1870Local entrepreneur and philanthropist Samuel E. Sawyer purchased the clock and bell for the tower of the new Town Hall.Arts and Culture, Government and Public Service, Location and Setting, Buildings & Architecture, City Government

The bell was built by Jones & Company of Troy, New York, and weighed 4,400 pounds. It was donated for the dedication of the new Town House. The Cape Ann Advertiser remarked, “Mr. Samuel E. Sawyer, who is always doing something to please us, sometimes in the way of charity, sometimes in ornaments to our schoolhouses, and sometimes by books for our instruction and amusement, has placed in the tower of this building another clock, and added to the gift a heavy and sweet-toned bell. This kindness and generosity on the part of Mr. Sawyer will be appreciated by our people who will ever hold him in grateful remembrance.”