Isaac Brokaw (9 March 1746 – 16 September 1826) was a

clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly t ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Biography

Brokaw was born in Raritan in Somerset County, but would leave for Elizabethtown where he would work as an apprentice under Aaron Miller, a renowned clockmaker. He would later marry Miller's daughter, Elizabeth Miller. In 1770, Brokaw was living in Bridgewater when a local judge ordered that his property be sold off in order to pay off his outstanding debts. However, he was allowed to keep 30 lb of

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

in order to continue his trade. Shortly thereafter he would again leave for Elizabeth, where he would produce some of his first significant works. Aaron Miller died in 1778, and left part of his clockmaking tools to him as his son-in-law. In 1790 Isaac and Elizabeth relocated to Bridge Town (today known as

Rahway Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

). The style practiced by Miller and Brokaw is of a decidedly

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

tradition, as

Central Jersey Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, ...

, particularly around Somerset County, was known as an early Dutch settlement. They had three sons, Aaron, Cornelius, and John. Aaron, the eldest of them, took up the trade of clockmaking, having been taught by his father.

References

External links

Drake House/Historical Society of Plainfield
1746 births 1826 deaths People from Rahway, New Jersey People from Raritan, New Jersey People from colonial New Jersey American clockmakers {{US-bio-stub