Major Holbrook, while very young, was apprenticed to Paul Revere (of Revolutionary fame) to learn the machinists and clockmaker’s trades. After he completed his apprenticeship, he started casting bells in Brookfield, Massachusetts, having learned the art from an old English encyclopedia. The Holbrook Bell Foundry was in reality, though not legally, the successor of the famous Revere bell foundry, as during the years 1816 to 1820 it was the only establishment of its kind in America. During the period of its existence, the Holbrook Bell Factory cast over eleven thousand bells for domestic and international customers. They were exhibited at industrial exhibitions throughout the United States and came in competition with the bells of others, always receiving the highest awards. Among other awards was the grand gold medal from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association (Boston) for general superiority and pure musical tone, and this despite the proprietor of a competing business being President of the Association and had many bells on exhibit at the same time. The products of the Holbrook Bell Foundry became the standard bells ofAmerica. Major Holbrook’s son, Colonel George H. Holbrook, who became an eminent musician, is credited with improving the tone of the bells and changing them from noisy machines to musical instruments. Colonel Holbrook became associated with his father in the manufacture of bells and church clocks and succeeded in 1820 to the entire business which he carried on until 1871. Colonel Holbrook, in 1837, began building church organs, in company with his cousin, Mr. J Holbrook Ware, until 1850, when that partnership was dissolved. He was succeeded in the organ business by his son, Mr. Edwin L. Holbrook, and in the bell business by his grandson, Mr. Edwin Handel Holbrook.
Some current information concerning the valuation of bells of this type was located. There are various ways to value bells:
1. Scrap price, which is the current price for bronze that you can get from a scrap metal dealer.
2. Collector’s price, which is whatever a bell collector is willing to spend.
3. Price that a bell resale dealer is willing to pay in order to recondition the bell for resale (usually about half of the expected resale value)
4. Historic/sentimental price, which is the cost to the congregation of losing a piece of its history (better to clean the bell and display it within the church once it is determined to be unsafe to continue ringing the bell).
In the information associated with the valuation method descriptions shown above, the author indicated that his company usually estimates a minimum of $100/pound for a good bronze bell. As our Church bell weighs approximately 1,200 pounds, the indication is it has a value north of $100,000.