A Rare Marked Red Earthenware Pot from Exeter, New Hampshire

According to the Exeter, New Hampshire Historical Society, "Pinning down the exact date for the construction of the first dam along the Exeter River and Squamscott River in Exeter, New Hampshire has been difficult. But we know the native people who lived in Exeter for thousands of years before the English arrived did not dam the river. They set up fishing weirs to trap the migratory fish, but these allowed a free flow of water. Englishmen, led by Reverend John Wheelwright (1592-1679), arrived in 1638 and were attracted to the waterfalls on the river for commercial reasons. River water could be harnessed and used for all manor of mechanization. Mill wheels could be erected on nearly any type of moving water.

It's entirely possible that a mill erected by Thomas Wilson in 1639 for a grist mill was the first dam on the river, although, the records are sparse and there may have been an earlier mill.

George Washington noted when he visited Exeter in 1789, "in the town are considerable falls which supply several grist mills, two oil mills, a slitting mill and a snuff mill."

It is also recorded on a map drawn by Phineas Merrill in 1802 that there were a number of small mills located among the dams in Exeter (this was also the first map drawn of Exeter).

1802 Map of Exeter, NH

Phineas Merrill's Map of Exeter, NH in 1802

This was the First Map Drawn of Exeter, NH

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Exeter, NH Historical Society

But these small mills disappeared in 1827 when the industrial revolution came to town in the form of the Exeter Mill and Water Power Company. After a careful assessment of the river, it was determined that a large textile factory could be built if water rights could be secured. The Exeter Mill and Water Power Company bought out all the small mills and water rights along the river to supply power to the newly created company.

However, in 1861, the Exeter Mill and Water Power Company signed over all rights to the Exeter Manufacturing Company. Whereas, from here, the history of the mill becomes the story of the Exeter Manufacturing Company. 

Four huge water wheels supplied all the power for the mill until the 1870s when a steam plant was erected, where the business continued to supplement electric and steam power until it was sold in 1954. The Town of Exeter has owned and controlled  the dam and water rights since 1981."

The working conditions for children, men and women in the mills in Exeter have been described as dark and cold in the winter months, where the only lighting was available through the use of whale oil lamps. The summer months were hot and often oppressive; the mill regularly shut down when the water levels were low and workers were given unpaid vacations. The work days were also long in the nineteenth century only being reduced to eight-hours in the 1920s. (Manufacturing Company Part of Town's Mill History, 2013).

Nevertheless, this rare marked red earthenware hand-thrown pot appeared last weekend at an antique show in Milford, New Hampshire. It is (partially?) stamped, "M DANIEL / EXETER MILL." 

The name on the pot is not believed to represent a potter's business, but rather a factory or an employee at the mills in Exeter. My feeling is that if the name represents a factory then the mark likely predates 1827; whereas, if it represents a worker then the mark is likely post-1827. I have not been able to determine which period the pot is most-likely from since there are strong arguments for both eras and how this pot could have been used at a mill factory.

But Exeter also sustained a potter's industry in the late-eighteenth, nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; although, there were only two major businesses: the Dodge Pottery and the Lamson Pottery (but there were small businesses, as well). I assume that this pot was very-likely made by either the Dodges or the Lamsons; whereas, it also probably represents how utilitarian red earthenware production in New England in the 1800s was not only limited to household needs. I have actually read about a similar scenario that happened with factories in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1800s, and red earthenware orders that were placed through the Osborn Pottery in nearby Peabody, Massachusetts.

Note: This is a list of some of the potters, who worked at the Dodge Pottery and Lamson Pottery in Exeter, New Hampshire, but there were undoubtedly other potters, as well. There were also spin-off businesses that resulted with Dodges and Lamsons elsewhere in New Hampshire and Maine.

Dodge Family Pottery

Jabez Dodge (Exeter, NH) – 1746/47-1806

Benjamin Dodge – son of Jabez (Exeter, NH & Portland, ME) – 1774-1838

Samuel Dodge – son of Jabez (Exeter, NH) – b. 1783

John Dodge - son of Jabez (Exeter, NH) 1791-1865

Joseph Dodge - son of Jabez (Exeter, NH & Portsmouth, NH) - 1776-1849

            Lamson Family Pottery

Asa Brown Lamson (Exeter, NH) – b. 1818

Frank Hudson Lamson – son of Asa (Exeter, NH) – b. 1859

Rufus Lamson – son of Asa (Exeter, NH, Peabody, Mass & Portland, ME) – b. 1844

John Donovan (Peabody, MA, E. Brookfield, MA, W. Sterling, MA, Portland ME & Exeter, NH)

Samuel Leavitt – worked both on his own and for Lamsons (Exeter, NH) – 1872

Red Earthenware Pot from Exeter, NH

 Probably 19th Century Red Earthenware Pot from Exeter, NH

Marked 'M DANIEL / EXETER MILL'

Probably Manufactured for Industrial Use

Likely Made at Either the Dodge Pottery or the Lamson Pottery

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Mark Newton - Milford, NH

View of the Mark

Marked 'M DANIEL / EXETER MILL'

Photo Courtesy: Mark Newton - Milford, NH

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