USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 15
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Then came the railroad and steam coach and the doom of the stage coach was at hand. In 1840 there were four hundred and twenty-six miles of rail- road lines in New England in short, disconnected lines; they increased rap- idly, and line after line of stage coaches was discontinued, and tavern after tavern fell into disuse, until before many years had gone by, stage coach and tavern were found only in isolated regions. Nothing has been said of the discomforts and inconveniences of those early days of travel, nor need we pity the travelers too much. As the old lady remarked, when asked how she managed to get along without certain conveniences, "You don't miss what you never had." Looking back over the changes the years have brought, the question inevitably arises whether the same number of years in the future will bring equally great many changes in means of travel and manner of living.
THE POTTERIES OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT
Among the vanished industries of Norwich, though of great interest to the collector, are the potteries, fine specimens of whose work are still to be
OLD HUNTINGTON HOUSE, RENTED BY CAPTAIN RENE GRIGNON FOR A GOLDSMITH'S SHOP.
OLD POTTERY OF SIDNEY RISLEY, ERECTED ABOUT 1835.
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seen in the town. Coarse pottery was made to a certain extent soon after the settlement in New England ; our ancestors used pewter and wooden dishes. spoons and other utensils, many of these being retained in Norwich families. Pottery was not common in American houses until the middle of the eight- eenth century, and few persons of Revolutionary times had ever seen por- celain. Wooden trenchers, spoons, pewter dishes, mugs, water pitchers, and similar articles, appear in many old inventories. In 1822 there were only twelve potteries in Connecticut, the value of the earthen and stone ware being $30,740.
Pottery, in its broadest sense, includes everything made of clay, either wholly or in part, and then baked in a fire or furnace; and all makers of wares consisting of clay, either pure or combined, and finished by baking, were potters. As it is now generally understood, objects made of clay and baked, which are opaque, are called pottery ; those which are translucent are called porcelain. Such ware is also distinguished as soft pottery and hard pottery ; soft pottery is made of any ordinary clay, like a common house brick or a flower pot, the color depending on the kind of clay used and the amount of firing, and the coloring matter. Hard pottery is made by mixing stone or sand with the clay, which, on baking, becomes hard, not easy to scratch, and will stand much usage and is made in various colors ; hence we have the terms "Stone and Earthen Ware" in the old advertisements.
The clay itself, in all its varieties, is characterized by its coherence, weight and compactness; it is hard when dry, but stiff, viscid and ductile when moist, hence a pottery has to have a good water supply. It is smooth to the touch, not readily diffusible in water, and when mixed, not subsiding readily in it. It contracts by heat, but is so tenacious that it is readily moulded into shape, "as the clay in the potter's hands." The glaze is secured by the introduction of salt into the kiln when the temperature is the highest, and this is known as "salt glaze."
The tools were of the simplest ; a potter's wheel is a revolving disk turned by the foot of the potter, by an assistant, or, later, by machinery. The clay is moistened with water, then thrown on the potter's wheel, which is set in motion by the thrower, who with thumb and fingers, curved sticks and a few other simple tools, shapes the vessel. The potter's wheel is one of the earliest known implements of the trade, for Jeremiah writes, "Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold he wrought a work on the wheels."
Some of the vessels were made in forms; large bottles or jugs with small necks were made in two sections, the lower one first, and next the neck, which was then fitted to the lower part and pressed with the slip until the jointure had entirely disappeared. Relief ornaments for the surface were either engraved in the mould, or moulded separately and fastened on with a slip of the paste ; handles, spouts, etc., were made separately and then fastened on. The colors were obtained from colored earths mixed with some vitrifiable substance, which must be earthy or metallic, as vegetable colors disappeared in the process. Blue was obtained from cobalt ; green from copper, or cobalt and iron ; browns from iron, antimony, nickel, iron and platinum ; white from tin and arsenic, and rose-pink from gold, with silver and tin. So the potter,
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like the artist, must know how to mix his colors, to obtain the desired results. Blue seems to have been oftenest used here, in the decorations of the stone. ware, perhaps because that color showed to best advantage on the stone-gray color, or perhaps it was cheaper and more easily obtained. The cobalt mines at Chatham, east of the Connecticut river, may have been a factor in its use. With these points in mind, our Norwich potteries and their products may be readily understood.
As has been previously stated, pottery was not manufactured in New England to any extent till after the middle of the eighteenth century; the earliest mention so far found by the writer of a pottery in Norwich is the one established by Colonel Christopher Leffingwell. Colonel Leffingwell was an ardent patriot, a descendant of Lieutenant Thomas Leffingwell, one of the founders of Norwich, Connecticut, a friend of Uncas, Sachem of the Mohegans. The Leffingwell family has always taken a prominent part in the development of the town, as told in Miss Caulkins' "History of Norwich, Connecticut," and Miss Perkins' "Old Houses of the Antient Town of Nor- wich, Connecticut."
A few years before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Colonel Leffingwell started a number of business enterprises in Norwich, perhaps partly on account of the financial side, but also perhaps from the far-sighted- ness with which he and other prominent men foresaw the inevitable struggle with the Mother Country. Among these enterprises were a grist mill, a paper mill, a chocolate mill and a pottery. Just when the pottery was first in operation is not known, but on April 9, 1774, Colonel Leffingwell sold to Thomas Williams "about fourteen rods of land lying a little southerly from my Stone ware Kiln in the First Society of Norwich . with the privilege of passing and repassing upon my land from the east end of said lot on twenty feet broad, thence in a direct line by my said Potters Kiln & Shop, between said Shop and my House that Judah Paddock Spooner Lives in, to the Highway."
The following advertisements appeared in the "Norwich Packet & The Weekly Advertiser" in August, 1779:
To be SOLD for Cafh or Country Produce, by the Maker, at his houfe near Doctor Lathrop's at Norwich ; A NEW ASSORTMENT of home-made Earthen WARE; confifting of Milk pans, Chamber Pots, Mugs, &s. &c., &c.
To be Sold at the Printing Office, (for Cafh or Country Produce) A FRESH ASSORTMENT of Home Made Earthen WARE; confifting of the following articles, viz. Milk Pans, Butter Pots, Pitchers, Jugs, Pudding-Pans, Bowls, Mugs, Platers, Plates, &c., &c. (In 1793 the business was carried on by Charles Lathrop, son-in-law of Colonel Leffingwell, and later still by Christopher Potts, whose advertisement appears in the Norwich, Connecticut. "Gazette" of September 15, 1796.)
C. Potts & Son informs the Public that they have lately established a Manufactory of Earthenware at the shop formerly improved by Mr. Charles Lathrop, where all kinds of said Ware is made and sold, either in large of small quantities and guaranteed good. (This Christopher Potts was prob- ably of the New London or Groton family, and a descendant of William Potts, who came from New Castle, England, and married in 1678, in New
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London, Connecticut, Rebecca Avery, daughter of Captain James Avery. In 1790, Christopher was living in Norwich, with Asahel Case and Gideon Birchard as neighbors.)
In "Morse's Gazetteer" for 1797, stone and earthen ware is mentioned among the industries of Norwich.
Thomas Williams, in whose deed from Colonel Leffingwell the first mention is made of a pottery, built a house upon his little piece of land, and in August, 1796, sold it to Rufus Sturdevant, and in this deed Leffingwell's stone-ware kiln is mentioned. In August, 1797, Sturdevant sold the place with the same privilege of crossing the land of Christopher Leffingwell, "in a direct line by the Pottery Kiln & Shop, between said Shop and the house owned by said Leffingwell, to the highway, to Asa Spalding, who died in 1811, and in 1813 Luther Spalding sold the property to Joseph H. Strong, with the same privilege of crossing, the Potters' Kiln and Shop being again mentioned, and also the house of Epaphras Porter, who had purchased some adjoining property.
Colonel Leffingwell died in 1810, and in his inventory were included: "One Shovel for a Potter's Kiln, three Turning Machines for a Potter, One Machine for grinding paint and forty-five pounds of yellow ochre."
In "Morse's Geography" of 1805, Norwich is quoted as manufacturing paper of all kinds, stockings, clocks, watches, chaises, buttons, stone and earthen ware, wire, oil, chocolate, bells, anchors and all kinds of forge work. At what date the manufacture of pottery at this place was discontinued is not definitely known. In 1811, Cary Throop had a shop there, but probably not used as a pottery, and before 1816 the pottery seems to have disappeared.
The location of the first pottery has in years past been the source of much discussion, but the place is definitely fixed by the deeds mentioned, some of these being mentioned in Miss Perkins' "Old Houses of The Antient Town of Norwich, Connecticut, 1660-1800." (1895; pages 82, 83.) Mention of the pottery is found on page 83. Between pages 168 and 16Q is a map of Norwich in 1795, showing location of houses still standing, and houses removed before and after 1795. Number 24 is listed as house of Thomas Williams, owner; No. 25 is the pottery kiln and shop, both down near the Yantic river, on the road leading from Harland's corner to Norwich Town Church, both removed since 1795. It may also be located by (a) the houses of "Tossit" and "E. Porter" on the colored map used as a frontispiece of that book, the map being entitled "Norwich, circa 1830; A Boyish Remem- brance, Dond G. Mitchell" (Ike Marvel.)
Fine specimens of the wares made at this pottery are owned in Norwich ; a red plate with yellow scroll is an unusual piece. In the Morgan Memorial at Hartford, Connecticut, are two pieces of pottery, a jug and a jar, which are labeled as having been made in Norwich, Connecticut, about 1810. They are of a deep red color, with black blotches made by admitting smoke into the kiln, and have a special lead glaze. Bowls, large and small, and jars tall and deep, or round and squat, of this warc, are seen, besides many examples of the stone ware utensils.
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The second pottery of which anything has been learned was located near the so-called Clinton Woolen Mills, in that part of Norwich commonly known as Bean Hill, now the Saxton Woolen Company on Clinton avenue.
Andrew Tracy, son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Bushnell) Tracy, inherited some land from his father, and in 1781 sold to his brother, Isaac Tracy, some of the land, one parcel of which was described as lying at the west end of the Town street, and was formerly part of his honored father, Mr. Isaac Tracy's, home lot, excepting and reserving a free highway one and one-half rods wide on the easterly side to pass and repass to and from the Town street to the Corn Mill. In 1791, Isaac Tracy sold this land with a dwelling house and corn mill, known as Tracy's Mills, bordering on the river and mill pond, his right being one-third of said land, house, mill and lane, and including the "lane to the Town street," together with the dam across the river. No men- tion is made of a pottery.
On December 24, 1798, Andrew Tracy mortgaged to a Boston firm three parcels of land in Norwich, the third of which is described as lying south of the highway on Bean Hill, so-called; bounded by the highway (Town street) on the north, and south on the river; "Including the mill lot, mill house, the privilege and appurtenances Rents & Profits viz : my two thirds part thereof and all my interest in the Blacksmith Shop, forge trip hammer & tools, Pot- ter's works, &c." This is the first mention of a pottery on these premises. Andrew Tracy removed to Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and in January, 1800, appointed Elisha Hyde of Norwich, Connecticut, his attorney. On the following June, Tracy gave a quit-claim deed of the premises, including the potter's works, to Captain Joseph Hosmer, who had purchased the mortgage of the Boston firm.
Captain Joseph Hosmer came from Salem, Massachusetts; he is thought to have been the son of Captain David and Mary (Cabot) Hosmer, who for a time resided in Norwich. He probably carried on the pottery business as a side issue, in connection with other enterprises. He died in July, 1803, and the inventory of his estate included hollow ware and stone and earthen ware. On June 3, 1805, the Widow Hannah Hosmer, with Captain James Hyde, as executors of the estate, sold part of the estate to William Cleveland ; the deed describes the land as beginning at the south-westerly corner of the potter's shop standing on the premises, and is bounded westerly on the river, touches the mill pond and mill ditch, and included a dwelling house, grist mill, blacksmith shop and stone potter's works standing thereon, with the privilege of an open way from the Town street to the premises as the mill lane then lay, and the flow of water for the convenience of all the works thereon standing.
William Cleveland, also a descendant of a Norwich family, came from Salem, Massachusetts, as did his predecessor, Captain Joseph Hosmer. Pur- chasing the pottery in 1805, he continued the business till May 2, 1814, when he sold out to Peleg Armstrong and Erastus Wentworth, both of Norwich. The previous April, Cleveland had sold part of his land to Ebenezer and Erastus Huntington, and the Huntingtons were improving one of the build- ings as a spinning and weaving factory. The part sold to Armstrong and
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Wentworth included a stone pottery shop, wood shed, and a stone pottery kiln on the premises, and gave to the Huntingtons the privilege of passing to and from a door about the center of their factory building.
The Huntington and Backus Company became the Norwich Manufactur- ing Company, which in 1829 purchased part of the land of Armstrong and Wentworth. In June, 1834, Armstrong sold out his share in the business to Wentworth, so that pottery marked Armstrong & Wentworth, or A & W, dates from 1814 to 1834. The manufacturing company evidently wanted more room, so the next year Wentworth sold land with "the buildings heretofore occupied by me as a Pottery." This company has been at various times the Huntington & Backus Company, the Norwich Manufacturing Company, Uncas Woolen Mill, Elting Woolen Mill, Clinton Woolen Mills, and now is the Saxton Woolen Company.
The lane leading from the Town street to the mill is now Clinton avenue. About twenty years ago, while excavations were being made for repairs on the dam, many pieces of earthenware were dug up, consisting of broken scraps and imperfect specimens for the greater part. Some of the squat stoneware ink bottles in good condition were preserved as curiosities by the superin- tendent of the mill.
Peleg Armstrong was born April 14, 1785, in Norwich, Connecticut, the son of Jabez and Anne (Roath) Armstrong; he married (first) Lucy Went- worth, sister of Erastus Wentworth, and on her decease he married her sister, Mary Wentworth. Erastus Wentworth was born November 8, 1788, in Norwich, the son of Lemuel and Elizabeth (Sangar) Wentworth, of Nor- wich; he married, in Stonington, Connecticut, Esther States, daughter of Adam and Esther (Noyes) States of Stonington. This Adam States came from Holland and established a pottery at Stonington before 1800. Miss Wheeler tells of this States family and the pottery, and relates an amusing story of "Uncle Wentworth" in her "The Homes of Our Ancestors in Ston- ington, Connecticut" (1903 ; pp. 212, 213).
The next pottery was near the second one, and was located on the river, near Yantic bridge, and is still remembered by some who lived in the neigh- borhood or had occasion to pass over that road.
Erastus Wentworth sold his land and shop on October 22, 1835, and on the 3Ist of the same month he purchased of Joseph H. Strong "the kiln lot so called," bounded northerly by the highway and westerly by the river Yantic. This was around the bend of the river from the other pottery, and had been perhaps used for extra work. Business did not seem to prosper, for in December, 1835, Wentworth assigned to Henry B. Tracy several parcels of land, one of them being the kiln lot, with a pottery and other buildings. Also two one-horse wagons, and one wagon harness, the pottery wheels in the pottery, wheelbarrow, pads and all of the tools and machinery in the pottery and the land on which the pottery stood. The following April, Henry B. Tracy, as trustee, sold to Lewis Hyde, the highest bidder, the land with the pottery and other buildings. Mr. Wentworth moved to Stonington, where he carried on the business at the States place, and nothing further has been learned of the pottery at Bean Hill, though it is said that for a time the busi-
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ness was carried on by Joseph Winship, who had worked with Mr. Went- worth, and a Mr. Spencer from Hartford, Connecticut, who soon returned to Hartford, while Mr. Winship went to work in the newly opened pottery of Sidney Risley, at the Landing.
Of the size, shape or general appearance of these earlier potteries there seems to be no record or description, but particulars of the next one are obtained from an old resident of Norwich, who used to live in the vicinity.
Sidney Risley came to Norwich, where he married, on April 28, 1841, Mary Dodge, of Norwich ; he was then called of East Hartford, Connecticut ; in 1845 he owned land and a dwelling house on School street. He established a small pottery in Thamesville, on the bank of the river, almost directly back of the present residence of Mr. John E. Post. 76 West Thames street, prob- ably on leased ground. The buildings were small but some good work was done, examples being still extant. Before September, 1845, Risley had re- moved to Cove street, and in the first Norwich directory published in 1846 was listed as "Sidney Risley, stoneware pottery, Cove street, W. C." (W. C., West Chelsea.) While the west bank of the Thames river was at that time the home of a number of sea captains and the site of shipyards, the section around Cove street, in what was then called West Chelsea, was almost unde- veloped. The large stone house of Captain William W. Coit, on the present Fairmount street, later occupied by Mr. John Porteous, was the only prom- inent dwelling house of the section.
In the "Norwich Directory" of 1857 is the advertisement of "Sidney Risley, No. 4 Cove St., Manufacturer of Stone Ware in Every Variety. The Trade supplied with all kinds of Stone Ware, at the lowest market prices. N.B. All orders thankfully received and promptly attended to." In this same directory appears the name of Joseph F. Winship, potter, living on Salen turnpike, employed by Risley; in 1861 he was still working in the pottery. This Winship has been mentioned as formerly in the employ of Erastus Went- worth at Bean Hill.
Additions were made to the original plant, so that in later years consid- erable space was occupied. The calendar for 1921 issued by the "Norwich Morning Bulletin," shows the old pottery, the picture being taken from an old print in possession of Attorney William H. Shields, of Norwich. The sheds, workroom, and old kiln, on the bank of the cove, are most interesting, and contrast sharply with the appearance of the spot at the present day. A small arm of the Yantic river ran up to the place where the pottery was situated, and from this the street obtained its name of Cove street. Wood for the kiln could be brought by boat or team. Everyone in that section of the town knew when the fires were going at the pottery, for the dense black smoke from the three-foot sticks filled the sky for a space of from 36 to 50 hours, according to the particular kind of work being done. The clay used in the manufacture of the wares is said to have been brought from New Jersey and Long Island in schooners which anchored in the river nearby.
The wares of the Risley pottery, like those of Armstrong & Wentworth, were loaded in wagons and peddled through all the eastern part of Connec- ticut. Wentworth, as has been said, had two one-horse wagons; Alvin T.
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Davis was one of the old drivers for Risley, and his pottery wagon with a fine pair of Newfoundland dogs hitched on ahead of the horses is still re- membered.
Risley at first leased the property, but in 1856 purchased it and continued the business until his death on April 26, 1875, at the age of sixty-one years. His son, George L. Risley, then continued the works until his tragic death on the day before Christmas, 1881. He had gone to the pottery to light the fires under an upright boiler, which blew up, and, going through the roof of the building, landed in the cove about 120 feet away. It is said that the force of the explosion was so great that the 1500-pound boiler passed completely over a fifty-foot elm tree at the rear of the pottery. Mr. Risley was so badly injured that he died that evening. An account of the accident appeared in the "Scientific American" in January, 1822.
B. C. Chace opened the pottery about a year later, under the name of the Norwich Pottery Works; in 1885 he was succeeded by George B. Chamber- lain, who continued it for about two years. Perhaps a little more ornamental work was attempted at this time, for a Norwich resident remembers seeing one of the Chamberlain girls make a vase, with flower ornament. The busi- ness was then continued by Otto N. Suderburg till 1895, when it was discon- tinued.
All the buildings comprising the pottery have now disappeared and the locality is greatly altered in appearance. The cove was filled in when the New London, Willimantic & Palmer railroad was built, and its successor, the New London Northern railroad, became owners of part of the property. What was left of the buildings was torn down in 1900, the old brick was thrown into a hole in the lot. and a new building, used as a warehouse, was erected on the old pottery site by Mr. Charles Slosberg. The warehouse, with the Slosberg name, may be seen from the Central Vermont railroad station on the West Side. Thus, after a period of over one hundred and thirty years, vanished one of the industries of Norwich.
In these days when glass in many forms-jars, bottles. tumblers, dishes of all kinds even to baking dishes-is in general use, it is hard to realize that our grandmothers had to put up all their preserves, mostly "pound for pound," and kept them in earthen or stone jars of various shapes and sizes. Home- made beer, cider, wine and other liquid refreshments were kept in stone bottles or jugs. The ink bottles, large and small, were of this stoneware; mugs, pitchers, milk-pans, butter pots, pudding pans, platters and plates, are men- tioned in the old advertisements. The soft soap, without which no household was kept properly clean, was stored in one of these jars, one in particular being in mind which in former days was considered only a little old red jar, but which in later years was recognized as an unusually fine specimen, of deep red color and graceful lines. Some crockery was imported from England, and after the China trade was opened, dishes became more plentiful, but it was many years before the use of such ware became general.
Thus it is easily seen that a pottery was a necessary industry ; wagon- loads of the red soft pottery and the stone and earthen ware were sent out over the roads in all directions, even as the tin-peddler's cart of a later day.
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The former has entirely disappeared, and the latter is now rarely seen. The early potters rarely stamped their work with any distinctive mark, in this section at least ; but those who have been so fortunate as to examine the red, smoke-blotched ware or the red with yellow trimmings, would recognize the work again. Armstrong & Wentworth used the mark, "A & W," or later, "Armstrong & Wentworth, Norwich." One of the jugs made by this firm has the owner's name written in the clay, because he did not want to have his jug mixed up with that of anyone else. Risley's mark was usually "S. Risley."
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