Tonight's post is an update on my next book, where the format of the forthcoming tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, South Danvers, Peabody and Salem, Massachusetts, has changed a bit - it is going to be two volumes and similar to the Western New York book that was published earlier this year: https://historicbeverly.net/product/americas-great-awakening-and-migration-the-red-earthenware-of-western-new-york/.
This is an excerpt from Volume II: "...The Quaker impact with red earthenware production in the South Danvers (Peabody), Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts area in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century should not be understated; it is a storied past with an extensive and intricate history. Its history stretches back for centuries with the production of red earthenware being the career path for a number of the Quaker men, who lived in this area before 1850. The documentation is lacking, although there may have been a good deal of red earthenware trade between the Quaker communities, including in Bristol County, Massachusetts, which was surrounded by Quaker Meeting Houses located elsewhere in the region, including on Cape Cod and Rhode Island.
As English settlements continued to expand in parts of Colonial New England, so did the Quaker religion into parts of coastal Maine and southern Rhode Island. The religion also began to spread inland. The potting trade also remained with many of the big potting families, such as the Osborn family of South Danvers, which was a way of preserving skills within the family that often required a lengthy period of apprenticeship. The Osborn family potting dynasty eventually spread to different parts of New England in the 1800s, most notably red earthenware businesses that family members established in areas of New Hampshire, which included Gonic, Dover and Loudon.
However, there was growing opposition against Quakers as the American Revolution drew near, as conflicts increased between the colonies and Great Britain. A number of Quakers proclaimed a religious loyalty to England, although this sentiment was not shared by all American Quakers, where some rebelled against the English monarchy.
After the Revolutionary War, America’s newfound independence brought change to the Quaker Movement. New Meeting Houses were erected in Western Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and Upstate New York. Quakers also became heavily involved with the whaling industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts, an industry that was previously largely dominated on the island of Nantucket. A number of New England Quakers also helped formerly enslaved people find new free lives in New England and Canada. Although, the foundation of much of this Quaker Movement in New England can be traced back to Salem, Massachusetts in the seventeenth century when Lawrence (1600-1660) and Cassandra Southwick (1598-1660) were persecuted for their Quaker faith, among others.
In fact, in his 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) mentions two men who were members of New Bedford Monthly Meeting—William C. Taber (1797-1886) and Joseph Ricketson (1815-1876) — because of their assistance in helping Douglass and his wife get to New Bedford from Newport, Rhode Island when he was escaping enslavement.
According to Douglas, "They seemed at once to understand our circumstances, and gave us such assurance of their friendliness as put us fully at ease in their presence. It was good indeed to meet with such friends, at such a time.”
Douglas lived in New Bedford for three years, circa 1838-1841; he and his wife, Anna Murray Douglas (1813-1882), were sheltered by the Johnson family, active abolitionists and Underground Railroad hosts.
Taber and Ricketson helped Douglas and his wife escape slavery in Maryland in 1838, where they reached New Bedford, and were then connected with African Americans Nathan (1797-1880) and Mary Durfee (nicknamed Polly) Johnson (1784-1871), who were local abolitionists. Nathan was born in either Philadelphia or Virginia about 1797.
This Brick Quaker Meeting House was Built in 1785
It is Located in New Bedford, Mass.
There was also a Quaker Meeting House in Dartmouth, Bristol County, Mass.
See Article for More Information
This is Nathan and Polly Johnson's House in New Bedford, Mass.
This is Where Frederick Douglas and His Wife Stayed, 1838-1841
To the Right is a Quaker Meeting House
Photo Courtesy: National Park Service
This is Frederick (1818-1895) and Anna Murray Douglas (1813-1882)
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
After living in New Bedford, Douglass went on to live in various locations, including Rochester, New York, where he published the abolitionist newspaper The North Star starting in 1847. The City of Rochester also has a storied history with slavery connected to Nathaniel Rochester (1752-1831) (for more information – see the book, America’s Great Awakening and Migration: The Red Earthenware of Western New York). Douglas later lived in Washington, D.C., which was his primary home from 1872 until his death in 1895.
Circa 1818-1831 Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jar
Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery in West Bloomfield, New York
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Personal Collection of Gene and Nancy Pratt
Another View of the Jar
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Personal Collection of Gene and Nancy Pratt
Interestingly, a green glazed knob to a red earthenware lid likely from a jar made in Bristol County, Massachusetts was recovered by archaeologists at the site of the African-American Meeting House in Boston (see Chapter 11). This small artifact likely represents a lot more to the story of the abolitionist Quakers who lived in Bristol County in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, as well as other parts of New England..."
19th Century Sherds Recovered at the African-American Meeting House in Boston
Likely the Remains of a Lid for a Jar Made in Bristol County, Mass.
See Article for More Information
See Jar Below from Winterthur for a Comparison
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Department
Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Attributed to Bristol County, Mass.
The Finial is Likely Related to the Sherds Shown Above
Circa 1790-1820
Stands 11 3/8" Tall
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Winterthur Museum
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
