This post is another preview of my forthcoming two-volume, 1,800+ page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-book-sent-to.html.
While researching the new book, I felt it was important to document the eighteenth century Quaker meeting houses of New England, including this particular structure built in Newbury (now Newburyport) in 1743. Originally part of the Salem Monthly Meeting and preserved today on the Massachusetts Historical Commission registry, its journey from a house of worship to a modern home is a remarkable piece of local history. Here is that story.
"...This eighteenth century house is located at 36 Ferry Road in Newburyport, Massachusetts. It was originally built in 1743 as a Quaker Meeting House, serving as a place of worship for the Society of Friends. It stood on High Street for over a century, briefly hosting a private school and a local church group.
In 1857, a fire destroyed a home on Ferry Road. To rebuild, the owner bought the old meeting house, moved it to the empty lot, and placed it on top of the old house's foundation. It was then turned into a private home.
Although exact records for this specific building are limited, prominent local Quaker families like the Chases, Husseys, Hoags, and Whittiers are known to have lived in the area and worshiped in local meeting houses during the 1700s. These families included influential merchants, landowners, and traveling ministers.
Additionally, during the 1700s, the Religious Society of Friends operated under a strict hierarchy of localized meetings. Because the Quaker population in Newbury (Newburyport) was small, they did not operate an independent administrative branch. Instead, this specific meeting house fell under the overarching authority and care of the Salem Monthly Meeting. Among the families who oversaw the eighteenth century Salem Monthly Meetings were the Shattucks, Buffums, Southwicks, Needhams, and Pickerings, some of whom were families of red earthenware potters in South Danvers (now Peabody), Massachusetts..."
Also of note is a late eighteenth or early nineteenth century red earthenware pitcher recently found in an old estate in Southern California, which was made by a Quaker potter in Bristol County, Massachusetts. While the exact story remains unknown, its migration mirrors the broader movement of the Religious Society of Friends during the mid-nineteenth century. Although Quaker doctrine traditionally discouraged the pursuit of sudden, speculative wealth, the 1849 Gold Rush proved too powerful to resist. Driven by the economic collapse of eastern whaling hubs like New Bedford, Massachusetts, hundreds of young Quaker men ventured west, carrying family heirlooms and utilitarian pottery, perhaps like this red earthenware pitcher across the country.
This is also documented with Quakers in Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts, where the Osborns, Southwicks, and Symonds (this family was not Quakers) —formed a joint business venture, and a 61-man partnership boarded one of the first ships in America to leave the eastern seaboard for the 1849 California Gold Rush: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/04/the-story-of-ship-lagrange-and-osborn.html.
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