George hanks

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The story of George L. Hanks starts hundreds of miles from Cincinnati in the state of New York. George was born into a bell casting family so to speak, on May 21, 1813. He learned to cast bells from Colonel Benjamin Hanks’s son, George’s cousin Julius Hanks.

George Hanks and some of his family moved to Cincinnati when he was in his late teens or early twenty’s, this would have been in probably the early 1830’s. His father Alpheus and his cousin Truman were some of the family that moved with George. Also, George’s sister Maria (Hanks) Niles and her husband Jonathan Niles would come to Cincinnati with them. 

Lucius B. Hanks, the oldest son of Truman and his friend Johnathan Niles moved to Cincinnati in 1831 and established the Cincinnati Iron Foundry. The article states that they were one of the best iron foundries of the west. This is certainly about the time that George came to Cincinnati as well. 

The first advertisement from Hanks & Niles was for the Cincinnati Iron Foundry. It was found in the Vandalia Whig and Illinois Intelligencer on April 11, 1832. 

The Cincinnati Directory Advertiser from 1836 – 1837 shows a “Hanks G. L. & Co. Clockmakers at Main and Woodward. Interestingly this is the same address as Hanks & Niles. There is no exact year that can be found as to when George started casting bells, but it appears to be sometime in 1836. It also appears that the “& Company” may have been Arthur Hanks and the other Jim McGraw. During this time, George was probably still making jewelry as he was slowly transitioning into a bell founder. From records found in the Cincinnati Museum Center, it looks as though George was a partner from 1839 to 1841 with Abraham Palmer, another jeweler in Cincinnati. They did business under the name Palmer & Hanks. 

One of the first examples of Hanks casting bell in Cincinnati is he recast a large bell on September 20, 1836 for Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Cincinnati. There is a note in his personal notebook that says that the bells were “well received” but his personal taste was that the large bell could have been a slightly higher pitch. It’s safe to assume that this was probably the beginning of his bell foundry in Cincinnati.

The first bells cast by Hanks were very similar to the Buckeye bells that Coffin was casting in The Buckeye Bell Foundry, which was only a few blocks away. Hank’s bells were decorated with beautiful, embossed figures and flowers and even had a similar shape as the Buckeye bells.

In 1850 Francis Mayer, who had just cast the very first chime in America in Philadelphia came to Cincinnati to work with Hanks. They cast a large 11 bell chime for the Mechanics Institute in Cincinnati. The chime started with a 3,637 Lb. C and then went D, E, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C & C#. It was a large chime with the bells weighing almost 15,000 Lbs.

It was about this time that Hanks’s bell profiles changed to a much more traditional American bell shape. This is likely because of the knowledge he had gained from Mayer while creating the chime in 1850.

The following year they got started on another 11 bell chime that would be installed at St. Peter in Chains Catholic Cathedral in Cincinnati in 1852. This chime was much smaller than the first one then built starting on a 935 Lb. G#. The chime was beautifully cast and was dedicated on January 3, 1852. The clock that controlled the play of the bells was much like the clock designed and installed in Mayer’s first chime that had been installed at St. Philip’s in Charleston a few years before. It was installed and started on July 4 of that same year. The bells were programmed to play every 3 hours. Mayer and Hanks also cast a large hour bell that was not part of the chime, which was installed at the same time as the other bells. It is said that this bell was cast as the City’s alarm bell and that it replaced another bell that was “unfit for use” that was cast in Troy, NY. This was likely cast in the Jone Foundry.

Hanks began capitalizing on his success in creating this chime of bells. He began to advertise in other city publications trying to sell more bells or even better, chimes. On September 4, 1852 an advertisement ran in a NY publication called “The Musical World and New York Musical Times” about Hanks and his success in casting the chime at the cathedral in Cincinnati. In the article it stated that “George L. Hanks, Bell Founder in Cincinnati, Ohio has for many years extensively engaged in the manufacture of bells, and by careful observation and study of the principles involved in their construction, he has been imminently successful in producing and article of superior form, tone and finish”. It goes on to talk about his careful study in order to produce high quality bells and that the cast the chime in St. Peter’s cathedral in Cincinnati was made in his foundry. George Hanks was on the leading edge of bells and bell instrument work in America at this time.

Over the next years he cast a lot of peals, some of them were fairly big. Some of the peals that he had cast in the mid to late 1850’s included a 3 bell peal of 7,000 Lbs. for Trinity Church in Cincinnati, a 3 bell peal of 6,500 Lbs. for St. Mary’s in Cincinnati as well as some other 3 bell peals for St. John’s, St. Augustine’s and a 2000 Lb. bell for St. Joseph’s in Cincinnati. 

Hanks must have experimented extensively with bell shapes and even alloys. Documenting over 30 Hanks bells cast between 1842 and 1859, there are three very distinct shapes or profiles that he cast. The earliest bells looked almost identical to Coffin bells have a very wide mouth compared to shoulder, whereas the next profile, the “improved bells” profile was much more traditional and also sounded much better. The last profile was a much heavier profile, likely because he was casting so many peals in the mid to late 1850’s. 

In 1859 it was said that Hanks had cast over 500 bells of all sizes in the past year and shipped them south into various cities. Perhaps one of the last peals he ever cast is installed in Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Over the Rhine in Cincinnati. This is the same tower that the old G.W. Coffin fire bell from 1842 is installed. The three bell peal was cast in 1859 and is still mostly original. The bells are 53” OD, 42” OD and 35.5” OD. The bells are absolutely beautiful and still hanging in their decorative yokes and like the large bell in St. Peter in Chains Catholic Church say “Improved Bells Cast by G.L. Hanks”.

His foundry flourished and he continued casting bells in Cincinnati until his untimely death on September 1, 1859. He was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.

The following year, after George’s death, in an 1860 Cincinnati City Directory, there was an ad that ran the following,

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Hanks Bell and Brass Foundry

Niles Works

Formerly George L. Hanks

Bells! Bells! Bells! Bells!

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It can only be assumed from this information that the partnership that Alpheus and Truman Hanks had made with the Niles brothers, and the fact that George Hanks’s sister was married to Jonathon Niles, that the now renamed Niles Tool Works took over the Hanks Bell Foundry. 

Jonathan Sands Niles was born September 20, 1804 in Shaftsbury, VT. At some point he moved to Hartford, CT. and married Maria Hanks on August 29, 1831. Maria was the younger sister of George L. Hanks. 

Sometime in the next 2 years, Jonathan and Maria relocated to Cincinnati, probably at the same time as George Hanks, in 1832 or 1833. As previously stated, there must have been a rather large group of the Hanks family that moved at or about the same time as we know that George’s father Alpheus and his uncle Truman came as well.

In 1834, Jonathan Niles and George Hanks, Truman Hanks and Alpheus Hanks formed a partnership and opened the firm Hanks & Niles, Machinists, Iron & Bell Founders. 

About 1841 George Hanks decided to leave the firm and it was renamed Niles & Company. It is unclear if Truman and Alpheus left or if they continued there. 

By 1845 Niles & Company was growing quickly. Jonathan and James must have been pretty good businessmen because they saw an opportunity in the quickly growing train industry. That same year they built a new shop, right along the Ohio River at 222 East Front Street and started to manufacture train parts. Evidentially that business must have been very good because in 1851 the Cincinnati Gazette reported that Niles & Co. had purchased a large lot on Congress Street, which was only a few blocks from their East Front Street shop, and they plan to build a foundry and Machine Shop for the building of locomotives. This would be the formation of Niles Works, a new company. Shortly after they began building their new building, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad had given the newly formed Niles Works a contract for two new locomotives. Just 2 years later the Niles brothers were one of the largest employers in the city and had between 400 and 500 men working for them. 

Sometime between May 11, 1858 and June 1859 both Jonathan and James Niles retired from day to day operations of the two companies. They kept their interest in Niles Works (East Front Street) and made H.A. Jones the new President. 

Heading into the 1860’s, Niles Works was still growing and more equipment was needed in order to keep up with the work. In about 1861 or 1862, during the time of the American Civil War the company needed another lathe. There were two employees that were given that task, George Gray and Alexander Gordon. The lathe that they built was so well received that they started to get inquiries from other businesses in the area on if they could purchase a lathe like it. This is the story of how Niles Works accidentally got into the machine tool industry. 

Jonathan and James Niles left Cincinnati and returned to Hartford, CT. sometime between May 11, 1858 and April 4, 1859 which is the date that Jonathan’s wife Maria Hanks died in Hartford, CT. 

In 1866 the brothers sold their interest in Niles Works to George Gray, Alexander Gordon and James Gaff. Gaff was made President, Gordon was Secretary and Gray Treasurer. At this time, the company was renamed Niles Tool Works. 

Sometime in 1871 the decision was made that a new manufacturing operation would be built in Hamilton, Ohio, just North of Cincinnati, and that the company would move there. 

In late 1859 or early 1860 when Niles Works took over the operation of George Hanks’s bell foundry. An advertisement in the 1860 city directory listed the address as 120 – 122 East Second Street in Cincinnati which is the same location that the Hanks foundry had been. The Niles Tool Works and The Niles Bell Foundry was in different locations, with the Tools Works being at 222 East Front Street.

The bells that the Niles Bell Foundry cast were the same in appearance as the bells that George Hanks had been casting a quite a number of years. In fact, a very similar eagle logo and bead lines can be seen on bells cast by George and by Niles.

From 1860 to 1869 Niles cast many single bells as well as peals. Many of the bells that they cast were surprisingly large. In 1866, Niles cast a large 3 bell peal for Mother of God Catholic Church in Covington, KY. The large bell is 59” OD and weighs almost 5,000 Lbs. The medium bell is 47.5” OD and weighs about 2,000 Lbs. and the small bell was approx. 36” OD and weighed about 1,000 Lbs.