EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Hervey Brooks' 1802-1873 Account Books and Day Books from Goshen, Connecticut

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Hervey Brooks' 1802-1873 Account Books and Day Books from Goshen, Connecticut

It has been almost one month since I wrote about Daniel Clark's (1743-1826) 1789-1826 diary from Lyndeborough and Concord, New Hampshire, which is owned by the New Hampshire Historical Society; Lura Woodside Watkins also wrote about this diary in Early New England Potters and Their Wares, stating that because of this book, Clark's career is likely the most detailed of any potter employed in New England in the eighteenth or nineteenth century. This book is a remarkable time capsule seeing that Clark actually jotted down some kind of information or account every single day during the period that his diary was used.

According to Watkins, "The story of Daniel Clark stands out vividly than that of any New England potter, save for Hervey Brooks of Goshen, Connecticut...whereas, Brooks also kept accounts of his business from the year 1802 until his death in 1873."

The site of the Hervey Brooks (1779-1873) pottery was added to the National Register of Historic Plates in 1993, and the account books and day books are owned today by Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

According to the Connecticut Historical Society, "Hervey Brooks was an American potter and farmer who made red earthenware in Goshen for more than one half century. His production provided domestic wares for an isolated countryside and contributed to an informal system of sales, barter and trade that characterized the rural economy of the period. While few records of this trade exist, Brooks left behind extensive documentation of his business transactions and daily responsibilities that provide historians a unique look at the life of a nineteenth century farmer-potter.

The life of a farmer-potter meant that Brooks did not have the luxury of spending all his time perfecting his craft. In fact, from 1828 until 1864 Brooks only fired his kiln one day per year because life on the farm also involved sawing lumber, blacksmithing, carpentry, and a host of other responsibilities that kept him from his pottery.

When Brooks passed away in 1873, he left behind account books and day books. He also left a largely intact manufacturing facility that provided archaeologists with new insight into the tools, materials and processes that went into his production of red earthenware."

Note: There are other journals and day books known from New England potters today, such as John Parker's 1747-1761 Charlestown, Massachusetts day book, as well as Abraham Hews' 1780-1794 Weston, Massachusetts day book, both owned by the Baker Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Maine State Museum also owns John Corliss' nineteenth century account book from Days Ferry, Woolwich, Maine.

Hervey Brooks' Pottery in Goshen, CT