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The Duffy family of Church Specialities, Inc. of Monroe, CT
has a long history with the Meneely family of bell makers going
back to 1919 when thirteen year old Joseph P. Duffy, Sr. began
work as a clerk at the Meneely Bell Company's sales office in
New York City. The Meneely companies were several foundries
associated with one or another branch of the Meneely family
located in Troy or West Troy (Watervliet), NY. In operation
from 1825 to 1951, these companies included the Meneely Bell
Company, Meneely & Kimberly and Jones & Hitchcock. During this
period, they produced a great quantity of bells and shipped
them all over the world. Over 6,000 bells were shipped from
just one of these companies to New York State alone. Meneely
bells easily outnumber those cast by all other U.S. bell makers
combined. In time, Joe Duffy, Jr. joined his father in the business
and, in 1951, when the last Meneely company ceased operations,
the Duffy offered their own bell services with the enthusiastic
blessing and support of Clinton Meneely, last Vice President
of Meneely Bell. Their mission was and remains to maintain and
restore tower bells drawing on the bell making traditions of
over a century and a half and to perform mechanical upgrades
to improve operations as new technology became available. This
they continue to do under the leadership of a third generation
of Duffys including Joe's son, Joe Duffy, III.
Joe Duffy, Jr. is retired but that doesn't keep him from sharing
his encyclopedic knowledge of tower bells with all interested.
He may have information about your bell, including name of purchaser,
date shipped, weight, cost, musical tone, special equipment
furnished, terms, inscription and even installation arrangements.
This information comes from a vast archive of original hand
written shipping ledgers from a number of Meneely related bell
companies going back to 1850. Even if he cannot locate your
particular bell, he can refer to a table which will tell you
its weight and tone, if given the diameter. He possesses a wealth
of general information about bell manufacturing, shipping and
installation practices. For instance, he says that Meneely never
machined its bells for tone as modern bells are. They referred
to this practice as "rupturing the bell's skin" and avoided
it. If they were producing a tuned chime of bells and one bell
was "off" they sold it as a single and cast a replacement. He
can also furnish information about other historic bell manufacturers
such as Paul Revere, George Holbrook and Henry Hooper.
The Duffy family of CHURCH SPECIALITIES, INC. has been a recognized
name in the church bell and church restoration business for
three generations. We started back in 1919 when Joe Duffy, Sr.
worked with the historic Meneely Bell Company. The business
was carried on by his son, Joe Duffy, Jr. The third generation,
Joe Duffy III, Chris & Cathy Duffy, Jeanne (Duffy) Grenier,
Craig and Marie (Duffy) Kreiser and Sean Quinn are continuing
on the family tradition. Our experienced team, from the tip
of Maine down to Virginia, has thousands of installations and
references. Please feel free to contact us and we would be more
than happy to assist you.
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