Valley Girl Views: When the Great Apostolic Clock Was In Selinsgrove

Charles Ketterer with his Apostolic Clock

A line in Wm. M. Schnure's Selinsgrove Chronology reads simply:
"Great Apostolic Clock in Odd Fellows' Hall, Selinsgrove"

The Great Apostolic Clock was indeed, an actual clock. An incredibly detailed clock, with many moving parts. From what little I found, these were a bit of a fad around 1870.

From a description of the Apostolic Clock on Display at Hershey:

"The clock tells much more than the time of day - dials on the face count seconds, phases of the moon, months, signs of the zodiac, date and day of the week. Every fifteen minutes Father Time strikes a bell and the center life cycle figure changes. At quarter of
each hour, several mechanical figures, including Christ and his twelve apostles, appear to tell the story of the betrayal of Christ"

And on April 10 1875, an apostolic clock was on display in Odd Fellows Hall in Selinsgrove. There's one on display at the Hershey Museum - see how it works in this youtube video:

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MORE APOSTOLIC CLOCKS
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In June of 1876 when an Apostolic Clock was on display in Carlisle, the Weekly Herald reported: "The great Apostolic clock, built by Charles Ketterer, a German, of Shamokin, Pa., after three years and three months incessant labor, has been on exhibition in Rheem's hall this week. It is a wonderful piece of mechanism, when it will be remembered that its maker was a coal miner, and that his principal tools consisted of two pocket knives. It is claimed that it is an imitation of the famous Strasburg clock, built 400 years ago. It is five feet high and three feet wide."

According to the Hershey Museum, the current owners of the Apostolic Clock, theirs was made by John Fiester, who hauled it from town to town on a flat bed wagon. He then gifted the clock to George H. Danner, and years later, the Hershey Museum obtained it from the Danner estate.

"The Apostolic Clock, now the property of the Hershey Museum, was once a part of the Danner Museum in Manheim. In 1867, 21 year old John Fiester of Strasburg, Lancaster County, began to build the Apostolic Clock. The clock is so complex that it took him eleven years to complete!

He carved and painted the nine inch high figures of Jesus and the Apostles. There are other figures which depict stages in the life of man. This clock not only records the hour, minute and second, but the day of the week, month, the phase of the moon and the signs of zodiac.

Mr. Fiester built a wooden case in three sections to house the gears and clock works. By doing this he could haul his clock on a flat bed wagon and travel from town to town so people could see it. People were willing to pay the 10¢ admission to see this wondrous clock.

Soon after Mr. Fiester began his travels, he became ill. He was befriended by George H. Danner and in appreciation for his help, Mr. Fiester gave the clock to Mr. Danner to be displayed in his museum. The clock has to be seen to be appreciated. One can not imagine the intricate figures, the movements and animation of it. Be sure to see it at the Hershey Museum."

Fiesters clock is reported to have been made in 1878, three years after the clock was reportedly on display in Selinsgrove.

This article in a 1905 edition of the Harrisburg Telegraph tells of a Great Apostolic Clock made by Stephen Engle. It too was carted around the East Coast by horse and wagon, on display as the "8th Wonder Of the World"

Not only is is obvious that the Feister Clock and the Engle clock are of a different design, but they are on display currently in two different museums, making it 100% certain that they are indeed two different clocks. From my limited research, it appears that there were at least 4 of these clocks, all made by different clock makers, here in central Pennsylvania in the 1870s.

The Engle clock can be seen at the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia Pa

https://www.nawcc.org/visit/

Not only are two Apostolic Clocks currently in museums in Pennsylvania, they are located in the same area of Central Pa. The Feister Clock at the Hershey Museum in Hershey Pa is roughly 40 minutes from the Engle clock, at the National Clock and Watch Museum in Columbia Pa.

As I continued to dig, I found an Apostolic clock on display in Vermont, of yet another design. And one in Buffalo New York, of still another design. Apparently, making Apostolic Clocks was a bit of a fad in the 1870s.

The clock on display in Selinsgrove was likely the one made by Charles Fetterer, although I cannot be certain.

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