Big Joe (bell)

Joseph (commonly known as Big Joe) is a bronze bell that hangs 125 feet (38 m) into the bell tower of Neo-Gothic Saint Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.[2][1] The endearing moniker Big Joe is a combination of the names of Joseph T. Buddeke, the largest donor of the project, and Big Ben, the great bell in the iconic Palace of Westminster clock tower in London.[3][4]

Specifications
Weight: 37,000 lb (16,818 kg)
Diameter: 9 feet (2.7 m)
Material: Bronze
Yoke: unknown pounds (unknown kg)
Clapper: 640 pounds[1]
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Casting Date: 1895
Musical note: E♭
Raising of Big Joe, 1895

Measuring 7 feet (2.1 m) tall and with a diameter of 9 feet (2.7 m), the 17.5 ton bell is the largest swinging bell ever cast in the United States.[3] It was cast on October 30, 1895 by the E. W. Van Duzen Company at their foundry on Second Street and Broadway.[4][5] The massive bell was hauled by 12 horses up Gilbert Avenue, then down Madison Road to St. Frances de Sales in the neighborhood of East Walnut Hills.[4]

When first swung in January 1896, its deafening peal startled the Walnut Hills neighborhood and could be heard for 15 miles (24 km).[3] According to some accounts, the resultant E♭ produced vibrations which shook the houses and buildings below and shattered nearby windows.[2] However, a modern-day bell expert at Cincinnati-based The Verdin Company, foundry of the nearby and even larger World Peace Bell (which was cast in France), dismisses damage to window glass inflicted by Big Joe as a local legend with no historical basis. According to them, Big Joe was never swung again because of trembling in the bell tower and crumbing of mortar; the bell was simply too big for its tower.[1][6]

Following the bell's inaugural ring, the parish priests decreed the bell shall "remain immobile forever".[1] The 640-pound (290 kg) clapper was not used again; today the bell is rung only with an oversized foot hammer tapping its rim.[3][7]

Big Joe is struck thrice daily at 6 am, 12 noon and 6 pm for Angelus, followed by the chiming of four smaller bells, known as the "ladies in waiting", resting above it.[3][4]

See also
  • St. Petersglocke

References
  1. "The Tolling Bells". Cincinnati Magazine – via Google Books.
  2. Adrienne Cowden. "Woodburn Avenue NBD Historic District – Designation Report". Archived from the original on 2013-04-09. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  3. "Treasures: St. Francis de Sales Bells". The Catholic Beat. Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  4. http://saintfrancisdesalesparish.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/SFDS_History1.pdf
  5. Logansport Journal (Indiana), November 20, 1895, page 7
  6. Will Newport bell rattle its neighbors?
  7. Dwyer, Jim, ed. (1989). "Once Was More Than Enough". Strange Stories, Amazing Facts of America's Past. Pleasantville, New York/Montreal: The Reader's Digest Association. p. 12. ISBN 0-89577-307-4.

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