There really are a lot of unknowns and a lot to be learned about nineteenth century red earthenware production in Vermont. For instance, the wares made in the Middlebury, Vermont area are rather well documented today, although there was a lot more to production in Vermont than just this one area. For instance, in my eighth book, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses, I discussed a red earthenware company owned by Peter Clark II (1764-1851) in Brownington, Vermont, circa 1790s-1809: https://historicbeverly.net/product/an-influential-family-of-early-potters-the-clarks-of-new-hampshire-and-related-businesses/.
However, this subject will be continued in my forthcoming tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, South Danvers, Peabody and Salem, Massachusetts, seeing that production in this area ultimately stemmed from Reverend Peter Clark (1693-1768) in Salem Village (Danvers), Massachusetts. In fact, New York author and historian Warren Broderick has really given a lot of effort into researching production in Brownington, which I am excited to be able to include in this new book.
According to some of Warren's research, "...Another potter from New Hampshire arrived in Brownington, circa 1812. Samuel Ward (1778-1854) was a son of Enoch (1749-1825) and Mary Carter Ward (1759-1843) of Boscawen, New Hampshire, a pottery town just north of Concord (some of which was influenced by the Clark family). By 1810 both Samuel and his parents were residing in Plymouth, another pottery town a few miles further north. Samuel was surely working as potter in Plymouth when he removed to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom...No documentation of the duration of Samuel Ward’s pottery has been identified. Nor have any existing vessels or red earthenware sherds from the pottery have been located to date.”
Nevertheless, Ward died in Brownington in 1854 so it is possible that in some capacity he may have been producing red earthenware for decades in Browninton, perhaps to about the the mid-nineteenth century. The location of this business is also notable in consideration of Brownington's close proximity to the Canadian border. Warren's research has also revealed that Ward was a considerable land owner in Brownington, owning four plots of land near the single plot of land that was owned by Clark II.
Note: This new book will run 800-900 pages, and I'm hopping for a late 2025 publication date, otherwise sometime in early 2026.
Red Earthenware Production in Brownington, Vermont
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