A Merry View Near the Reference Desk

Carnegie-Stout's Christmas tree is up, and in this photo is illuminated by the morning sun. The Annual Lighting Ceremony with Madrigal Singers is at 2:00 p.m. this Saturday, December 7, 2024.

1830s German Longcase Flötenuhr Clock

Carnegie-Stout Public Library's remarkable grandfather clock, a longcase Flötenuhr (flute or organ clock), was made in Germany circa 1832. The clock was donated to the library in 1919 by the estate of Alleen Langworthy Massey, a descendant of early settlers of Dubuque who prospered here in lead mining and business.

Rather than chimes, this grandfather clock has a barrel organ with bellows and wood pipes which produce delightful calliope-like music. The unique mechanism plays eight different songs, while the four animated figures at the top dance back and forth.

The grandfather clock is in working order and still keeps time, but to protect its fragile components it is not often wound or played. It was restored in 2014 by Behind The Times Clocks of Rockford, Illinois.

Watch and listen as the clock strikes twelve in this video:

The clock's wood pipes, pin barrel, and movement:

See more photos at Behind The Times Clocks' Facebook page.

Nutwood, Dubuque's Most Famous Horse

From Horse Education by Thomas J. Murray (1890) at HathiTrust:

On the adjoining page will be found a good likeness of the celebrated horse, Nutwood, of a still rising fame. The gentlemanly owners are Messers. H. L. and F. D. Stout, of the Highland Stock Farm, Dubuque, Iowa. Nutwood is of a chestnut color, 15.3 hands high; weighs 1,160 lbs., foaled May 1, 1870.

... Except to state bare recorded facts of what Nutwood is, little need be said. Individually he is excellent, of superior conformation, of good size, with remarkable substance combined with finish and quality. He has the best of legs, sound and clean, and good feet. He has an even, gentle temper, and is kind and intelligent in disposition.

Henry L. Stout (1814-1900) was a lumberman who made a large fortune on the Mississippi River in Dubuque. He raced and bred horses here with his son Frank D. Stout (1854-1927), who in 1901 donated the land, in memory of his father, where Carnegie-Stout Public Library was built.