The lost rings of America.
The ring of bells at Baltimore.
The Whitechapel Foundry catalogue for 1895 notes:

1803 Baltimore 		6	12cwt

When in America in the summer of 1998 I resolved to see if I could find out anything about them. A day trip up from Washington found me outside St. Pauls Church, Baltimore, and a wander round the church did not produce anything positive. The church guide indicated the church did not have a tower in 1803, was burnt out in 1854, and the current edifice with classic frontage dates from later, with a tower containing a Petit and Fritsen chime of 23 bells of the early 1990's. The Diocesan Offices for the Diocese of Maryland had also moved and so that was that. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable day sightseeing. 
Back in England I wrote to the Diocesan Offices, having found the new address, courtesy of the Church of England's London Office, asking about possibilities of churches dating from pre-1803 and having a tower. In due course the Diocesan Archivist, Garner Ranney replied, and by good fortune, his filing system had some useful references so he sent me some photocopies. Further correspondence enabled me to work out what happened.
The story is this:
In 1802 the congregation of Christ Church, Baltimore decided to build a steeple to their church. To complete it they ordered six bells from Thomas Mears in London, and in due course they arrived in Baltimore and were hung there. In the War of 1812, the British Navy sailed up Chesapeake Bay, and the parishioners, fearful of losing the bells as the spoils of war, took them down and hid them in the mud of the Jones Falls stream. When they came to rescue them, only three were found! These must have been returned to the tower, and in 1835, when a new church was erected, transferred to the new tower. In 1871 the congregation moved out from the city centre to yet another new church, and the existing church was renamed the Church of the Messiah. In 1920 yet another move by the Messiah congregation and church resulted in a new bell being cast for the church from old metal.  
In March 2000 I was in Baltimore again, and so visited the Messiah Church on Harford Road. I was able to ascend the tower and see the bell. It is hung on one of McShanes counterbalanced metal headstocks and plain bearings in a pair of cast-iron pedestal frames sitting on a timber base frame, with motor drive.
The bell is inscribed:

Waist:  
CAST IN THIS BELL IS ONE OF THE SIX BELLS 
CAST 1804 BY THOMAS MEARS, LONDON, HUNG
1805 IN CHRIST CHURCH, BALTIMORE AND FRONT STREETS, REMOVED
1836 TO SECOND CHRIST CHURCH, LATER THE CHURCH OF THE
MESSIAH, AND HUNG 1872 IN THIRD CHRIST CHURCH, ST
PAUL AND CHASE STREETS; RESTORED TO THE CHURCH OF THE
MESSIAH BY WILSON M. CARY AND ALAN P. SMITH, WHEN NEW 
CHIME WAS CAST FOR CHRIST CHURCH 1908, ALSO METAL RECOVERED 
FROM THE BELL WHICH HUNG IN THE CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH AT
THE TIME OF ITS DESTRUCTION BY THE GREAT FIRE OF 1904, AND
THE BELL OF ST. ANDREW'S CHAPEL, OLD HARFORD ROAD, HAMILTON.
"LET THE PEOPLE PRAISE THEE, O GOD."
Reverse waist:
[McShane foundry mark]
MCSHANE BELL FOUNDRY CO
BALTIMORE, MD.
1922
							Diameter 45.375"

So the Mears ring lasted less than a decade. One of the shortest surviving rings ever.

Recent research at the Whitechapel Bellfoundry by Chris Pickford has revealed further information on the bells. Physical data on them:
	Dia.	Weight (Cwt.Qr.Lb)
Treble	29.5"	5.1.14
2nd	31.5"	5.3.14
3rd	33.25"	6.2.18
4th	34.25"	6.3.23
5th	38"	9.3.1
Tenor	42"	12.1.17

Addenda.
It would appear that the ring was recovered intact from the river and returned to the steeple for in 1816  Edwin Hedderly, the son of George Hedderly, the Nottingham & Philadelphia bellfounder, inspected the bells. A note about this has been found in George Hanks Notebook at Cincinnati Historical Society Library which contains extracts from the Hedderly family manuscripts:
Dimentions of a peal of Six Bells in the City of Baltimore. Cast by Thos Mears of London 1804. Taken by Edwin Hedderly Apl 7 1816.

1st	2x 5 ½ wide	1x9 long 	2 ½ thick opened
2d	2x7        “	1x10   “		2 3/8 “ scirted
3d	2x9 ¾    “	1x11 ½ “	2 5/8 “ maiden Bell
4th	2x10 5/8 “	2x0    “ 		2 ½  “  little skirted
5th	3x2 ½ “      	2x3    “		2 5/8 “  Maiden bell
6th	3x6 ¼ “		2x5 ¾ “		2 7/8 “ Opened

[ 2x7 means 2ft 7in etc]

So what really happened to them? Were they (or some of them)  left in the old church in the 1835 move? Theres scope for more research clearly.
							George A. Dawson.

This article appeared in the Ringing World 2001( April 20th) p.421.
Addenda: 29 March 2010.