In Search of Help Locating A "Large" 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug Stamped Alvin Wilcox But Signed George B. Graham

Does anyone know the whereabouts of this object? There is a "large" nineteenth century red earthenware jug known that is stamped four times "Alvin Wilcox," however the base is inscribed "George B. Graham Maker, Ont. Co. New York." Graham is known to have owned a red earthenware business in Collins Township, New York, which is located in the southwestern corner of Erie County, but he may have also apprenticed at the Wilcox Pottery in West Bloomfield. This jug was known to exist in the 1980s, and I am hoping to include it in my forthcoming 900 or so page Western New York book, due out sometime later this year.

Furthermore, the jug posted below is how the object in question may have appeared in form, which was compared to archaeology in June of 2023 that was collected at the site of the Alvin Wilcox Pottery in West Bloomfield, New York. This archaeology collection is kept in the storage facility of the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester New York.

For a brief history: according to an archaeology report written in 1971 by archaeologists, Daniel M. Barber and George R. Hammel for the Society of Historical Archaeology, titled, The Redware Pottery Factory of Alvin Wilcox at Mid-19th Century: "Alvin Wilcox (1801-1862) was born in Ontario County, New York in 1801, the son of Ezra and Lovisa Wilcox. His father, Ezra, originally from Massachusetts, had been a resident of the county for at least three years previously, and is considered to be among the earliest settlers of the town of Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York.

Alvin Wilcox lived his entire life in the small village of West Bloomfield, New York. His home and business were located a little west of the town on the south side of the "State Road" (present day Routes 5 and 20). 

Alvin Wilcox was not the first, nor was he the only potter to have worked in the area. In 1793 William Berczy, a resident of a small community just south of Genesea, New York, mentions purchasing earthenware from a potter in the general Bloomfield area.  Berczy did not mention this potter by name, but there is some tentative archaeological evidence which suggests a connection between this unknown potter and the Alvin Wilcox Pottery site. 

The last twelve years of Wilcox's life have been fairly well documented. There not only exists the usual census, probate records, etc., but also well over 30 of his letters which were published in Moore's Rural New-Yorker in the 1850s (which was founded in Rochester, New York in 1850).

From these letters Alvin Wilcox emerges not as a simple, country potter, but as an intelligent farmer, businessman, and a keen observer of nature. The letters deal mainly with contemporary farming practices, but do reveal a little information about his life prior to 1850."

Update: The location of the jug has been identified.

Alvin Wilcox Archaeology from W. Bloomfield, New York

19th Century Red Earthenware Jug and Jug Sherd

Both from the Alvin Wilcox Pottery in West Bloomfield, New York

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Photo Courtesy: Rochester Museum and Science Center

The Jug is Stamped "A. Wilcox / West Bloomfield"

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Photo Courtesy: Rochester Museum and Science Center

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