Restoration: Local repair shop will fix Cape Girardeau County's old courthouse clock

Sean and Nancy Barnes of Cape Girardeau's S&N Clock Repair have been in the business of repairing timepieces of several varieties since launching their family endeavor in September 2017.

Lately, the couple is being hired a bit more often to fix and restore old clocks in historic courthouses: Stoddard County in Bloomfield, Missouri, and Cole County in the Missouri state capital of Jefferson City are two recent examples.

A new project is repairing the clock in the historic former Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson, which itself is in nascent stages of a thorough rehabilitation

Phil Penzel is president of Jackson-based and family-owned Penzel Construction and is general contractor on the 1908-era courthouse rehab project.

"I remember the courthouse clock working when I was real young and seeing all the old faces looking north, south, east and west. The bell is still up there, too. It's good people care about having a working courthouse clock and an accurate one," he said.

Charlie Herbst, Cape Girardeau County 2nd District associate commissioner, noted the historic importance of the clock in Jackson.

"The clock was a community service back in the day when timekeeping devices were a luxury. I do think people will enjoy having an operational clock up there again," Herbst said.

S&N was contracted for $15,000 by Penzel to do the work, which may begin as soon as next month.

"There's a shaft that comes out of the clock movement, and the movement is cast iron and weighs about 1,000 pounds. The shaft goes to a device called a 'universal', which are basically five gears. One gear in the center turns the other four. It's sort of the same principle as a normal clock in your house except there are four faces to this one," said Sean Barnes, who said the old courthouse clock has an E. Howard & Co. movement.

E. Howard was founded in 1858 following the demise of Boston Watch Co. in Massachusetts. E. Howard later went defunct.

"E. Howard was kind of a weird company. They probably made some of the best and most desirable American clocks, but there weren't many of them and they weren't standardized like those made by Seth Thomas Co.," said Barnes, who said the clocks in the Stoddard and Cole County courthouses were both made by Thomas.

"Almost every one of the E. Howards was a 'one-off' and are all different. You don't see a clock like the one in the Cape courthouse very often, and they're very valuable."

Jackson High School graduate Sean Barnes expects to begin soon to restore the clock in the 1908-era Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson. Barnes and his wife, Nancy, started S&N Clock Repair in 2017.Submitted

Jackson High School graduate Sean Barnes expects to begin soon to restore the clock in the 1908-era Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson. Barnes and his wife, Nancy, started S&N Clock Repair in 2017.Submitted

Scope of work

"Until I can dismantle what's up there, I won't know what the (old Cape Girardeau County Courthouse) clock needs, but my plan is to pull it apart, clean it all up and then manufacture parts to replace those that are broken, such as bushings, if needed. We'll strip and paint the base and put back all of the original lettering and pinstriping. Basically, when we get done, the old courthouse will have a 'new old' clock. It'll be just like brand new when it's done," Barnes said.

Other business

Sean Barnes said his wife handles office work and scheduling, and two of their children also now work in the business, which includes fixing grandfather clocks.

"Our two kids are pretty far along in their abilities and are doing more of the everyday normal stuff, working under my guidance. I do the final setting of all the movements before clocks go back in their cases and perform a quality check," he said. "Our turnaround time is pretty quick if we get a call for service or repair. We're usually about a week out, but it really depends on our schedule."

Scarcity

Barnes said there are not many craftsmen who do the kind of niche work he does with clocks.

"There's just a handful of us left at my level, because I make parts. There are perhaps 200 of us left in the whole country," he said, noting S&N's territory is Southern Missouri, Northern Arkansas, Southern Illinois and parts of Kentucky. S&N is on Facebook, is reachable at (573) 270-0897 and the company's website is www.snclockrepair.com.

Do you want more business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.