Ye Old Clock
Newton's old four-faced Seth Thomas Courthouse clock is silent now. It went in 2000 when the courthouse burned to the ground. In its place is a recorded chime. It doesn't have the history or the personality of our beloved clock.
The clock was given by Mrs. Taylor King; the former Alice Peavy of the Peavy of the Peavy Lumber Company in 1929.She presented it in memory of her father, Dr. J.S. Peavy and her mother, the former Maryann Fuller. On wintry nights, when trees were bare, the ringing bell could be heard as many as seven miles away and its lighted face could be easily seen at night. For the people of Newton it was the lighthouse when they came home at night.
Every hour the clock sounded one clear ring for each hour. It also struck on the half hour.
Newtonites set their own clocks and watches by that clock. They found the tolling a comfort at night. They rose by it in the morning and went to bed by it at night. It provided a sense of security and a continuance of time for all who lived in its shadow. Town's people felt that as long as their clock struck nothing could go seriously wrong. It saw them through a world war and three police actions when the rest of the country often reeled.
When the courthouse burned, it was surrounded by the people and if you looked on the faces you would have thought they were attending a funeral. Tears were falling from the eyes of women, children and men alike. There was complete silence in the crowd as the fire roared without the usual popping of the usual fire.
Then it happened, the bell tower with the clock faltered, collapsing as if in slow motion. The only sound as the tower collapsed into the center of the inferno was a familiar melodious voice and a sickening last echo as it fell to the floor. Time stood still for Newton and the entire county.
The bell is preserved on the courthouse square inside a protective fence but the beloved clock is no more.
--Jonnie Miller