Clock Is Watching

I have watched Thomas Jefferson read and work. I have watched him write his speeches.I have watched him look at me and think about when the next moon eclipse would be or what time it was. Sometimes I became lonely, because the only time he looked at me was to see the time, on his best astronomical clock. I started out there, and now I am back there, in Monticello, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I was created by David Rittenhouse for Thomas Jefferson. Because Thomas Jefferson asked for me to be created during the Revolutionary War, I was started, but then forgotten about for thirty years until Thomas Jefferson wanted me again. I costed $115.50 way more than David Rittenhouse and Thomas Jefferson expected, but he still bought me for his work room. That’s where I stay.

I enjoyed my days in his work room. He would come in everyday at exactly 11:49:56. He would sit down at his desk and either read, write, or practice a speech. Some days he didn’t come in, but I would hear him leave, guessing he was going to deliver his speech. He would either come back that day or the next day, never after longer. I would hear that he was home, because I would hear his voice in the hallways as he scurried around. Then everything changed. Jefferson’s wife came into the room, muttered to herself, “ Nothing is going to help, he has uremia and we won’t survive. It’s just a matter of time. It’s just a matter of time.” I knew that Thomas Jefferson was dying in the room right above me. Then he passed away and the house was quiet. No one used me anymore. I was left in the work room forgotten. I felt lonely.

Few weeks passed by before anyone came into the work room again. This time it wasn’t someone I had seen before. It was Jefferson’s wife with a younger looking girl. They were talking about me, but it was a bit difficult to hear them over the sound of my bell ringing 12 o’clock. As the conversation started to wrap up, the little girl’s face light up like a light bulb. They left the room at exactly 3:58:32 and then came back at exactly 4:12:47. This time they didn’t just come in alone. There were people I had never heard or seen before. Their skin was darker than that of Jefferson’s family. Their raggy clothes, ripped in many places, showed scars from whips. They picked me up and I continued to examine them as they carried me out of the room and into a wagon.

This wagon brought back the memories of when I first saw the house. I was laid horizontally on my left side. The unknown people left and I was alone. Then I heard the wagon begin to rumble and I knew then that I was going to a new home. Since this travel I have moved multiple times. First to Jefferson’s daughter, then to Robley Dunglison, then, given by descent, to William Ladam Dunglison, who then gave me to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1894 and I was returned to my original place in Monticello. Since then I stand here and watch as many people examine me. Sometimes those people get lucky, because they arrived on a day of a moon eclipse. So they could see the better part of me. They could see my wheels turning and displaying the moon phases and where the sun is. I felt so proud of myself and special on these days.

Every week someone will come in to take care of me so that I am not rusty and dusty. I have a great life. Many people came into the work room to look at me and I am being well taken care of. What else could I want. Today is May 21, 2018, and I have been a good clock now for 122 year 34 hours 29 minutes and 3 seconds.

Today is a quiet day at Monticello, not many people are visiting, except for a big group of students. I am guessing they are studying American history. They had a talk outside and then came in. They split into groups of three. Immediately after the talk there was a group of three in the doorway of the work room. There was a girl with black and white hair, who walked up to me and started to examine me carefully. She looked like a day and night in the same moment. It was as if she knew me. Perhaps she was looking for the moonshine. She was the most interesting person today.