JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times Courthouse Building and Grounds Superintendent Tim Marty manually pulls the lever to strike “Honest John” in the Washington County Courthouse bell tower Wednesday.

Since 10 a.m. on March 27, 1903, “Honest John” has hung over the four clock faces of the Washington County Courthouse, synced to toll each half hour.

But in the last few months, the tolls have become somewhat erratic and so the lever connecting the clock mechanism to the bell–long nicknamed “Honest John”— was dismantled.

“It was ringing around 12 times at 3 a.m.,” explained Building and Grounds Superintendent Tim Marty. “This has been a growing problem in the last three months.”

What has happened, Marty explained, was that the electric mechanism installed in the 1930s has run its course.

“After so long a time, the mercury will get a crust on it and will get cloudy inside the tube,” added Phil Wright, owner of Tower Clock Company and the man who restored the clock’s inner mechanisms in 2000. “Mercury has pretty much been outlawed, the same thing that’s in that clock was in all the old thermostats. So it’s something you just can’t get any more.”

JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times Courthouse Building and Grounds Superintendent Tim Marty demonstrates how the clock faces at the courthouse used to be hand-wound once per month before the system was converted to a mercury and electric system.

Wright and Marty hope to update the electric with a smaller component to activate both switches, while still keeping the integrity of the 115-year-old contraption.

“When we do these switches we’re hoping to retune the clock and tighten everything back up so the time is as close to atomic time as possible,” said Marty.

Though no exact quote was yet available for release Wednesday, Wright did say he is excited to be considered to work once again on the county clock.

“You get a little history lesson the whole way up the stairs. Tim has really saved many of the pieces, the pendulum and the old radio box,” he said. “Your clock is very desirable for many reasons. What it had on it was a gravity escapement (prior to conversion to electricity). It is almost mesmerizing to see how one like that releases the time. For anybody that loves mechanical stuff, this is so cool.”

Marty explained that part of the maintenance of the clock’s cogs and wheels has included keeping everything cleaned and lightly oiled.

“When we did the big restoration in 2000 you couldn’t see these colors,” he said, noting the deep green and vibrant brass and black. “They had been lathering it with grease, which actually slows down a clock. All you need on it is a light oil and then I come up and change it for daylight savings.”

The Washington County Commissioners will discuss a plan for the clock’s electric upgrade today at their regular meeting.

“If I get the job I’m proposing to put a proximity switch in there,” said Wright, explaining that the new type of switch would be magnetized, and less intrusive on the historical mechanism in the tower. “It would be incredibly accurate.”