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One Gallon Saltglazed Woolford Jug
Ornate ribbed distinctive strap handle, one groove primary treatment, oval shaped dentated impressed capacity stamp w/ est. 26 dentates around a "1" gallon impressed capacity number, grooved spout/rim, with clear typeset impressed makers mark: " F. Woolford / Stoneware / Bristol. Mo. "
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The Thompsons of Greene County
By Greg Mathis
When studying the history of Greene County, Illinois, and connecting it to the great Nineteenth Century pottery center at White Hall and surrounding communities, a plethora of great family names arise. All interested parties, historians, students, and researchers, need read the words written and the messages so clearly conveyed by Mrs. A. F. Worcester in her memoir "The Town Clean Dirt Made Famous - - - Pottery Town" documented in1960. Many of the established and honored names of the community are therein expounded upon and reminisced about. Many Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century important events are recalled, and Mrs. Worcester.s words express much. As one really "hears" what she says, they find a time and place that exhibits high moral fiber, impressive family standards, the high work ethic, an unbeatable level of pride of the family name, and genuine neighborly respect and love. A similar message is also expressed in the April , 1997, Vol. 14 No. 3, Collectors of Illinois Pottery and Stoneware news letter article "The Morrows, Greene County, and Illinois" and connects another very highly regarded family of the County to the hugely important ceramic industry of Nineteenth - Twentieth Century Illinois and America.
Another greatly contributing family to Green County was the Thompsons, having their fair share of impact to the area, ties to the pottery business, and a capture of the American Dream. A direct descendant, Daniel Thompson, reflects on his family and the County beginning with his chronological account "Barrow Station: Standing on the raised rail bed across the street from Russell Wells. home in present day Barrow, it is not apparent that this little hamlet was once a thriving mercantile and rail center on the old C. B. & . Quincy R.R. With the exception of the rail bed, there is little in Barrow that would help tell the story of how it was an important stop on the railway. As we researched the Thompson family line, it showed that Barrow and the surrounding area not only played an important role in the Thompson family but was also home for, Doyle, Patterson and Ballard families. Barrow was home to a young Clarence W. Ballard and his father, W.C. Ballard and wife Carrie Antrobus Ballard. Lemuel Patterson, Thomas Groce and others lived in nearby in Patterson. There are dozens of Thompson.s buried in the nearby cemetery including our Revolutionary War grandfather, a son of our progenitor who arrived in Virginia from Ireland in the early Eighteenth Century. In fact, Barrow was the home of Thompson.s and Ballard.s five generations before James Thompson and Marjorie Ballard married.
Barrow is located off of Route 106 North of White Hall. Mr. Wells recalled that Barrow was once known as "Thompson," named after Robert Thompson who established the township in 1869 as a result of a contract with the C.B. & Quincy Rail Road, whereby the railroad built a side track and maintained it in exchange for the right-of-way through Thompson family farm land. Per History of Greene County, a side track and depot was built as laid out by Thompson in 1869.
However, Robert Thompson was not among the first settlers in the area. The original settler in the area was John Thompson, a son of William Thompson. Thompson, arrived in 1813 when it was yet to be Greene County. Homesteads were few and far between. He obtained some government land and built a log cabin. He also cast the first clay brick used in Greene County, according to, A History of Morgan County, Illinois, by Donnelly, Loyd and Co. Publishers, 1878. The land that Robert sold to the railroad in 1877 was settled by George, William, and John Thompson, sixty years earlier.
George Thompson was born in 1792, the son of William Thompson who immigrated from Ireland in the 1700.s with his father James Thompson and brother John of Belfast, County Antrim. They settled initially in Botetourt County, Richmond, Virginia. When John arrived in what is now Greene County, the country was sparsely populated and hostile Indians were active throughout the area. The Indians, becoming more war-like, Thompson organized his neighbors and cleared them from the area. He was later commissioned a Captain in the Black Hawk War. He later served as Justice of the Peace and County Commissioner. He died in 1865 at the age of 73.
The Union Regular Baptist Church was established on September 1, 1830 in a school house by Aaron Smith with William Thompson, Elizabeth Thompson, Peter Barrow, John Thompson and Winifred Brickey Thompson as members. Mr. Wells said that he believes that the foundations of the old church and school were made from a type of clay that John found. According to the History of Morgan County, there are clay deposits better suited for fire bricks and another used for stoneware.
The congregation met in member households up until 1845 when a small church was erected. A new church was built in 1878. In 1870 a black smith shop was built as well as the first mercantile store. The store was owned by John Williams and was later known as Williams and Short after he took in J.J. Short as a partner. A year later William A. Thompson, son of David and Mary Thompson succeeded Short and the store became Thompson and Williams. Williams died in 1872 and Thompson became the sole proprietor which remained until 1873 when Thompson engaged J.F. Doyle.
This is the beginning of a long association with the Doyle family which lasted for years. John Doyle was Justice of the Peace and owner of a large farm in Thompson/Barrow township. It is on Doyle property that the Thompson / Doyle cemetery was established. Several Thompson.s were named after Doyle family members including Lewalter Franklin Thompson, Elias Franklin Thompson, Grover Thompson.s father after Elias Doyle, Dicie Thompson, Grover.s Daughter after Dicie Doyle, and Edward Franklin Thompson after Frank Doyle five generations later.
In 1873 David Hubbard and Henry Hanks became owners of the business. Later J.J. Short bought back into the business expanding it into a two story building with the second floor serving as a town hall. Then, Thompson and Doyle repurchased the store in 1875.
The elevator was started in 1873 at a cost of approximately $1,000 by C.F. Bruce who left it uncompleted when J. N. Israel finished it at a cost of $2,000. C.F. Bruce later built a grist mill to process corn from the Doyle farm and others in the Barrow area. The Barrow Tile factory was built adjacent to the shipping yard. At one point Ashley and Bruce, proprietors of the firm manufactured eight hundred to a thousand tiles daily which were shipped to St. Louis. The clay for these tiles came from the quarry that John Thompson found following his arrival in 1813 and began making bricks from. The factory employed six to eight men who made 3 and 8 inch tiles from the superior clay found in nearby Clay City. That same clay later was used by the White Hall Stoneware company to make the heavy stoneware pots that are sought after by so many collectors today.
The United Baptist Church was organized in Barrow in June of 1874. Among the constituent members were Lemuel J. Patterson, James Doyle, Henrietta Doyle, J. F. Doyle, A.J. Ballard and William and Lucretia Ballard. Clarence W. Ballard of Barrow married Virginia Patterson of Patterson in 1912. Barrow was the home of William C. Ballard and Carrie Antrobus Ballard. They are both buried in the Williams cemetery on Barrow Road just west of route 106. It is likely that Ballard.s, Antrobus. and Thompson.s, all Thompson in-laws were all members of the same Baptist church."
Many of these Thompsons made a livelihood and homes for their families at nearby Roodhouse, Clay City, White Hall, and Jacksonville, Green County, Illinois. Jewel Thompson Copley with her husband, Carl, maintained the Thompson/Doyle cemetery for years. Grover L. Thompson exemplifies these aforementioned people of high character and accomplishments within the White Hall community. These Thompsons, like the many other great families, had a strong bond with their neighbors and desire to just make things better.
Grover Lee Thompson, son of Elias Franklin Thompson, was born at nearby Wrights, Illinois, September 22, 1894 and grew up under a most meager means in his childhood with his mother, Mary Stinnett Thompson, and older sister, Dicie, on Railroad Street in White Hall. Grover.s father, Elias died in 1909. By age twelve , Grover developed a strong interest in drawing and design and produced interesting witty artistic post cards in 1906. While showing a keen sketching talent, he occasionally included good humor.
Grover Thompson 1906
At age twelve, Grover visited the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company, and composed an article of his experience and entered it into competition. His composition appeared in "The Boys World" on February 22, 1908:
White Hall Stoneware Factory
Dear Editor: As I never have written to the Round Table yet, I thought I would try it. I like the Boys. World fine, and I won.t miss Sunday school on its account. I'm 12 years old, and I go to school every winter. I have not missed any in school for two terms, and I don't want to miss any. I live near the city of White Hall. That is about 2 mile east of it.
There are three sewer pipe and stoneware factories in this town. I have been through the largest one twice, and I would like to go through it again. Perhaps, you have heard of the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware factory. It is the largest one in the world of this kind . This factory is four stories high.
When we (my father and I) first entered this factory, we went into the engine room. Here we saw two very large engines and many smaller ones. They were all polished bright. Some of these were run by steam, and these run others, and made electricity to run still other engines.
From here we went to the place where the clay is mixed and ground. The clay is hauled from a clay bank East of here by an electric train. We now went to the next story, where there were all kinds of tile and sewer pipe made. We looked around there awhile, and then took the elevator to the top story, and skipped the third one. In the fourth story we found the place where little jugs and jars were made.
We now went into another room, where the larger jugs were made. There were several places for them to be made, and there were three men in each place. One was to take the fresh away, and bring the ones that were made the day before back. Another man was to put the clay in the molds and put them together. The third man was to put the handles on the jugs.
Then we went in to the place where the jugs and jars were slipped or polished. There were some girls working here. Then we went down a short flight of stairs into the third story. Here also they were making tile and sewer pipe. While some of these tiles were being made, others were being trimmed. On the elevator men were taking the ware down to be baked.
In a short time we went down to the first story, and looked through the other side of it. Here was the place where men were making twenty gallon jars by hand. The man would first take a large ball of clay, and then the jar would be made by his hands. We now walked out of the factory to look at large kilns. There are six or eight of these in all.
Well, I guess you are getting tired of this, so I will stop for this time. I would like to see this in the "Boys World."
Yours Truly, G. T.
WHITE HALL, ILLINOIS
"……..the place where the jugs and jars were slipped or polished"
THE KILN in Grover.s account " ………to take the fresh away,
and bring the ones that were made the day before back."
Grover's description of "polishing" was actually maintaining the generators."
"Then, we went down a short flight of stairs into the third story.
Here also they were making tile and sewer pipe"
…………Grover Thompson.s "Boy.s World " essay.
"Perhaps, you have heard of the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware factory……
…..It is the largest one in the world of this kind," as written by young Grover Thompson.
REPLY FROM "Boys World" EDITOR - We know you enjoyed going through the factory and
seeing the things made, and know too that the other boys will enjoy your description of it.
We hope to hear from you again "Boys World."
Grover graduated from White Hall High School in 1913 as class valedictorian and then went on to attend the Brown Business School at Jacksonville, Illinois He was there the valedictorian of the class of 1915. Grover was a very promising talent and achiever. The Henry Shirley family were close neighbors and friends. For all practical purposes Mr. Shirley watched Grover grow up and became a close friend, an influence, had similar occupation ambitions, and quite likely to a great degree a mentor to Grover. In 1915 Grover was immediately employed at White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company at the Business Office and worked as bookkeeper under the supervision of Administrative Manager Henry Shirley. Moreover, this mutual everlasting friendship grew further. This is clearly evident , as Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Shirley served as witnesses and standing up for Grover at Grover.s marriage to Jettie B. Staples, January 1, 1916, at White Hall. This must have been quite a New Years Day party.
WHITE HALL SEWER PIPE AND STONEWARE COMPANY
OFFICE FORCE 1918 - 1919
(L to R ) Administrative Mgr. Henry W. Shirley, Grover Lee Thompson, Sylvia Painter,
C. B. Stahl, Ada Lowenstine, Hal W. Galhuly, Helen Teter, Mary Garders, Roy Dugger.
Mr. Robert "Bob" Staples
On his audio interview, Mr. Staples explained his close family relationship to Grover Lee Thompson, where in 1942 at age seven, shortly after losing his mother, he lived with his Uncle Grover and Aunt Jettie at Jacksonville, Illinois. He conveyed his family's involvement in the ceramic industry at White Hall. Robert Staples. grandfather George W. Staples, Grover's father-in-law, was a supervisor at White Hall Sewer Pipe and a foreman at the clay works at Clay City running the "Dinky Rail." Robert's father, Thomas Gilbert "Gib" Staples, Grover's brother-in-law, operated the Clam Bucket at the clay works. Mr. Robert Staples recalled as a small child "scampering around on the platform by his father at the Dinky" and that everyone understood the Clay City operation was critical to the success of White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company. Robert resided with Grover and Jettie at Jacksonville, Illinois, until he graduated from high school and was married. Since the age of seven, Robert has held a close bond with Grover's grandsons, Daniel and Edward. They feel that Grover likely departed the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company prior to 1929 due to downsizing steps taken for economic survival of the plant, when Grover's family relocated to Jacksonville, Illinois.
George W. Staples The "Clam Bucket" at Clay City,
Gib Staples on platform
An abundance of quality clay at "Clay City"
"Loading up" the carts with high quality clay.
One of the thousands of hauls on the Dinky Rail to the White Hall Sewer Pipe Company
At all times Grover's roots at Whitehall and involvement and contributions to the community were held with highest esteem and great pride by him and of him by his neighbors and community. He was involved as a confectioner and held ties to the Thompson-Staples Confectionery and Ice Cream parlor in White Hall. Grover ran in 1921 for City Clerk of White Hall. He was described as a sincere no-nonsense man and was very generous and caring and helpful. Being proficient in mathematics, he enjoyed helping his children and some of their school friends with their homework and helped them to understand "fundamentals," recalled his grandson Edward. Grover held a special tie to the Henry Shirley family, and no doubt shared a high regard and grand friendship with Henry Shirley's son, Donald. Both Grover and Donald possessed a keen interest for drawing and sketching, and both were quite talented. It is understood that Donald at an early age had input toward the development of the Illinois State map logo design utilized by the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company. The State Map logo design originated from the office of Administrative Manager, Henry W. Shirley. A long time employee and former WHSP&S Company Plant Superintendent, John Ridings, recalled that "the design was in use before 1928, when he commenced his long career with the pottery." It is known that a competition was held for a new design to be used by the pottery. While no known documentation is known that reveals exact dates and details, it is estimated that this competition was held just prior to, or early in, the White Hall ceramic industry centennial year, 1926. Similarly, the competing Ruckels Pottery replaced its Velvet line with a new line in 1926, bearing their new logo "Blue Band Stoneware." Hence, two of the most highly recognized stoneware manufacturer marks of America were born: the Illinois State Map logo and the Blue Band Stoneware logo. Though, there is no supporting documented evidence, some feel the mark was employed earlier, in 1921. This may have been simply confused with an earlier mark, the "Wreath" logo. One thing is certain: Out of the little office of Henry Shirley came the competition.s winner, the Illinois State Map design entry. Here again, is the Shirley - Thompson connection.
While living at Jacksonville, Illinois, special keepsakes of Grover Lee Thompson.s employment at the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company always remained atop his desk within his Jacksonville home. These were items he utilized on his desk working as bookkeeper for the WHSPS Co. under Mgr. Henry Shirley: a special sewer tile material paperweight marked "White Hall Sewer Pipe Company," and a glass paperweight, depicting a group photograph "Office Force „1919 - 1920" with names listed on reverse side. Also kept was Grover.s winning competition entry, bearing the large articulately sketched "Illinois State Map" logo on onion skin. This document was carefully folded and kept in a safe place in his desk. Sketched inside his Illinois drawing is included the familiar overlaying of a capital "W" over a capital "H," all sketched in Grover.s hand. Significant to note is the same configuration of the capital "W" over a capital "H" was utilized around 1904 on the White Hall Stoneware Company logo, prior to the firm combining the Sewer Pipe division and including "Sewer Pipe" in wordage and appearing in any manufacturer mark logo. Grover received a $5 award for his winning entry, being a large prize. In 1926 a loaf of bread cost a few pennies. Today, a $5 gold coin is worth about $250.
For the record it must be known these details were passed along from one Thompson generation to another. Conveyed was what was always explained by Grover about the design of the State Map logo, his onion skin sketch entry, and the paper weights. He wanted their significance known by his sons and to Robert Staples. Indeed, Grover made his mark, literally and figuratively speaking, in the White Hall ceramic industry. Of greatest importance, this all occurred with a strong tie to the Shirley family, especially with Henry and his son, Donald. They greatly influenced one another.
Sewer tile paperweight
Obverse Glass paper weight Reverse
Paper weights above, were always kept on the desk of Grover L. Thompson
White Hall Stoneware Company cc: 1903
Wreath Mark cc:1910 Illinois State Map Logo cc: 1926
White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company
White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Co., White Hall, Illinois cc: 1920
(Right to Left) Grover Lee Thompson's grandson, Edward, great grandaughter, Carrie,
and Edward's wife, Carolyn; Grover's grandson, Daniel and Daniel's wife, Jean.
Each shown holding a sample of State Map marked vessels with much pride.
These connect to Grover's life to the Shirley Family and to the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company, White Hall, Greene County, Illinois. This unpublished essay, written November, 2009, is submitted for inclusion to the archives of the: Foundation for Historical Research of Illinois Potteries, Springfield, Illinois; Greene County Historical & Genealogical Society, Carrolton, Illinois; Organizing Board of Annual Greene County Days, Carrolton, Illinois; White Hall Township Public Library, White Hall, Illinois; and the Illinois State Museum of History, Chicago, Illinois. While segments are based on conjecture and speculation, very few dated documents survive or possibly ever existed. Interviews and hand written notarized statements of Daniel R. Thompson of Kimberling, Missouri, Edward L. Thompson of Jacksonville, Illinois, Judy Lee Harper of O.fallon, Missouri, Laura L. Thompson of Jacksonville, Illinois, and Robert W. Staples of Winchester, Illinois, are on record and provide clear representations of Grover Lee Thompson.s life and achievements. These include Grover.s bookkeeping career in the Administrative Office of Henry W. Shirley at the White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Company. Any additional information and pertinent securing documentation are vigorously sought, and their receipt most sincerely welcomed and appreciated by the Thompsons of Green County.
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Many collectors of Illinois stoneware have become interested not only in the stoneware itself, but also in the history of the potter, potteries, and the actual history of the White Hall pottery center. An outstanding example of this is displayed in the following archive, a memoir of Mrs. A. F. Worcester documented in 1960. This first hand account will always be of great interest to the student of White Hall stoneware and the history of Greene County, Illinois. Selected excerpts from a typed memoir by Mrs. A. F. Worcester in 1960.
"POTTERY TOWN"
"The Town Clean Dirt Made Famous - - - Pottery Town." .........My grandfather, John Neff Ebey, pioneer potter, of Dutch parentage, grandfather born Sept. 10, 1805, in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. When three weeks old, his parents moved to near Columbus, Ohio, thence to Springfield, Illinois in 1826. There he married to Rebecca Brunk. He acquired 160 acres of land, there, upon which the state capitol now stands. Our pioneer potter resided at Manchester were my father, John V., was born in 1834. From here he moved to Ripley, where he laid out the town and named it for Ripley, Ohio. The progress of the pottery interest in Ripley is due to his efforts. From Ripley he went to Winchester, then to Chapin, coming to White Hall in 1863. Those pioneers were the parents of 10 children- 5 daughters and five sons. The sons, Leo C. , George W., John V., Charles , and William H., had all served in the Civil War. William H., was killed an action in the battle of Belmont, Missouri. Most of the sons and daughters with their young children were drawn to pottery town about 1865 to 1868. My father and Uncle Charles B.. are associated with grandfather in establishing the Ebey pottery works. One of my earliest recollections of grandfather was his twirling and rolling a small lump of clay. He loved the cool blue white substance, grandchildren, and a main pastime of walking down the east road about half a mile to ride back on a load of clay being brought to the potteries. Potteries owned and operated by our townsmen other than grandfather's in the 1870s and 1880s, were those of John King, Vermillion Brothers, Pierce Brothers, Hill and Prindlel, A.D. Ruckel, and M. C. Purdy who owned the first clay bank ever opened in the Whitehall area. W.W. Hubbs, our neighbor, owned clay banks in those years. In 1866 the manufacture of drain tile by hand-power was introduced. The Whitehall sewer pipe company introduced steam power in 1876. Some of the kilns were 42 feet in diameter, the largest in the world at the time they were installed. In 1865, David Culbertson put in a small machine for the manufacturing of tile in the pottery of the Pierce Brothers, and later established a horsepower machine and was able to put out 4000 tile per day. The passing of our grandmother Rebecca Brunk Ebey in 1873: after her death, grandfather made his home among his children. I remember that one Sunday morning, mother asked him to polish five pairs of shoes for us five children. He was glad to, but instead of getting the shoe polish, he accidentally got the stove polish, but we trotted off to Sunday school with those very shiny shoes. Our home place faced Worcester Street. The driveway lead up to the pottery, a long frame building one and a half stories. The walls were fashioned of wide planks, its floors were of the good earth. Far to the west of the pottery, rascinating to us children was the plod-plod of old Charlie in the clay grinding room. The large lumps of clay were put into the grinding machine which was in the center of the room. Old Charlie hitched to that long pole which was attached to the grinder, trampled around that beaten circular path to the urge of Uncle Bill Hogg. The large part of the pottery was where those old-time kick wheels were operated by skillful turners. The blue white clay was made into balls by the ball makers, usually young boys, the balls were proportion into various amounts from quart size to 10 gallon size jugs and jars. Placed on a rotating wheel, the turner with the rib and sponge, with which to manipulate, soon brought the lump of clay up, up, shaping it gracefully into the intended vessel. Cousin Brunk Davis was the big ware turner. Fred Shenkel turned out all sizes of milk crocks. Ware was dried both indoors and out, on long planks. When dried it was carried to the kiln, the door tightly sealed. Cord wood was used in the furnace. The burning of the ware was timed, then the sleek brown ware was taken to the ware sheds ready for shipping. Ah, the slip tub! It was on the upper floor. A large tub almost filled with a slip to glaze ware was fitted with a plunger which pumped a required amount of shiny fluid as the last word in preparing the ware for the kiln. Stoneware was everywhere, brown glaze ware. We children use the seconds for chairs, tables, and dishes for our play houses. Our back fence pickets were decorated with fruit jars, which were put there to dry and air until time to refill them with tomatoes, peaches, etc. The jar tops were grooved; into these grooves tin lids were sealed with ceiling wax. Families used the big five and 10 gallon sizes of jars to store away pickles and kraut for the winter. Housewives sat the gallon jug of sorghum on the back of the kitchen range when cold mornings so as to get the sorghum warmed up for the biscuits or pancakes? Old grandpa Lakin with whom I road miles each day on his little low-dray, until my mother became exasperated and resorted to drastic means to curb my runaway habit. As stoneware was plentiful in used for most everything, she conceived the idea of tying a jug to my ankle with a fairly long rope. Everywhere I went in the yard the jug went. That treatment was effective and lasting. Ada Vedder, Sarah Shaw, Virginia Vedder, Hattie Butler, Emma Pritchard, cousins Rebecca and Hattie Davis, and in teaching in the 1880's and the early 1890's.
The altruistic spirit was exhibited among the early pottery owners when cold severe winters came and when they were forced to close the potteries for about three months. I recall that those men, loyal to their employees, and realizing the hardships that worked on them, helped to "tide them over" the rough road by every possible means and with the cooperation of the Chapin Brothers grocers. The pamphlet issued for the Centennial was printed in distributed by A.D. Ruckel & the same one enclosed in our newsletter (issue number four, volume 2). The sewer pipe factory founded by H. H. Arnold is headed by Carleton B. Stahl, who came to White Hall near 1895. White Hall pottery works was headed then by C. A. Ruckel. Executives of both institutions were H. H. Shirley, T..M. and Hal W. Galhuly, all White Hall boys. Hill and Prindle, pottery owners, kept a full stock of groceries on Worcester Street where their employees and calyhaualers founded it a convenience to trade. Grandma Gosnelll was a frequent visitor. Her daughter was Uncle Charlie Ebey's wife, and grandma Gosnell was Grace Gosnell Pierce's grandmother, And we loved to see Grandma Cogdel come. My collection of war news 1917 to 1948, I prized the letters written appearing in the White Hall Register Republican of cousins Lt. Royal and Floyd Davis, sons of Newt and Mary Floyd Davis. Dow, cousin Fletcher's son, brother Wills two sons, Dow's son and our grandson, Dan W. Kennedy, all served in World War II. Will G. is still in the Air Force, in Germany. Silver Cornet Band of years ago, band members were Tom Grant, Fred Nevius, E. K. Shirley, Tom Thurman, Cube Vermillion, Sam Silkwood Jr., Brunk Davis, brother Dow, Frank Hill, Herbie Huggins used to hold torches for the band while they played. We boasted of an organ in every home. Grandma Nevius named our street "Organ row." The Hill, Fuller Davis, Ebey Methodists; Morris, Saxe, Hubbs, Baptists; Julia Hubbs, Farris, Ernest Morris, Glenn Saxe, brother Dow, and I, were the only ones left (her mother died) visiting sister Annie in Jacksonville, June 21, 1904, that come to attend the funeral of Aunt Jane Davis just a month before. Other, of the family, father, Will, Annie, and Nellis, have answered the Last Roll Call. Rev. Crane, being a great friend of the potters he was often in the home of Aunt Jane Davis visiting the boys, Hardin, Newt, Brunk and Fletch. About 1887 he made a visit to Pottery Town and at the request of the pastor, he occupied the pulpit at the evening service. His text was from Romans 9:21. "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel into honor, in the other dishonor ?" A spell bound audience among whom were former pottery friends, listened to that sermon one-hour and a quarter. Sunday school: Teachers when we were in the young lady years were Emma Griswold, Mina McCollister, and Nora Culbertson Mason. Started to school: only Jesse McClure Greene, Fannie Arnold Morrow and I are the remaining ones.
The Ebey pottery works was transferred by my father in his brother Charles B. in 1882 to D. C Banta, who in 1883 deeded and those lots and pottery to A.D. Ruckel who had operated a pottery since 1870, which was located across the C and A tracks near the grain elevator. Mr. Ruckel invented and erected the first flash wall kiln used in White Hall and it was afterward came to use in the stoneware world. A machine for making pots had been invented by Gaylord Martin of Ripley in 1899, and this machine was utilized Mr. Ruckel. This marked the beginning of the end of the old kick wheel in turning ware by hand.; (taken from Clay Products). In 1936 C. A., and Nora Ruckel, owners of the s A.D. Ruckel company transferred their well-established business to a worthy employee, R. F. Barnett, former bookkeeper and manager. Going back to the 1870s and 1880s when there were seven potteries turning out ware in Pottery Town: in 1863,grandfather, the house which he had built in Chapin was moved by wagon road, over hills, across strains, to pottery town. And was our grandparents first home there, the two-story house which stands on East Bridgeport Street. Grandfather moved the pottery building across, in sections, as he did the house, setting it up on the site where the A.D. Ruckel pottery now is located. In-laws: Mike and Emma Galhuly, neighbors: Will and Jennie Strong, the Banchleys, the Harrisons, the O. F. Griswolds, the Pritchard's and Perkinses. Married about the time Fred and I were: Charles and Emma Chapman, Elmer and Leona Griswold, Dick and Annie White, Melvin and Clara Owings Black, Fred and Ada Pierce, Will and Edith Pritchard, Ed and Ollie King, Elmer and Cora Winn, Will and Leona Teeter. In 1894: Nov. 20, pioneer potter, departed this late life at the age of 88 years at the home of Aunt Jane Davis. The singers were Mrs. M. B. Ross, Della Boone Henry, Mrs. W. N. Rutledge and Ellan Duncan Silkwood. Pottery Agustus Pierce, .M.C. Purdy, M. Pittinger, H. C. Morris, and W.W. Hubbs, bore his body to its resting place. And in 1937 we visited White Hall. We spend a few hours at the sewer pipe factory where H. W.. Galhuly piloted us around, as we made a selection of crocks, brown and blue casseroles, a straight-up pink crock which serves as a drinking bowl for the dogs. We prized the blue pitcher which we used everyday. The tall blue vases which stands on our mantle. On our way home, near the towns of Lebanon and Springfield, Missouri, roadside displays of Ruckel pottery.
August 3, 1950, Ebey reunion gathered in Winchester. George II had left Pennsylvania in 1826, coming to Sagamon County with the youngest of his family of 11 children; Roseanne , John Neff (my grandfather), and George III, the older ones either deceased are married. His death, in 1847, at the home of George III one mile north of Winchester where my son owned extensive farmlands and operated a pottery for many years on the Winchester -- Jacksonville highway. The pottery is laid waste. Uncle George" like grandfather, sold no jugs to saloon keepers. On the pottery were sheds, in large letters, flared these words: "Prohibition Forever." Ebey re-union, August 3, 1950: my daughter, my granddaughter, and her little one, the fifth, sisth, seventh and eighth generations, dating from George I. Visit to pottery town: a few minutes with the Averys, Emma Chapman, Fred King, Jesse Harrison, Will Teeter, Hal Galguly, , Carlton Stall. We drove to the Ruckel pottery: We met and talked with the son of Charles Weis, an early day printer. Upstairs was Earl Liming, using molds in a corner was a relic, a kick wheel which was last used by our pottery friend Bert Nevius. We saw a jug made by Hill and Prindle on March 23, 1883 and presented to Tom Davidson. Over to one side was a jug probably the largest in United States, turned on Christmas day, 1895, my cousin Brunk Davis. As we stood on the porch of Mr. Barnett's office, I realize the house is the H. C. Morrow home, next door to my childhood home which was moved years ago, as the Ruckel pottery taken over in 1883 grew. I envision W. W. Hubbs driving his big yellow horse into his back lot, on coming home from the clay bank. Mr. Barnett, told me that the blue ware had been discontinued since the war. So, with a box of crocks of the inevitable white kind which he Mr. Weis packed, we began our journey West.....
"Happy carefree children,
Scampered up-and-down the streets,
Where joy and freedom reigned, in……..
The streets of Pottery Town!"
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2005
“The Pride of the Upper Alton Mother”
Ceramics of Mid-Nineteen Century Upper Alton, Madison County, Illinois, that were indeed “Treasures” and “the pride of the Upper Alton mother”, are depicted in the poem on the red backboard (above right).One such mother was Susan Warnack that is pictured (bottom right above). She was the daughter of Isaac E. Warnack. The broken shards on the table require little imagination to envision the pride they evoked when whole vessels given to the lady of the house. Examples of Anton Ulrich - John Wietfeld, Julius Wilhelm, George Swettenham, and Isaac E. Warnack are displayed with shards and kiln artifacts that were excavated.
The following poem "Treasures", so eloquently, says it all.
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The Arkansas Railroad & River Guide Pig Flask and Snake Jug
Salt glazed with Cobalt filled Inscriptions
By The Anna Pottery, Union County, Illinois cc: 1876
ANNA POTTERY
To and Fro' The Hot Springs
By Greg Mathis
Varieties of Snake Jugs and Pig Flasks produced in the last third of the Nineteenth Century by the Anna Pottery, Union County, Illinois, have survived the test of time in small numbers and are today considered classic American folk art. Each is different, and each is admired. Each generates high intrigue and mystery for the passionate student of ceramics, invites the tasking analysis of national and local historians, and usually receives placement on the very top shelf in both private and museum collections. Quite scarce are salt glazed vessels bearing cobalt filled inscriptions and applied adornments. Local folklore attributes the reptile figures being formed by the hand of Wallace Kirkpatrick and distinctive stylish handwriting, lines and inscriptions by his older bother, Cornwall Kirkpatrick. Ultra rare is the Kirkpatrick application of two decorative colors, cobalt blue and tobacco spit brown, to a given figure as found in the Arkansas snake jug and the Arkansas Railroad & River Guide pig flask. Most interesting about these figurals is the significant connection of the inscribed towns and scrolling rivers to the real development of Midwestern America and the State of Arkansas. A Southwest “guide” appears on both the jug and the flask, and depicts the simple trails and short cuts that signify the passage by horse, wagon, stagecoach, rail, and riverboat. Here nurtured was Arkansas history of grandest magnitude. This history and mapping comprise the Overland US Mail Stagecoach/Rail Route, Diamond Joe Riverboat Routes, and Malvern Narrow Gauge Rail to Hot Springs.
Hot Springs was a location for the mineral baths, and many people traveled for the medicinal cures of the water. Based on the number of signed and dated whimsies that have survived the last century, Kirkpatrick frequently took the additional step of applying inscriptions, dating, and prominently marking “From The Anna Pottery.”
Kirkpatrick themes often address intriguing events of the last half of the Nineteenth Century, especially the 1870s and1880s. Most display no date. Commonly, a dating of a vessel can only be tied the timeframe of the known event. For example, dates can be deduced from the date of a given political issue or election result, social/religious statement, great national/state/local historical event, and commerce. Commerce includes the small “Dealer in Wines and Liquors” to the Nations “Corn Capitol” and “Porkopolis”.
Pig flask and frog ink well whimsies commonly bear either the inscribed date of “1882” or “1883”. The Arkansas snake jug and Arkansas pig flask do bear clear clues to dating. Of great significance is the fact that the Eads Bridge was completed in 1876 at St. Louis, and the rail to Hot Springs from Benton was completed in 1876. Neither, the Eads Bridge nor a railroad name is depicted on the Arkansas snake jug or pig flask, suggesting these whimsies were made prior to 1876, or early 1876. Conversely, Anna pigs that bear no date and depict the Eads Bridge at St. Louis, indicate that the pigs that were made after 1875.
It is apparent that these Arkansas whimsies were not presentation items. This notion is based on the one side of the jug that displays only cross hatch marks of cobalt decorations with center dots. This exemplifies the habit of their "busy work" (no blank spaces), to an area that would have otherwise been left blank. Moreover, these vessels were likely intended to drum new business, or as novelty gifts to a person with Arkansas interests.
Prior to 1876, a stagecoach route existed to Hot Springs from Benton, making travel very hard on the sick. The rail was a Godsend. Regarding the most southern reference point on Anna pottery, one must realize that great amounts were produced for the local utilitarian use of within a radius of 100 miles of Anna. Unlike other great clay sources in Illinois that relied on the available modes of transpiration of wagon, waterway and railway, the Anna pottery had better access to the great railways and major rivers, in other words the major interstate highways of the 1870's: the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, and the Arkansas rivers. These modes of transport sent their wares and raw clay to markets in an expanded radius of several Midwestern states in all directions. Their Kaolin clay mining was a major business and was highly sought by the white ware china makers of Ohio and other regions. Anna utilitarian wares were sent to these outside markets and Anna Pottery whimsies accompanied them as an effective means of showing off their talents and quality of clay. The Kirkpatricks created humor and received admiration. They made their viewer/customer think, laugh, comment, react, and of greatest importance, remember. For decades they executed this most effective sales marketing tactic.
Stagecoach/Rail Mail Route
A clear sketch is drawn on each vessel by the hand of Cornwall that entails major Overland hubs of
this fragment of the Southwest OMC run. The main hub can be considered Little Rock, Arkansas:
North to Poplar Bluff and St. Louis; East to Memphis, South to Benton, Malvern, and Hot Springs; and
West to Fort Smith. Noteworthy, also, is the major hub at Poplar, Bluff Missouri, serving a major junction between St. Louis to the North, Memphis to the East, and Little Rock to the South. These were the key traces for all land modes of travel, by horse, wagon, stage, or rail.
The Overland Mail Company was organized in 1857 by John Butterfield of New York who had negotiated a contract with the U.S. post office department to carry all letter mail from St. Louis and Memphis to San Francisco. The government agreed to pay $600,000 a year for 6 years for this service. The total mileage from St. Louis to San Francisco, exclusive of the Memphis branch, was about 2800 miles. The contract provided for twice-a-week service "in good four-horse post-coaches or spring wagons." these coaches were made in New York and New Hampshire, and cost $1400.00 each. They were painted red, green, and yellow, bore the O.M.C. insignia, carried nine passengers. Most of the drivers were from the New England states, where they had served apprenticeship on other stage routes with which Butterfield was connected. The Overland Mail had nearly 2000 employees.
Passenger fare from St. Louis to San Francisco was $200.00. Drivers also picked up "way passengers" between stations who paid .10 cents a mile. Passengers were allowed 40 pounds of baggage free. The postal rate was .10 cents a letter. The Overland Mail operated on a time-table schedule. The average rate of travel was 120 miles every 24 hours. Part of the route in Arkansas from Strickler (elevation 1560 feet) the Overland Mail road wandered down a narrow and rocky trail ten miles to the crossing of Lee's Creek. It is this ten-mile stretch that drew such comments as the Postmaster General's 1858 Report: "It is impossible that any road could be worse"; and the New York reporter's, "I might say the road was a steep, rugged, jagged, rough and mountainous and then wish for more impressive words."
Hiram Rumfield, an employee of the Overland Mail Company, wrote to his wife in Ohio: "No one who has never passed over this road can form any idea of its bold and rugged aspect. It winds along the mountainside over a surface covered with masses of broken rock, and frequently runs in fearful proximity to precipitous ravines of unknown depth. Over such a route as this the coaches of the mail company are driven with fearful rapidity... The stage reels from side to side like a storm-tossed bark, and the dim of the heavily ironed wheels in constant contact with the flinty rock, is truly appalling. The man who passes over this route a passenger in one of the Overland Mail coaches without experiencing feelings of mingled terror and astonishment must certainly be oblivious to every consideration of personal safety."
Where they crossed the Arkansas River at Van Buren, the OMC first used a flat boat resembling a raft, but in 1860 there was a ferry "propelled by two horses walking around a sort of treadmill, or nearly horizontal wheel, communicating motion to the paddles."
The first west-bound mail left St. Louis on the morning of September 16, 1858 and arrived in San Francisco 24 days later---on the morning of October 10th. The first east-bound mail left San Francisco on September 14th and arrived in St. Louis on October 9th. President (John Butterfield) of the Overland Mail Company's slogan was: "Remember boys, nothing on earth must stop the United States mail!"
Riverboat
Joseph Reynolds, a very young and successful entrepreneur in the East, taught school, peddled meat, and operated a flour mill. He soon traded the mill for a tannery, and in 1856, he moved his tannery business from New York to Chicago. By 1862, he owned four boats making their way up and down the Mississippi river, busily collecting hides and grain from every port from St. Paul to St. Louis. Late in life, Reynolds wrote “It was when I was a comparatively young man, about a hundred years ago, and I had been in the tannery business back east. I came to Chicago to engage in the business of trading in pelts. One spring I was on a trip into the northwest and when I bought furs and skins I packed them in boxes and just at random made rough diamond on the outside and signed with J.R. The next day I found that another young fellow also was using J.R., so I changed my R to an O just because it was the easiest way to do it. I did a great deal of business and people began calling me `Diamond Jo'. When I built my line of Mississippi River steamers I named it The Diamond Jo line.”
Jo was a very good-natured man. His entire life was devoted to helping others and making good business. Jo seemed to prosper at whatever he set his mind to doing. One day a passenger aboard one of Reynolds' ships, the Mary Morton, named for his wife, stopped to chat for a while with a carpenter who was repairing a window sash. Before leaving the ship, the passenger complimented the captain on the character of his employees and mentioned his pleasant surprise at finding such intelligence, courtesy and wealth of information as possessed by the handyman. "Yes, he is right sharp," the captain replied. "Most any trip you'll find him puttering around with his kit of tools, the most unassuming person aboard. He is Jo Reynolds and he owns this ship as well as a half-dozen more just like it."
In 1874, "Diamond Jo" made his way to Malvern from St. Louis where he would travel by carriage to the healing waters of Hot Springs. He suffered from painful attacks of rheumatism and arthritis. The carriages and the bumpy mountain roads were very uncomfortable for him and other ailing passengers, but there was no railway into Hot Springs at the time. He foresaw a great business in providing a comfortable means of transportation to Hot Springs.
Malvern Narrow Gauge Rail to Hot Springs
Prior to 1875, people traveled by stagecoach, covered wagons, ox teams, and horses. When the railroad was in working order, merchants began to move near the modern transportation. The "Diamond Jo" railroad was built by Joseph Reynolds and transported travelers to and from Hot Springs, Arkansas. Reynolds practically sank his entire fortune into the building of his 36 inch wide narrow gauge railroad. Construction began in the spring of 1875. By July 3, 1875, the grading and trestle work was completed on the first six miles out of Malvern. On July 27, Colonel R. A. Thornton was awarded the contract for construction of all the depots between Malvern and Hot Springs. On January 25, 1876, the narrow gauge Diamond Jo Hot Springs Railroad was completed.
The eleven-car trains ran twice a day; eight freight cars, one baggage and express combined, and two fine passenger coaches. They rolled briskly along behind a beautiful little 2-4-0 locomotive with a diamond stack, an oil-burning headlight nearly as large in diameter as the front of the smoke box, and a long wooden pilot. According to the Dec. 13, 1911 issue of the Times-Journal, Mr. W. W. Beeson, Sr. wrote “Jo's line, known as the `Diamond Jo Line' was relatively inexpensive with a cost of 10 cents per mile or $2.50 from Malvern to Hot Springs (the stage coach ride had cost $6). It was a beautiful train, "...with its engine liberally banded in polished brass, and its cab curtains of soft silk and cushions of red plush. The small coaches were fitted out with the same luxury........ ……many notables from the highest walks of life traveled this road" This was the only railroad into Hot Springs for decades. This added much to the interest of Malvern. Shops and houses were built and many men called into service on this line."
Original inhabitants of Hot Spring County were Native Americans, trappers, hunters, farmers and a few criminals who had escaped across the Mississippi River. The Cairo & Fulton Railroad, linking Cairo, Poplar Bluff, and Benton, laid out the town site of Malvern in 1870. Some of the settlement's first businesses were dry good stores, a ten-cent store, and a saloon. Later more businesses and saloons were opened. Due to the saloon's "shoot-up" episodes, Malvern held a reputation of being one of the roughest areas in Arkansas. Thus, the appropriate positioning of the Malvern rail inscription at the hogs rear end. This might well be a paradox of Kirkpatrick, placing Malvern the end of the line, the bottom tier socially, or your last stop alive before taking the treacherous ride on the short rail. A traveler might be shot or just find their world come to “the end” on this dangerous pass. Many found the Hot Springs worth the gamble. On October 15, 1878, Malvern officially became the county seat of Hot Spring County.
MAJOR HUBS
Poplar Bluff Missouri hub; North to St. Louis; South to Little Rock. Poplar Bluff also had two mainline railroads, the Frisco and the Missouri Pacific. The latter was originally the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern Railroad and in 1872 was the first railroad completed through Poplar Bluff. The rail line runs north and south out of Poplar Bluff to St.. Louis and Little Rock Ark. Due to rail connections, Poplar Bluff became a center for the shipment of wood related products and wheat, cotton and corn grown in the area.
The St. Louis, Iron Mountain, Southern Railroad merged with the Missouri Pacific in. 1917. The railroad built a roundhouse on the property joining the depot and all servicing of the trains on this route was done here. This brought a large number of railroad employees into the town as well as furnishing employment to others who already lived here.
The second mainline in Poplar Bluff was the Frisco line. In 1901 the Southern Missouri and Arkansas Railroad built a line through Poplar Bluff and in the same year sold it to the St. Louis-San Francisco railroad, commonly known as the Frisco. This service ran from Hoxie, Ark., through Poplar Bluff to Cape Girardeau, opening up connections for smaller communities to major cities such as Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago and Kansas City.
Unique for an Anna Pig flask is St. Louis inscribed at snout, with stage/rail line straight through forehead between ears, down middle of hogs back at shoulder to the first major hub of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Line continues due south down hogs back to second hub of Little Rock, Arkansas at hips, and on to Southern destinations: Benton, Malvern and the Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Important cutoffs appear from the hubs with travel from the East, down the Ohio River to Cairo, Cairo westward to Poplar Bluff, West from Memphis to the major hub of Little Rock, and East from Fort Smith also by passage of stage, rail, or riverboat off the Arkansas River to Little Rock. Travel “to” the Hot Springs was achievable by merely getting a means to reach St. Louis, Cairo, Memphis, or Ft, Smith, and simply to reach a major hub. Likewise, and conversely, the traveler departs `from” the Hot Spring to Little Rock, if needed to Poplar Bluff, and on to anywhere. This becomes a most accurate guide “to and fro'” the Hot Springs. The north end of the pig heading north is the hog's nose, St. Louis, Missouri. The south end is Malvern, Arkansas, geographically and perhaps socially in 1875. It seems that all points are reached through these two major hubs or their cutoffs.
INTENTIONS
The Kirkpatrick were driven to not only develop and expand their business, but to set themselves apart and to simply amaze their patrons and clients. The person being given any Anna Pottery whimsies must be impressed and grateful in order for Kirkpatrick to be satisfied. The person being presented the Arkansas flask and jug “could be” or “know of” a potential business client for Anna utilitarian stoneware or Kaolin clay, or be just a casual attendee to a meeting or fair. Moreover, the simple intention of Kirkpatrick was to be highly respected, regarded, and most of all remembered for their wit, potting talent, and quality wares. This was an effective marketing strategy for their handcraft business. As published in the Jonesboro Gazette on September 18, 1875 “Kirkpatrick Brothers, the widely known pottery men say that the past year has been the peer of its predecessors in the way of demand for and supply of their wares. They make and sell 100,000 gallons of ordinary pottery ware, and a half million of pipes annually…. they have sent more clay from their pits at Kaolin than any former year. Good fortune and increasing wealth, the individual results of industry and good judgment attend this firm in all their undertakings.” In a craft that was not the most highly regarded profession and very hard dirty work, the objective of most Nineteen Century potteries were to simply meet the basic expectations of their customers, some sought to exceed the expectations, only a few wanted to delight the customer with a good product and truly great service. The opportunistic Kirkpatricks went way above all with the sincere intention “to amaze” the customer with their sagacity and premium quality stoneware and clay mining. The gift of these Arkansas whimsies fully support the intention of the Anna Pottery and the effective marketing strategy “to be remembered” as any future needs for stoneware or quality fire clay occur. They are more than conversation pieces; they were Kirkpatrick's business card imbedded in the memory banks of past, current, future, and potential customers. Usually giveaways, they were advertisements and promotions at the most effective degree. Today, they are classic American folk art.
These items and Kirkpatrick are not easily forgotten as the user partakes in a sip of fine old bourbon with lifelike snakes at their face or a hog's rear and genitals on their lips. Anyone holding one of these whimsies and making the simple simulation of taking a drink might experience anxiety and well trigger an obsessive compulsive disorder. It is difficult to forget any occasion that evokes fright, dismay, disgust, challenge, dare, and consternation. To overcome this, the simulator might just have to take a real long sip with one eye on the vessel and with an odd expression on his face.
INTERPRETATIONS
Often Kirkpatrick snakes appear to be entrapping a person, a person's head (mind), other snakes, frogs, and beetles. Here, Arkansas cotton mouth vipers have secured swamp frogs from their escape. This might signify the Kirkpatrick's infamous neutral position on temperance to suit both sides politically, socially, and ethically. Regardless of position, or interpretation, the person hitting this bottle too hard may see these varmints take life, to become doomed and entrapped like the frogs, and in the tight grasp of alcoholism. These snakes may actually be the server of good will by giving a warning that danger can and does lay within this place. Consuming the contents in moderation can medicinally serve the common cold, yet in excess ruin a drinker's well being and entire life. Indeed, real
consternation is stimulated that makes Kirkpatrick's intended point not easily forgotten. The Arkansas pig flask holds a much smaller amount of fine “Old Bourbon” via the hog's rear, possibly signifying a call for moderation. Certainly, there would have been many less deadly shootings in Malvern saloons had patrons drank less and kept more in control of there senses. The common message of this flask and jug promotes consumption in moderation.
The Arkansas snake jug and pig flask exemplify the Kirkpatrick handcraft and deserve the highest degree of admiration. Both the ingenuity and the product of Kirkpatrick are to be positioned in arena of American ceramics on the very top shelf, then, today, and tomorrow.
SPECIAL NOTE: The above article is copywrited and may not be reproduced in part or whole either mechanically or electronically withour the advanced written permission of the author. All terms and conditions
are posted at bottom of this site's Home Page.
REFERENCES:
Times-Journal, Dec. 13, 1911
Shortline Railroads of Arkansas. "Hot Springs Railroad"
The Arkansas Gazette, Oct. 28, 1907. "Malvern has many natural advantages."
The written memories of Mr. W. W. Beeson, Sr., written about 1940
City of Poplar Bluff, Missouri Historic Preservation Commission, Julie Wolpers
dba Webcurrent Communications
The Jonesboro Gazette, September 18, 1875
The Kilns, Handcraft, and Sagacity of Kirkpatrick, wk in progress, G. Mathis 2005
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Mrs. Charlotte Pearson with family heirloom vessel.
A couple off weeks before convention Publicity Chairman Gerry Reeves and his side kick Richard Ellis went to the local newspaper in Galesburg to have an article wrote up on our up coming convention. Gerry and Richard spent a lot of time with the Editor and had a great 5 gallon salt glaze Galesburg Pottery crock there for pictures in the article. When the article came out the week of convention it was only a couple of paragraphs long and was not what was wanted to promote the big C.O.I.P.S. convention, and needless to say they were a little disappointed in the newspaper and the tiny article.
Well when the stoneware show opened up at 10:00 am. For the public a lady named Charlotte Pearson walks in to the show with a Galesburg Pottery Presentation piece marked Mrs. C. AHLINE that was given to her grandmother in the 1890's! The lady's grandmother was a baker by trade and lived right next to the Galesburg Pottery Company. She must of done a lot of business there or baked lots of goodies for the workers because someone made one very special piece for her. The lady was asked if she would leave the pitcher on the Galesburg display and she agreed to leave it not knowing anyone there which was very nice of her. So all the hard work did pay off because the little ad brought in a very rare piece for everyone to enjoy at the convention!
Unique Galesburg, Illinois presentation vessel
"Mrs. C. AHLINE" cc: 1890
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Collectors of Illinois Pottery and Stoneware
c/o Newsletter Editors Connie & Tony Dalson Peacock
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