Willard, Simon

Willard, Simon

(1753–1848) clock maker; born in Grafton, Mass. Establishing his clock factory in Roxbury, Mass., about 1778, he would turn out over 5,000 timepieces by the time he retired in 1839. He patented the "Willard Patent Timepiece" (1802), still familiar as the banjo wall clock, and an alarm clock (1819). His clocks were widely used and admired in public places.