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78 years later, clock back in Hoover hands
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · September 18, 2014


Debra Cunningham and sister Karen Davis came to the conclusion that it was time to give it back.


When West Branch native and 31st U.S. President Herbert Hoover moved to Palo Alto, Calif., he presented a gift to one of the young moving men who hauled his and Lou Henry Hoover’s stuff out of the truck and into their new home: A wooden electric clock made in 1932 by John L. Fisher of Waynesboro, Va., who with his sons owned a bus company.

The moving man was Francis Carl “Bud” Myers, just 26 years old and not even married. A year later he did marry, then later had children and grandchildren, like Debra and Karen. And for 78 years his family kept, cared for and passed down the keepsake gift from the president. Myers died in 1968.

But Cunningham of Boaz, Ala., said that passing down her love of history is not so easy, so passing the clock down another generation made her hesitate.

She and Davis of Gadsden, Ala., decided in mid-July to contact the Hoover Presidential Library-Museum and add it to their collection. They made the trip to do so on Monday.

When Fisher wrote a letter in 1932 to the White House in hopes of presenting Hoover with the results of his craft, he hoped to give it to him prior to the end of the year. The clock included a miniature Statue of Liberty and Liberty Bell — complete with a crack — and carvings that spelled out “In God We Trust,” “Herbert Hoover,” “Greetings,” “Liberty,” and “Time Tells the Story.” It also says “New Years Greetings.”

While today security is very tight and every person and thing coming into the president’s home goes through rigorous scrutiny, Fisher made his presentation on Jan. 5, 1932, just two weeks after first contacting Hoover’s staff. In correspondence with Lawrence Richey, secretary to the president, there is no reference to security measures or background checks before the gift could be presented. And while Fisher did not present the clock in time for the new year, it was relatively quickly, Hoover Library-Museum curator Marcus Eckhardt said.

“You couldn’t do this today,” he said of the fast exchange.

Yet the handoff from Myers’ granddaughters to the West Branch-based presidential library took even longer — almost two months. Eckhardt first had to verify that this clock really belonged to Hoover.

“I’d never heard of it,” he said.

But the Hoover Library-Museum has scores of presidential papers, and through some digging online as well, Eckhardt found several letters between Fisher and Hoover’s staff about the clock, with enough detail to cross-reference with Cunningham and Davis to assure the clock’s authenticity.

“We have no one to pass it down to,” Cunningham said. “We felt that, this way, it would be preserved. It will never be lost or sold in a yard sale. This way, everyone can enjoy it.”

The clock measures about 30 inches tall and weighs 13 pounds. Eckhardt called the carvings “classic folk art.”

“It shows real caring for (Hoover),” Eckhardt said, considering the amount of time it probably took to do the work.

Library-Museum Director Thomas Schwartz said the detail Fisher put into the clock is “incredible.”

“And it’s in perfect shape,” he said.

Fisher wrote a letter to the White House after presenting the clock, asking how Hoover liked it, but also realizing Hoover would soon leave office and, hopefully, take the clock with him.

“I do not want (Hoover) to leave it in the White House as the incoming president is not a favorite of mine,” Fisher wrote to Richey.

Cunningham said the “Hoover Clock” as her family referred to it might be worth money, but she could never sell it.

“My husband’s funny. He said ‘Pawn Stars!’” she said. “He said, ‘What if someone offered you $50,000 for it?’ I wouldn’t take it. It has sentimental value.”

Cunningham and Davis said they would like their grandparents credited with donating the clock.

Davis asked Eckhardt where the clock would go. Eckhardt said most of the president’s possessions are not put on display, except for brief periods, which is what he plans for the clock.