Levi Hutchins Biography

LEVI HUTCHINS

by

Gabri-el Collins

Do you know who wakes you up in the morning? That’s right, the alarm clock. I bet your guessing who invented the alarm clock. Well I know, and his name is Levi Hutchins. I’m going to tell you all about him.

Levi was born in Harvard, Massachusetts on August 17th, 1761. His brother Abel was born two years later in March. When Levi was 14 he played the fife in the American Revolution and his father (the captain) feared for Levi’s safety. His father forced Levi to stay on high ground in Medford. After war, Levi was placed in school. After Levi was done with school, he worked in the watch repair trade with his brother Abel under a master. The master’s name was Simon Willard. This was his childhood. I guess you’re thinking this is pretty interesting, but the next part is better.

As he got older, he had a big huge family. So let’s jump right in. On February 23^rd, 1789, Levi married Phoebe Hannaford. After marriage, Phoebe had ten children and before Levi passed away, he made clocks for each of his children. Levi died peacefully at the age of 93, on June 13^th in Concord, New Hampshire. The death is sad isn’t it? Well, we should move on and see what’s next.

This part of my report is about Levi’s career. Career means job, but we should move on into it. He and his brother lived together and bought a farm that had 70 acres. They started to make clocks there. Levi also made cloth. Levi and his brother Abel made clocks for 20 years. He and his brother also had a factory together, but on Tuesday, November 25, 1817 the factory burned to the ground. Two years later, the factory was built into the Phoenix hotel. I wonder how the building burned down. Well let’s go into the exiting part.

This was very exciting for Levi, but there’s a little problem. Levi invented the first American alarm clock in 1787. But the European alarm clock predated his, so he was not the first to invent the alarm clock. He and his brother made the clocks behind their house in their store. They set up a shop on Main Street in Concord, New Hampshire.  Also, he was a teacher at the school he was placed in after the war. Do you know why he invented the alarm clock? Because he always slept past 4:00. People still speak of him today because Levi was successful in business and with his invention. I hope you learned a lot about Levi Hutchins.