An unexpected glimpse of family history

Sept. 18 - Northeast Harbor in Maine is a little town on Mt. Desert Island, also the location of Acadia National Park. We docked shortly before 4 p.m. and settled in. Since it had been a long day (we left Yarmouth at 2:25 a.m.), we were ready for an early night. I walked around town for a while and stopped at the grocery store before returning to the boat to make dinner.

After a good night's sleep, we were ready to explore. L.L. Bean, whose headquarters are in Freeport, Maine, sponsors a free shuttle bus service that will take you around the island. It runs every half hour and you can get on and off as you wish - a wonderful amenity and one we appreciated very much, considering our lack of wheels (we'll show our appreciation to L.L. Bean by stopping in Freeport in a couple days).

So little time, so much we wanted to do. Everyone says you have to go to Bar Harbor, so we did. What we didn't know was that there were two cruise ships docked with a total of 8000 passengers. We enjoyed our walk around town, checking out the little shops, but would have enjoyed a good hike in Acadia more. Oh well. We did enjoy the beautiful drive around the park, with its ocean and mountain vistas.

There was an unexpected treat in Bar Harbor, though. I saw a little clock shop on Main Street, and since I've always loved clocks, I had to go in. Well, the proprietor, Alexander H. Phillips, was an older gentleman who knows clocks inside and out - literally. He sells and restores antique clocks, so we asked him if he was familiar with McClintock clocks. He enthusiastically started talking about how well-made and desirable they were and pointed out that the bank clock outside was a McClintock, and he was responsible for maintaining it. At one point the bank was going to tear it down. When one of their wealthy customers heard about it, she said that if they tore it down she would withdraw all her money from the bank and so would all her friends.

When I told Mr. Phillips my maiden name was McClintock, that O.B. McClintock was my great-uncle and my grandpa used to work for him, he absolutely insisted - several times - that I write down as much as I could about the family history, especially as it pertained to the clock company, because nothing is known about it. Unfortunately, I remember nothing and don't know who would. The O. B. McClintock Company of Minneapolis manufactured a complete line of public clocks, many of which were purchased by banks, where they hung from the building or stood outside on main street, USA. Many are still standing in small towns across the country, including Winter Haven, Florida, where my Mom lives.

The company also manufactured burglar alarm systems. A few years ago I did a bit of research and discovered that, in 1948, they purchased the Waltham Electric Clock Co. from the Waltham Watch Company to make electric alarm, kitchen and wall clocks. I bought some of these McClintock clocks on eBay and gave them to my Mom and siblings for Christmas that year. They were flabbergasted because no one in the family knew the company made more than just public clocks. I don't even know if my Dad knew that. I bought three more on eBay a year or two ago. They were from a jeweler's estate and were new, in the boxes, with the price tags still on them.

This is probably of little interest to anyone but our family, but it adds something new and different to the blog.

Tonight we are moored in Camden Harbor, about halfway down the Maine coast, and will explore the towns of Camden and Rockland tomorrow.