Robert S Terwilliger, CMC
A simple biography compiled by the EDitor
Robert Scott “Twig” Terwilliger was born in Massachusetts September 1941. His father was Charles Ostrander Terwilliger, Jr (1908-1988, died at age 79) – founder of the Horolovar company, a horological repairman, author and inventor as well as a prominent dealer in rare and unusual antique clocks in New York City, and his mother was Roberta Emily Thornburg (who died January 29, 1999 at age 91). Their family (Charles, Roberta, Robert S and Anne T) eventually moved just outside of Bronxville, New York, a half hour drive to Manhattan where his father was employed. In 1954 the family moved into Bronxville proper so that the children could take advantage of the superior Bronxville Public schools.
Around this time, when he was about 16, Robert recalled that he father wore double breasted suits and a bow tie, and the family car was a dark green 1957 Chevy Convertible. He stated, “My sister had bright red hair, my mother felt that dark green and her hair would go together well.”
Robert graduated from Bronxville Senior High and then studied at Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida.
Robert married Patricia Lee Erle on 4/27/1968 at St. Stevens Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove, Florida. The marriage did not last long. His former wife, who now goes by “Pat Finn-Lee” went on, according to her autobiography, to become an American Stage and Film Actress, Dancer, Make Up/ Special Effects Artist, Script Supervisor, Producer, and C.C.R.N (Critical Care Registered Nurse). Her film credits include Young Guns (1988), Porky’s (1981) and Color Me Blood Red (1965).
According to Pat Fin-Lee’s autobiography, Robert taught guitar and played folk music in Coconut Grove in the mid-1970s. She indicates that he spent a short time playing with the group “Gail Garnett and Gentle Rain.” Gail Garnet is the artist who later sang, “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine.”
Robert played in a rock band covering many rock tunes.
From his Website: “Carlos Santana (center) plays my 1964 white-neck Fender Stratocaster with my good friend and the hottest one-man act I know: Kevin Hurley (left), and my former lead guitarist, Mark ‘Slick’ Aguilar (right). Slick went on to Jefferson Starship Photo taken at Monty’s Conch in the Grove, sometime in 1982. Kevin and Slick were the Slick Hurley Band.”
From 1968 to the early 70s, Robert Terwilliger lived in Miami (in the Coconut Grove area) teaching music and spent many summers in Bronxville in his father’s basement repairing clocks. His father’s personal business, Horolovar – a company involved among other thing in clock parts manufacturing and clock repair and sales – at that time was still run out of the family home. Robert wrote in his father’s biography about these days: “I had the opportunity to work on many different types of clocks including the rare and unusual. My experience with these often exotic clocks served me well in my future occupation as a clockmaker.”
Robert Terwilliger went on to become a Certified Master Clockmaker (CMC) through the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute and ran the business “Clock Repair in the Grove” in Coconut Grove, Florida for many years. In a business listing in the Miami Herald it was written that he made sundials and serviced “automata” clocks (those with moving figures) and 19th Century French clocks. In 2015 he described himself and his company in a Facebook post this way:
Robert Terwilliger
“I am a second-generation clockmaker. My father, Charles, was a repairman, author, and horological inventor – as well as a prominent dealer in rare and unusual antique clocks in New York City. I inspected and repaired the exceptional clocks he traded, as well as maintaining those he kept for his personal collection. I have lived and worked in the Grove since 1968.” ~ from a Facebook post.
An area of significant interest for Robert was the design, making and promotion of sundials. In 1994 he became one of three founding members of the North American Sundial Society (NASS) where his credential are described as “Robert Terwilliger CMC, a Master Clockmaker with experience in antique sundials and computer programs for sundial creation.”
A feature article in The Miami Herald (Thu, Feb 19, 1998 ·Page 258) discusses Robert’s desire for the promotion of sundials in Dade County (which was later renamed Miami-Dade County). In this article he is quoted as stating “Florida is the Sunshine State and Dade County is, arguably, our state’s sunniest corner. So why don’t we see more sundials in our public areas, in our gardens and gracing the walls of our buildings?”
The article mentioned that Robert’s back yard was filled with Sundials (see this republishing of the article for picture). Robert was further quoted as saying “Sundials need no batteries. They are kind to the environment and with minimal maintenance, will last forever. A sundial is a witness to a past in which time moved more slowly.”
As Robert’s time on earth drew near to an end, his primary focus was on finishing his father’s biography on his website located at twigsdigs.com (now defunct). To this end he joined the forums at the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors on Dec 15, 2009 where he was listed as user Bobt@twigsdigs.com. He was last seen on the forum Aug 19, 2017. His posts centered around getting the Charles O Terwilliger, Jr biography finished.
When interviewed by FlipClockFans YouTube Channel around 2019 for information about a video on Plato Clocks and his father’s role, he expressed concern that the website would be lost when he passed away. During the interview he said, “I’m old. I won’t be around much longer.” During this phone interview, he asked if FlipClockFans.com might be able to host the site. Unfortunately, his site went down before anyone was able to take over the maintenance of the site or his domain name.
Thankfully, Robert Terwilliger’s website (unfortunately, minus many images) was preserved on the Internet Archive, which allowed for the publishing of his father’s biography on this site in it’s current form.
At the time of this writing, there are not many details surrounding the final days of Robert S Terwilliger, CMC. If you have any information, please let us know.
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