By Peg Eastman

St. Michael’s Church in downtown Charleston was built on the site of the first St. Philip’s Church that was commissioned shortly after the colony was founded. When a hurricane damaged the original wooden church, St. Philips decided to rebuild on Church Street and the damaged church building was dismantled. It was not long before St. Philip’s congregation grew too large. The parish was divided, and in 1751 St. Michael’s was commissioned to be built on the vacant church site located at the corner of Broad and Meeting Streets

Like its mother church around the corner, St. Michael’s followed contemporary high-style London tastes used by Sir James Gibbs in the design of St. Martin in-the-Fields. This design was innovative at the time because the steeple was built within the church body and it had a monumental portico that projected away from the building onto the street. (Unfortunately, the iconic second St. Philip’s church burned in the early nineteenth century; its octagonal belfry was a feature unique to Charleston and was widely copied locally, including at St. Michael’s.)

Some of Charleston’s most famous personages are on the roster of the nine commissioners who raised funds and managed St. Michael’s construction. Subscriptions were raised to import a tower clock and bells from London. The steeple clock was made by Aynsworth Thwaites and is considered the oldest functioning colonial church clock in the United States. St. Michael’s clock cost £120, a vast sum in those days. The clock and bells came over on a ship called The Little Carpenter and were shipped gratis by the company that made them, probably because they were for a church.

Over the years, St. Michael’s has had many challenges in keeping the clock and its famous bells in operation. The bells were cast by Whitechapel Foundry of London; they were taken as a war prize by the British when they evacuated Charles Town in 1782. The bells were later returned and remained in the tower until they were removed to Columbia for safe-keeping in 1862. Stored in a shed, they melted during the conflagration when Sherman’s Army took Columbia. After the war, St. Michael’s vestry reclaimed the remnants and sent them back to England to be recast at the original foundry. The bells have since survived the earthquake of 1886 and Hurricane Hugo in 1989. After Hugo, the Vestry again sent the bells back to London to the original foundry, to have all the fittings replaced. In 1993, the bells were returned to St. Michael’s. Today ringers practice the uniquely Anglican art form of change ringing under the direction of Tower Captain C. J. Cantwell.

Since the first week in August, Daniel Jeffries has been working on restoring the tower clock to its original condition. Being invited to work on the antique clockworks has brought to fruition a dream that started when he was ten years old. It is also the result of a lot of hard work and natural ability.

Originally from Covington, Georgia, Jeffries comes from a long line of skilled machinists. His forebears established Jeffries Machine Company in 1939, a business which has continued to this day. When he was a child, the Jeffries family used to vacation at the Isle of Palms Wild Dunes Resort and would come into Charleston to sightsee. Young Daniel admired St. Michael’s clock and presciently told his family, “Someday I will work on that clock.”

He learned to make precision parts at his family’s machine shop and eventually became an accountant with Procoaters, Inc. in Lithonia, Georgia. But his passion remained antique clocks and the music made

by their rich chimes. He became a church organist and became so skilled in antique clock repairs that he also operates Dee’s Clock Works of Covington, Georgia, repairing all types of household clocks as well as maintaining several old Georgia courthouse clocks. The only out-of-state clock that he repairs is St. Michael’s, which he considers a national treasure and has dubbed it the “queen of them all, America’s Big Ben.”
Restoring the tower clock has involved fabricating new parts and repainting old parts that run on the original 1764 weights. The clock is characterized by a double third chime that was used in the British Royal Exchange in London. After Big Ben was built, its Westminster chime became the popular standard, replacing the 1670 chime used at the Royal Exchange.

According to Rob McRae, Property Manager at St. Michael’s, “Although, we have had British and French clock men maintain the clock, Daniel Jeffries is by far the best craftsman and clock man we have ever had. His touch is like magic. He is a for real “clock whisperer.”
The proof of his skills are that the clock has been restored to its original condition, and its lovely chimes can now be heard throughout downtown Charleston on the quarter hour, preserving a city tradition that started 250 years ago.