Images(2)

Watch Fob

PeriodCirca 1830-1850

Place MadePossibly United States

MediumGold, moonstone

DimensionsOther: 1.13 × 0.88 × 0.75 in. (2.9 × 2.2 × 1.9 cm)

ClassificationsCostume, Men's

Credit LineGift of Dorothy and Marion Symmes, in Memory of Rev. Frank R. Symmes, by his Wife and Daughter Dorothy and Marion, 1934

Object number526

DescriptionA man's watch fob, of gold with a wide rectangular base and a solid central finial, heavily chased and molded with floral and foliate motifs. A wide ring holder for the watch chain is at the very top of the fob. The rectangular base is inset with a flat opalescent quartz stone with a shallow bevel around all four sides.
NotesSymmes Cleves Henry was born on June 7, 1797, in Lamington, Somerset County, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton College in 1815, then attended Princeton Seminary from 1815 to 1818. He held two relatively brief positions as temporary pastor in Salem, Massachusetts in 1818, in Rochester in 1819, and then in Philadelphia in 1820. In August of that year, Reverend Henry was appointed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Cranbury, Middlesex County, New Jersey, which he held for 37 years. Throughout his career he received numerous offers from other congregations as far afield as Virigina, but turned them all down to remain in Cranbury. He married Catherine Arnot Rowley (1801 - 1863) in 1826, and the couple had two children, Mary Rosebrook (1829 - 1895) and Catherine Arnet (1833 - 1835). Reverend Henry died on March 22, 1857, at the age of 59. He was buried in Brainerd Cemetery in Cranbury, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

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