Included as part of Volume 2 of my recently published two-volume, 1,400 page, ninth book, titled, America’s Great Awakening and Migration The Red Earthenware of Western New York, I noted that a member of the Drake family of potters from Bethany, New York traveled west as part of California's Gold Rush in the late 1840s and 1850s. Prior to learning this information, I had always wondered if there were any potters who took part in the early years of the gold rush, no matter where they were located in America.
Nonetheless, while conducting some archival research yesterday about Thomas Crafts (1781-1861) in Whately, Massachusetts, I found that his son, Thomas Spencer Crafts (b. 1825) also migrated west for California's Gold Rush. The younger Crafts is listed as a potter alongside his father (no occupation listed) in the 1850 United States Federal Census in Whately. However, he is listed as living in Calavaras, California in the 1852 California State Census, where he is then listed as a registered voter in Amador, California on July 1, 1878.
Soon after the Gold Rush began in California, Calavaras County became a destination in 1851 when gold was found along the banks of the Mokelumne, Calaveras, and Stanislaus Rivers. Murphys, Angels Camp, Mokelumne Hill, and many other mining camps quickly popped up surrounding gold strikes. Thomas Spencer Crafts was living in Whately in 1850, although by 1852 he was in Calavaras, perhaps as early as 1851.
However, at some point he relocated to Amador, which was first recognized as part of the Gold Rush in the late 1840s when Jose Marie Amador (1794-1883), a wealthy California rancher, mined along what at the time was nameless creek in 1848-1849. Gold outcroppings were discovered on both sides of the creek. The Original or Little Amador Mine and the Spring Hill Mine were probably the country's first gold mines. Soon, the creek, the town and a new county carried Amador’s name. The Keystone Mine, organized in 1853, was the city’s most famous gold mine and a major reason why the town grew.
Interestingly, the older Thomas Crafts is listed with an occupation of farmer in the 1855 Massachusetts State Census, the 1860 United State Federal Census, as well as his record or death in 1861. There is no record that indicates he had any involvement with pottery production after 1850, although members of his family were still involved with pottery production in New England.
Furthermore, I also came across the elder Crafts' probate record (or will but it was described as a probate in the the archive records) from May 24, 1852 (same year his son first appears in California), where this is one of the more extensive probates or wills known from any eighteenth or nineteenth century potter in New England. He explains in detail where his money, house, land, household furniture, etc. is left. He also mentions any debts that he may leave behind when he dies.
Note: For more information about the Crafts Pottery in Whately - see a story I posted to this website last week, titled, Some Information About 19th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Teapots Made in Whately, Massachusetts and Long Island, New York: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/06/some-information-about-19th-century.html.
Some More Information About the Crafts Pottery in Whately, Mass.
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