John Johnston's Introduction of 19th Century Agricultural Drain Tiles in Seneca County, New York

In the past few years, I have written about the production of nineteenth century drain tiles in Exeter, New Hampshire, including an example, as well as a patent in the collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord, New Hampshire. But I have also written about drain tile discovered inside an eighteenth century house once owned by John Shilabur, a Colonial potter in Portsmouth, New Hampshire - although, the house is owned today by antiques dealer, Hollis Brodrick.

However, before these tiles were manufactured in New Hampshire, a significant collection of drain tiles were utilized by an immigrant farmer in upstate New York, who apparently increased production by creating the first domestic example of irrigation on a farm, beginning in 1838,

According to the Geneva Historical Society and the Mike Weaver Drain Tile Museum in the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York, "The Johnston House, built by Scotch immigrant John Johnston (1791-1880) in 1822, originally sat on an important farm where Johnston became a well-known advocate of improved farming techniques. He was the first American farmer to use agricultural drain tiles to increase productivity on his farm, and it became one of the most famous farms in nineteenth century America.

John Johnston House, Circa 1820, Geneva, NY

John Johnston House, Circa 1820, Geneva, NY

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Geneva Historical Society

Johnston began using clay drain tiles to help irrigate his orchards and fields - and it was an immediate success. American horticulturist, Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954) from Cornell University later went on to say that this farm was the most important spot in American agriculture, utilizing dozens of different styles of drain tiles"

John Johnston (1791-1880)

John Johnston (1791-1880)

Brought the Concept of Agricultural Drains from Scotland to Seneca County, New York

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Geneva Historical Society

Interestingly, Johnston's success may have served as a source of some inspiration, seeing that by the 1850s and 1860s, many potters in Western New York were manufacturing this style of drain tile, where some of the machines used to make the tiles had been imported from England. The West Bloomfield, New York potter, Alvin Wilcox (1801-1862) advertised this type of production as early as 1849, and later exhibited his drain tile machine at the 1851 New York State Fair in Rochester, New York. As a matter of fact, I have even seen examples of locally made nineteenth century drain tile recovered from fields in Exeter, New Hampshire, which had been patented in this community in 1864.

According to a feature story written by John Robortella in 2015, titled, Finger Lakes Farmer's Invention Changed the World, "John Johnston was an unlikely entrepreneur. Born in 1791 in Scotland to a family of sheep farmers, Johnston arrived in New York City in 1821. The following year, he bought 112 acres of land in Fayette, south of Geneva and overlooking Seneca Lake - the frontier of the new nation at the time.

He built a home here for his wife, Margaret, and their seven children, named it "Viewfields" and later bought more land to bring his homestead to 320 acres.

However, the fields were considered too wet to plant, and underground springs added to the water problems. The water made early spring planting out of the question, and winter wheat crops would freeze.

But Johnston remembered what his grandfather had advised him back in Scotland: "Verily, all the airth needs draining." Johnston recalled seeing fired clay drain tiles laid underground in the fields in Scotland, acting as channels to allow excess water to seep in and flow downward toward a lake or stream on lower ground.

So in 1835, he had two pattern tiles sent to him, then took them to James Teall, who was "carrying on the brick business at the foot of Seneca Lake," as Johnston described it later. Teall was unable to master the technique, so Johnston tried Benjamin F. Whartenby, a crock maker and potter in nearby Waterloo, who produced 3,000 for him. Johnston installed them in 1838. 

His neighbors thought he was crazy. They laughed to see him "burying crockery." They called his project "Scotch Johnston's Folly." They said the tiles would be crushed under the ground, or would freeze. Others said the tiles would dry out the land or would even poison the soil.

Johnston installed Whartenby's tiles on a ten acre plot - a swampy bog where only a mere five bushels of wheat per acre had been harvested previously. Those ten acres produced 50 bushels per acre instead of five - and by the time Johnston retired from farming, he had installed 72 miles of drain tiles on his land. Most likely the tiles brought water downhill into Seneca Lake."

Drain Tiles from the John Johnston House

Drain Tiles from the John Johnston House in Geneva, NY

As Well as Other Examples in the Mike Weaver Drain Tile Museum

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Geneva Historical Society

Drain Tiles from the John Johnston House in Geneva, NY

As Well as Other Examples in the Mike Weaver Drain Tile Museum

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Geneva Historical Society

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...