MENEELY BELL FACT FILE
by Sloane D. Bullough
For more information: http://www.troyvisitorcenter.org/

(Reference: Winifred Yu, "Troy's Bells Will Toll For All To Hear,"
Albany _Times_Union_, July 11, 1997.)

*    The Meneely Bell Foundry was started in 1826 by Andrew Meneely
     in West Troy (now Watervliet), New York.
*    A second Meneely bell company was formed in 1870 by relatives
     in Troy, New York.
*    Andrew Meneely was an apprentice to Julius Hanks, who started
     the nation's first bell foundry in 1808 in West Troy.
*    Meneely bells rang for President Franklin Roosevelt's and 
     President John Kennedy's funerals, and for President Lyndon
     Johnson's inauguration.
*    The replacement for the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, as well
     as many church bells in that city, were Meneely bells. Nearly
     every church bell in Troy, New York is a Meneely bell.
*    Other Meneely bells include bells at Cornell University,
     the Metropolitan Life building in New York City, and the 
     West Point military academy. Overall, the Meneely companies
     produced about 65,000 bells.
*    The Meneely companies eventually closed in 1952 owing to metal
     shortages and the increasing popularity of electronic bells
     and chimes.