In 1909, the book, 'Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine: Volume 1' was published,' Lewis Bane who came to Boston about 1670, in denominated the ancestor of the principal Maine branches of the New England Beans. It is said he died in Boston, leaving a widow and three sons who were afterward settled in York, Maine. The sons were named Lewis, Ebenezer and Joseph.
The eldest of the sons, Captain Lewis Bean (or Bane) was born in 1671, and died in York, Maine on June 25, 1721. No records have been found which exactly settle the date of the original Lewis Bane's immigration or the exact place where he landed.
A large number of early settlers of York were Scotch, and came direct from the old country. A section of York was locally known as Scotland, and the name still clings to it.
The son of Lewis, in a legal document signed by him speaks of his father as 'Lewis Bane, Gent., formerly of Scotland,' and a family record of one of the granddaughters, Mary Bean, who married Hugh Barbour, of Falmouth, says that she was an ardent Stuart sympathizer, having received that feeling from her father's teachings.
March 6, 1668, Lewis Bane was granted a 'lott of land' by the selectmen of York for a homestead. His name was indifferently spelled Bane and Bean in the early records, but by the time of the second generation the spelling settled into Bean."
The seventeenth and eighteenth century ceramics recovered at the Lewis Bean Site in York largely involved imported ceramics, such as tin-enameled earthenware, English salt-glazed stoneware, Chinese export porcelain, English combware and slipware, German stoneware and English salt-glazed scratch-blue stoneware. However, there were reportedly some domestic red earthenware objects recovered, as well.
I have previously documented on this website and in feature stories that I have written in recent years for the New England Antiques Journal about red earthenware exported from the colonial industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts to coastal areas throughout New England. The archaeological remains include artifacts recovered at locations around York in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as well as Berwick, Maine. In fact, it is documented today in John Parker's circa 1747-1761 potter's daybook at the Baker Library at Harvard University that Charlestown red earthenware was exported to Portsmouth for distribution in the 1740s and 1750s - and the distance between Portsmouth and York is only seven miles with many waterways connecting the two communities.
The manner of the slip on this single sherd does somewhat resemble some of the stamped slip-decorations, which were manufactured at the Parker Pottery in Charlestown before 1755. It also resembles the slip on Charlestown-ware recovered in colonial contexts in Portsmouth and Berwick; although, I can not guarantee that is where this sherd is from, but there are definitely similarities. I feel that more sherds still need to be analyzed to give an accurate interpretation. But this type of stamped arched decoration is thought to have been unique to Charlestown when compared to production elsewhere in New England.
Note: Here are two links to two features stories about Charlestown, Massachusetts red earthenware and a related enterprise, which I have written in recent years for the New England Antiques Journal.
1) A Charlestown Sugar Bowl: The Rediscovery of a Redware Masterpiece
2) A Pioneering Potter: Samuel Marshall of Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Sherd Recovered at the Lewis Bean Site in York, ME
18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd Recovered in York, ME
Uncovered by Archaeologists at the Lewis Bean Site Within a Colonial 18th Century Context
Archaeologists Thought this Sherd was Made in New England
Very Possibly from the Potter's Industry in Charlestown, Mass.
The Style of the Slip Does Resemble Some of the Slip Applied on the Pots Below
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Salem State University
Red Earthenware from Charlestown, Mass.
Mid-18th Century Objects Made in Charlestown, Mass.
The Style of Some of the Slip Does Resemble the Slip Applied on the Sherd Above
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Sam Herrup and Boston Archaeology Department
Mid-18th Century Objects Made in Charlestown, Mass.
The Style of Some of the Slip Does Resemble the Slip Applied on the Sherd Above
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Sam Herrup and Boston Archaeology Department
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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