The Assembly of Pennsylvania had in its possession a bell for official purposes from the date of the organization of the Province. The first Province bell is believed to have been brought to Pennsylvania by William Penn. Its original use was to call its members together morning and afternoon during its session, and to announce the hour of the opening of the Courts of Justice to the people, and other public functions. The most stately use of the Province bell was to announce the proclamation of the accession of a member of the royal family (Great Britain) to the throne, and the proclamation of treaties of peace and declarations of war.

The bell, which followed this customary use, and announced the Proclamation of the Declaration of Independence, was ordered for the new State House of Pennsylvania, then nearing completion, by the Superintendents of the building, Isaac Norris, Thomas Leech and Edward Warner, from the Colonial Agent of the Province in London, Mr. Robert Charles, on November 1, 1751.

This new Province bell, later known as the Liberty Bell, was cast by Thomas Lister, of Whitechapel, London, and arrived at Philadelphia in the latter part of August, 1752, and was hung up on trusses in the state House yard (now Independence Square) to try out its sound, before raising it to the tower. Early in September "it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper during a test without any other violence" and was re-cast by Pass & Stow, "two ingenious workmen" of Philadelphia.

In the re-casting, the English model was broken up and the same metal was used with the addition of an ounce and one-half of American copper to the pound of the old bell metal to make the bell less brittle. The same form and lettering were preserved with the substitution of the names of the founders, the place and year of re-casting.

The Liberty Bell was re-cast in Philadelphia by Pass & Stow twice, which fact is very little known, the third casting of the original metal being satisfactory, and the relic that exists today. In was again hung, this time permanently, in the steeple of the State House (Independence Hall) where it remained in use until the steeple was taken down, July 16, 1781, when the bell was lowered into the brick tower, where it remained until 1846. At that time it was first placed on public exhibition as a relic in the Declaration Chamber in Independence Hall. It remained there until 1876, when it was placed on its old walnut frame in the tower hallway, remaining there until 1877, when it was hung from the ceiling of the clerestory of the tower by a chain of thirteen links. It was returned again to the Declaration Chamber and placed in a glass case the following year, and in 1896 was taken back to the tower hall. In 1915 the case was removed so that the public might have the opportunity to reverently touch the bell.

The Liberty Bell is much larger than generally believed. Its measurements are:

Circumference around the lip - 12 ft.
Circumference around crown - 7 ft. 6 in.
Lip to the crown - 3 ft.
Height over the crown - 2 ft. 3 in.
Thickness at th elip - 3 in.
Thickness at crown - 1 1/4 in.
Weight - 2,080 lbs.
Length of clapper - 3 ft. 2 in.
Cost - 60 pounds, 14 shillings, 5 pence

When the Liberty Bell rang to proclaim the Declaration of Independence, it hung in a black walnut frame. This supporting frame was ordered when the bell first arrived from England, and was taken down from the steeple with the bell in 1781 and placed in the tower where it is still preserved.

The official ringers of the bell were Edward Kelly, 1753-5; David Edward, 1755-8; Andrew McNair, 1759-76; who was the bell ringer on the occasion of the Proclamation of Independence, and until September 15, 1776, when Andrew McNair's services terminated. No later records have been found naming the official ringers of the bell other than Thomas Bowling, 1827-36.

The Declaration of Independence was first read in public at Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, after which the Liberty Bell was tolled. From this date on the bell continued to record the events of the Revolution and thereafter, uninterruptedly, until 1835 at which time its mission was ended. It was then that that the Liberty Bell cracked, not on July 4, 1776 as is often believed. John Marshall, then Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, died on July 6, 1835. On July 8, exactly fifty nine years to the day of the anniversary of the Proclamation of the Declaration of Independence to the people, his remains were borne from Philadelphia to his native state, Virginia, for burial. During the funeral the Liberty Bell, while softly tolling, cracked through its side.

The reason the Liberty Bell cracked is purely metallurgical. It is believed the the original crack was due to "cooling strains", strains occurring at the time of casting that finally give out. These strains begin in minute flaws before they become apparent to the eye by widening, or to the ear by a discordant tone in ringing. Each time the clapper struck the bell, the molecules contiguous to the flaw were thrown into violent vibration and what is known to metallurgists as a "breaking down in detail" occurred. To avoid as much as possible the further expansion of the crack, a mechanical device called a "spider" has been installed inside the bell equalizing the weight-strain and holding the relic at all times in a rigid position.

The edges of the crack are serrated, revealing the marks of a drill. In 1846 it was suggested that the bell should be rung to celebrate the George Washington's birth, and the crack was drilled out to separate the parted sides with the hope that the sound would be clearer. This experiment proved unsuccessful.

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