Clock from pre-Revolutionary War era, currently in Nutley, is at the center of a dispute
A Texas man is looking to have his antique and historical grandfather clock returned to him after a relative allegedly donated it without permission to the Historic Restoration Trust of Nutley.
Allan Palmer filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court in Essex County in March 2022. According to the lawsuit, Palmer inherited the pre-Revolutionary War-era clock, known as the long clock, from his parents in 1984. The clock was made around 1730 by William Kipling in London and shipped to America before the Revolutionary War.
The suit said Palmer agreed to allow Donald Palmer to have the long clock but that there was no agreement that anyone other than Allan Palmer was the sole owner.
Donald Palmer is accused of donating the clock in June 2021 to the Historic Restoration Trust of Nutley, which runs Kingsland Manor, a historic home and museum in the township, the suit said.
"The purported donation was invalid because [Donald] Palmer did not have the title to the Long Clock," the lawsuit stated.
According to Allan Palmer, Kingsland Manor is displaying the clock as belonging to George Washington, a point he said is unsupported by curators and historians at Mount Vernon and the National Archives.
The Historic Restoration Trust of Nutley said the dispute was resolved with an agreement between Allan Palmer and the trust.
"As part of the agreement, arranged through the town's attorney and the Palmer attorneys, the Trust is to be reimbursed for the cost the Trust incurred having the clock shipped from Florida," the trust said in an email to NorthJersey.com. "Once we receive payment based on the condition of the agreement, we will release the clock to [Allan Palmer] as part of the agreement."
Brett Silverman, Palmer's attorney, disagreed that the matter had been settled. He said the trust never answered the suit, adding that a settlement agreement had been drafted, but that as of Feb. 24, nothing was signed, meaning there is no settlement.
Silverman said if there had been a signed settlement in front of him, he would have moved to have the lawsuit dismissed. Court documents show there is a pending dismissal warning and that if there is no answer by April 4, the case will be dismissed.
"It is either going to end up on default or they'll answer and we'll litigate," Silverman said.
Nutley Township Attorney Jonathan Bruno is assisting the trust in resolving the matter and said the trust was never served with a lawsuit or a court order. Bruno said there was an agreement but it changed multiple times.
He said the trust is happy to return the clock and has no interest in keeping it. According to Bruno, the trust is just waiting for the money promised to transport the clock.
"This has been nothing but a headache," Bruno said. The trust "does not want to keep the clock. They literally just want the coverage that whoever's taking possession of it, accepting responsibility for it, they're going to pay for the transport, as promised."
Palmer said he sent a letter to the trust demanding that the clock be returned to him by Nov. 2, 2021, but was told by the trust's attorney on Nov. 8, 2021, that it wouldn't release it.
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"You always face this when people donate to a nonprofit," said Palmer, who has experience in museums and donations.
Allan Palmer previously ran the Air and Space Museum in San Diego and the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas. He said that often if there is a question of how a donation happened, a museum will return it to the owner.
"My concern as a former museum director is the negative impact these issues could have on Kingsland Manor and the Trust for failing to correct an obvious error in a timely manner," he said.
Palmer is looking to have the clock returned and to receive compensatory damages.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Nutley NJ historic trust in lawsuit over pre-Revolution-era clock
