EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: The Symonds Family of Joiners and Potters in Salem, Massachusetts, Circa 1670-1820s/30s

Friday, May 2, 2025

The Symonds Family of Joiners and Potters in Salem, Massachusetts, Circa 1670-1820s/30s

It may not be well-known today that the Symonds family of joiners in Salem, Massachusetts were also a family of potters in Salem during the circa 1750s-1820s/30s period. Although the joiners were primarily active during the late seventeenth century, from around 1670-1700 period. The family was known for producing furniture during the William & Mary era, and the family's furniture can be found today displayed in such art museums as the Peabody Essex Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others.

This is information that will be included in my forthcoming 600-700 page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, South Danvers and Peabody, Massachusetts: "...even though production in South Danvers (Peabody), Massachusetts is credited with most of the area’s known existing red earthenware today from the eighteenth and nineteenth century, it is lesser known that there were also some potters employed in Salem in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Some of Salem’s production could even appear similar to what was produced in South Danvers.

For instance, one of those businesses was owned by the Symonds family. Nathaniel Symonds (1723-1793) was born in Salem about 1723. He was the son of Thomas Symonds (1680-1724), a joiner born in Sussex, England in 1680, who migrated to America sometime after 1700. This is a family name associated with manufacturing furniture in Salem in 1600s, but the Symonds family was also known for red earthenware production after 1750.

Another joiner, John Symonds (1594-1671) migrated to Massachusetts from Norfolk, England in the 1630s and worked with his sons James (1626-1714) and Samuel (1633-1722), manufacturing furniture in Salem.

However, Nathaniel’s first marriage was to Jane Phipps Symonds (1721-1760) in Charlestown, Massachusetts on October 8, 1745. He may have been a Charlestown trained potter, otherwise he may have trained in Essex County, Massachusetts. But this was a prominent time for red earthenware production in Charlestown in the 1730s and 1740s, which is when Nathaniel married Jane. Among the prominent businesses during this period was the Parker family, which operated circa 1714-1755.

Nathaniel had at least two sons who became potters, Nathaniel Symonds (1754-1804) and William Symonds (1749-1830), both of whom were born in Salem. They likely learned the craft from their father. The younger Nathaniel married Elizabeth Gardner (1759-1808) on November 17, 1779.

Both Nathaniels are listed in the Essex County Massachusetts Probate Records with an occupation of “potter;” the father’s probate is dated “February 4, 1793,” while the son’s probate is dated “April 18, 1804.”

One of the sons of the younger Nathaniel, also named Nathaniel Symonds (1780-1848) became a third-generation family potter in Salem. This Nathaniel married Elizabeth Baker Symonds (1786-1838) of Ipswich, Massachusetts on November 17, 1805.

William’s son, also named Nathaniel Symonds (1780-1848) became another third-generation potter. There may have been other Symonds family members who were potters, as well. This was essentially a family of joiners and potters working in different areas of Salem in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century, where later family members eventually became painters, farmers and held positions working for the city of Salem, among other job titles after 1840.

It was published in the 1908 book, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, “Nathaniel Symonds, son of Thomas Symonds, was born in 1723, at Salem. He was a potter by trade. His homestead was at Northfields, adjoining land of Benjamin Osgood, Elizabeth Symonds and Jonathan Symonds. He was given land by his father October 26, 1751, and May 9, 1752. He married Elizabeth He deeded his homestead to his son William, August 8, 1781. Children: 1. Nathaniel, 3d., soldier in the American Revolution. 2. William, soldier in the American Revolution. Perhaps other children. Nathaniel Symonds was a soldier in the American Revolution from Salem, a private in Captain Thomas Barnes's Company, Colonel John Mansfield's (Nineteenth) regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Israel Hutchinson, 1775-76.”

Furthermore, taking into account the fact that Nathaniel Symonds was deeded land from his father in Salem in 1751 and 1752, then it is possible that this is the timeframe that the family business was established. The Symonds family may have produced red earthenware in Salem during the circa 1750s-1820s/30s period. Salem’s first city directory was published in 1837, and Nathaniel Symonds (d. 1848) is listed as a “codwainer," which is an artisan skilled in the craft of creating leather shoes from scratch. The family’s red earthenware production probably ceased before 1837, perhaps when William died in 1830."

Interestingly, there is not much document information or archaeological evidence known about this family today, but I compare their production to the Bradford family of Kingston, Massachusetts, which has been rediscovered in recent years because of archaeology. For more information about the Bradfords - see a five page research story that I wrote for the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Bradford Family Potteries in Massachusetts: https://www.scribd.com/document/410016623/Bradford-Family-Potteries-May-2019-Issue-of-Maine-Antique-Digest?secret_password=jw7DJADt3EoVfEyFZE82.

Also see a few chapters about the Bradfords in my fifth book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

Nevertheless, there are three known red earthenware jars manufactured at the same business, which are heavily decorated with incised lines; I suspect these jars may have been made by the Symonds family in Salem. All of the jars also retain histories of ownership in Salem. One of the jars was published in Figure 15 in Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares; Watkins described it as "...Found in Salem. Early Essex County type." The Peabody Essex Museum also owns a related jar with its original lid that retains a nineteenth century history of ownership in Salem, whereas there is a third jar known that was found in Salem before 1950, and was owned for decades by one of Watkins' friends, who lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

In theory, the incised decoration on these types of objects may have been a technique used to try and get these objects to stand out in the Salem marketplace in the late 1700s and 1800s, which was filled with imported exotic wares as part of the China Trade.

There are also other objects known that may have been made in Salem, including a jar that sold through Crocker Farm in Maryland in 2013: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2013-03-02/lot-300E/Rare-and-Fine-Glazed-Redware-Jar-with-Combed-Incising-probably-Salem-Massachusetts-late-18th-century/.

Note: For more information about the Symonds family and their furniture production in Salem - see an article written by Martha H. Willoughby for the 2000 issue of American Furniture, titled, Patronage in Early Salem: The Symonds Shops and Their Customers: https://chipstone.org/article.php/458/American-Furniture-2000/Patronage-in-Early-Salem:-The-Symonds-Shops--and-Their-Customers.

Red Earthenware Jars that Retain Histories of Ownership in Salem, Mass.