Colonial Charlestown, Massachusetts potter John Parker's (1719-1762) 1747-1761 potter's daybook is published in various reference books and scholarly articles today, which is kept in the permanent collection of the Baker Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Among the published sources that the book has been cited are Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book Early New England Potters and Their Wares and an article written by Massachusetts potter Rick Hamelin for the March 1, 2017 issue of The Chronicle of Early American Industries Association Volume 70 Number 1, titled, "John Parker His Book 1747 may 23."
However, I am very excited to announce today that a book of claims filed after the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 in Charlestown has just been rediscovered in the collection of the Boston Public Library. This important historical record was not previously known to exist until it was accidentally found last year tucked away in a box at the library. This information is thanks to Boston City Archaeologist Joe Bagley. The title of the claims book reads, This Book contains an Estimate of the Loss Sustained by the Inhabitants of CHARLESTOWN by the Destruction there of June 17th Anno Domini 1776.
Among those who filed claims were brickmakers and red earthenware potters, such as Battery Powers (1736-1807), Jonathan Penney (d. 1789) and John Harris (1752-1814), along with other potters; interestingly, the claims have been cited in some nineteenth century publications, but the information does not match the original handwritten claims (it is unclear why this is the case). One of those publications is a book published in 1888, titled, A Century Of Town Life: A History Of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1775-1887. According to some of the information in this book, "Also in the neighborhood of the (town) dock appear to have been the losses of Battery Powers (231), pot-house, kiln-house and clay-mill."
For more information about Harris' daybook and the the Colonial pottery industry in Charlestown - see my fourth published book, titled The Dawn of Independence, the Death of an Industry: The Pottery of Charlestown, Massachusetts: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-dawn-of-independence-the-death-of-an-industry/.
An Important Rediscovered Battle of Bunker Hill Claims Book
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