As I have noted, I am currently working on my eleventh book, A Monumental History: Stories of Red Earthenware Production in Western Massachusetts, the Berkshires, and Vermont. This 700-to-800-page volume is nearing completion, and the recent discovery of Jacob Barrows’ (1757-1843) career as a potter in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont stands as one of the most important findings for northern New England red earthenware production in years.
Not only was Barrows a significant craftsman, but he was also a Revolutionary War soldier with deep ties to both the Fenton family of potters and the fascinating history of red earthenware production in Hanover, New Hampshire. Here is a part of that story.
"...According to John King Lord’s 1928 book, A History of the Town of Hanover, published by Dartmouth Press, local pottery production began near the Dartmouth College campus on the north side of South Street. Lord notes that "pottery was made on a somewhat extensive scale by Winslow Warren (1768-1837) in 1795, and before him by Jacob Barrows, in a shop that stood... in the garden of the Givens place," before the industry ultimately ceased around 1800.
Property records show that Barrows had established deep roots and extensive landholdings in Hanover long before Warren took over the business. An entry from the Index to Grafton County Records reveals that Barrows sold a piece of Hanover property to merchant John Wheeler (1743–1811), a transaction officially recorded in Volume 24, Page 201, on April 17, 1789. Barrows maintained a presence in the town for decades, as a later index entry names him as the seller (Grantor) of another piece of Hanover land to buyer Daniel Avery (Grantee), finalized in Volume 100, Page 141, on April 21, 1818.
The exact layout of their neighborhood is further illuminated by a June 1795 document that notes that Jacob Barrows owned a house nearby, using the 'lane leading to said Barrows' House' to establish the property boundaries of the land being sold. When combined with the left-hand page (see below), this document proves that Barrows and Winslow Warren were direct neighbors in Hanover, during the exact year Warren took over the local pottery operations..."
Note: For more information about Jacob Barrows - see a story I posted a few days ago, titled, The Fenton Connection: The Rediscovered Pottery of Jacob Barrows and Early Red Earthenware Production in Northern New England: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/08/the-fenton-connection-rediscovered.html.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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