Marietta’s Bells

During her lifetime, Marietta Pickering Hay donated two different sets of bells to the Village of Sackets Harbor.

In 1892, her passion for people and places inspired Marietta to present a chime of bells to ring out for all the people in her hometown. Since she was in distant Tarrytown, she asked two Sackets Harbor friends, Walter B. Camp and Theodore Canfield, to inquire of the two large churches in the village if either would rebuild their steeple to accept the chime. Marietta was an Episcopalian and would have been happy to have the bells installed in Christ Episcopal Church. But the church trustees didn’t feel they could remodel their steeple to accommodate them. Mr. Camp, however, was not only a dear friend, but a Trustee of the Presbyterian Society. He convinced his fellow trustees to reconstruct their church steeple and replace their single bell with Marietta’s gift.

The single bell in the Presbyterian steeple clock struck the hour and quarter hours and the people of the village were used to hearing the chime, so Marietta agreed that her new bells could be used for that purpose as well. When that older bell was removed, the Presbyterian Society presented the single bell to Walter Camp in recognition of his part in bringing about the transformation. Camp gave the bell to the Sackets Harbor Fire Company. The bell is now displayed on Broad Street next to the vintage fire truck.

Marietta’s chime of nine bells was dedicated “in Loving Remembrance of the Village of her Nativity” at a Chime Bells and Washington’s Birthday Celebration on February 22, 1894. On March first, Marietta wrote to Camp, “The Meneely and Co. are now paid up in full and all is settled there. It does comfort me that Sackets Harbor cannot be deprived of the bells. I hope the village clock strikes the hours and quarters on the chimes and that you can hear it from your residence.”

The New Chime of Ten Bells

On April 3, 1899, the Presbyterian Church burned; the nine bells crashed down and melted. Informed of the news, Marietta asked that the metal be collected and returned to Meneely and Co. and used to replace the chime. Meneely answered that the metal had been too severely compromised. Still, Marietta was determined to replace the bells whenever a new church was built. Meneely had a chime of ten, which they had cast in 1898, which suited Mrs. Hay. These bells were installed into the Tower of the Presbyterian church, built on the site of the previous church, in 1900, where they remain today.

The largest bell weighs approximately 1,600 pounds and produces the musical note G. The smallest bell weighs approximately 185 pounds and also plays G. Each bell is inscribed with the name and dates of a member of the Pickering or White family. The chime is installed in an open gallery on the sixth level of the Tower. Music is played from a console on the fifth floor below the gallery. The console consists of ten paddles played by hand. Each paddle is connected to a bell clapper, which is pulled against the inside of a bell, while the bell remains stationary. Only the largest bell was designed to swing on its mounting, for tolling by a rope extending to the ground floor. Currently the bell is stationary, ringing when struck by a mechanical clapper. The largest bell has a third mechanism, connected to the village clock, that strikes the bell from the outside to toll the hour. Although the clock and its striker have been electrified, the chime of bells and console never have been; so whenever tunes ring out over the Village, someone has climbed the Tower and is playing by hand. Connections between the keyboard and bells are made up of the old system of wooden rods, chains, pulleys and leather straps, except where worn leather has been replaced by bungee cords. Current technology includes airplane cable and stainless steel rods. After the Tower that holds the bells aloft is finally restored, it’s hoped that the bells, themselves, can be refurbished, allowing for smoother playing and a prettier sound.