Saint Margaret’s | Church Bell

Church Bell

For Whom the Bell Tolls

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

"Meditation XVII" of Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, a 1624 metaphysical poem by John Donne.

For uncounted centuries the bell has been used to celebrate, warn, and morn events both local and remote. Alter bell; School bell; Carriage bell; Door bell; Handbell (bell choir); Last call bell; Glockenspiel (Orchestra bell); Ships bells; Slave bell; Tubular bell, and on it goes. Here at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church we are very fortunate to have a bell that is rung before each service and on special occasions.

This bell was given to us by Evalyn Davis as a memorial to her husband, Malcolm Davis (who died in 1973) in 1974.

Evie Davis found the “right bell” abandoned on a farm in Wisconsin. She had it shipped to Palm Desert.

Nine years later, in 1983, the fountain in the courtyard was dedicated as a memorial to Mrs. Davis.

The bell, known as a C bell, was cast in 1908 by the Buckeye Bell Foundry Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. See pictures below:

The Buckeye Bell Foundry was established by George Washington Coffin in 1837. That foundry name was maintained throughout more than a century of operation, in spite of various changes in proprietorship. From 1837 to 1848 bells were cast with just the Buckeye Bell Foundry name on the bell. After that time the name of the proprietor was added:

1848-1866: Buckeye Bell Foundry / G. W. Coffin & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Proprietors: Geo. W. Coffin & Geo. R. Dudley

1866: Buckeye Bell Foundry / G. W. Coffin & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Proprietors: Geo. W. Coffin, E. W. Vanduzen & C. T. Tift

1866-1891: Buckeye Bell Foundry / Vanduzen & Tift, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Proprietors: E. W. Vanduzen & C. T. Tift

1891-1894: Buckeye Bell Foundry / The Vanduzen & Tift Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Incorporated 1891; Proprietor: E. W. Vanduzen

1894-1950: Buckeye Bell Foundry / The E.W.Vanduzen Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA,
Proprietor: E. W. Vanduzen

When this foundry closed, about 1951, the Verdin Company of Cincinnati bought its remaining assets. Although Verdin did not keep the foundry open, they do have some records of the foundry's production after 1937. All foundry records for previous years were destroyed by the great Ohio River flood of 1937.

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