twenty-six years after his wife Phoebe's death in 1829.

References · in priority order

1. Wikipedia: Levi Hutchinsen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Hutchins
2. Cow Hampshire on the 1787 alarm clockwww.cowhampshireblog.com/2016/07/20/inventor-of…

Sources

• Concord, NH clockmaker; b. Aug 17, 1761 (Harvard, MA), d. June 13, 1855 (Concord, NH)Wikipedia
• Built an early American alarm clock c. 1787 that rang only at 4 a.m. via an extra gear; never patented or sold itCow Hampshire
• Alarm clocks existed in Europe before him; his claim is to an early American one, not the first alarm clockCow Hampshire
• He died at 93 in 1855; his wife Phoebe died in 1829, 26 years before himWikipedia