The Jones Pottery Factory: Part One, 1842-1850
By Sam Pickard
This is part one of a two part series on the Jones pottery. For part two, click HERE.
For roughly three decades Benjamin Jones operated a pottery on West Chester Pike in Marple Township, yet aside from scattered references, little has been written about it. In 1884, Henry Graham Ashmead wrote that “In 1841, Benjamin Jones erected a pottery at the ninth mile-stone on the West Chester road, near the Buck Tavern. A few years ago, the pottery, proving unrenumerative, was permitted to fall into disuse.”[1] Later histories gave even briefer descriptions, until in 1914 when John W. Jordan implied that the pottery was short-lived because “the entire enterprise proved a failure and was discontinued.”[2] Most recently, Elizabeth C. Lodge described it briefly as in Marple’s Heritage 1684- as “The very busy pottery at the ninth-mile stone on West Chester Pike near Darby Creek.”[3]
Who was Benjamin Jones and why did he establish a pottery in Marple? What did it make? How long did it last? Was it “a failure” or “very busy”?
Who was Benjamin Jones?
Benjamin Jones, the potter, was born on November 10, 1814 in East Bradford Township, Chester County to Quaker blacksmith Benjamin Jones Jr. and his wife Ann James.[4] While the Jones family had been blacksmiths, the James family had long been potters, with their ancestor Aaron James (died 1752) reputedly establishing a pottery in Westtown Township, Chester County as early as 1728.[5] It seems likely that young Benjamin was apprenticed at either the James family pottery in Westtown, then operated by his second cousin Abraham James or at a pottery in East Caln Township, Chester County operated by another second cousin, Eber James.[6] Considering subsequent events, the second location is more probable.
The Potters’ Trade
When the young Benjamin Jones was apprenticed to a potter, he was joining a skilled trade that had taken root in Pennsylvania early after European colonization. Around the time Benjamin was born, there were more than 160 potteries in Pennsylvania alone, producing more than 656,000 pieces of pottery. These ceramics were used for a wide variety of purposes, including tableware, lamps, storage containers, flower pots, and ornamental pieces.[7]
Potters generally did not become wealthy from their trade—indeed, many took up farming in addition to making pottery during the summer months.[8] One advantage, however, for a potter starting out on his own was the relatively small start-up capital needed, with James Biser Whisker noting that in the mid-1800s, some potters reported less than $25 on their equipment. Additionally, excepting specialized ceramics like bone china, most types of pottery could be made almost anywhere a decent run of clay could be found in the ground.[9]
Boys like Benjamin entered the trade as apprentices, bound over to a master potter in their early teenage years. Apprenticeship involved a legal contract between the master potter and the parents of the apprentice whereby the potter was required to care for and educate the apprentice, teaching him all he knew. In return, the apprentice was unable to leave without the potter’s permission, provided labor without pay, and was unable to marry. The apprenticeship usually ended when the apprentice turned 21 and was provided a set of clothes and tools by his master. The new journeyman potter might continue to work for his former master or set out on his own.[10]
To make pottery, apprentices would have learned to dig clay in autumn months from a depth below plant roots. The clay would be placed in a clay mill, which consisted of a large tub, inside of which blades were attached to a central post. This post was then rotated by horse or manpower until the natural clay’s color and plasticity were to the potter’s liking. It was then formed into large balls and kept over the winter in a place where it could not freeze.[11]
In warmer weather, the potters would spin the clay into vessels on potters’ wheels and then allow this “green” pottery to dry to a point where they could apply a glaze consisting of clay, lead compounds, and sand. A glaze cold be applied to the exterior, interior, or the entirety of a vessel, though some, such as flower pots, generally weren’t glazed.[12]
The glazed pottery would then be placed in the kiln—a cylindrical brick structure with an interior roughly nine-feet in diameter and nine feet tall. The green pottery would be stacked in the kiln using ceramic spacers and shelves to prevent it from touching. Once the kiln was full, it would be walled up and fires would be started in tunnels leading under the kiln. After about 36 hours, the maximum temperature was reached and the kiln was allowed to cool for a week before it could be opened and the ceramics examined. Chester County historian Arthur E. James notes that “The opening of a kiln of ware was approached with mingled emotions of fear and hopeful anticipation. After the culmination of several months’ work, evidence was forthcoming as to the skill and the luck of the potter. Financial failure or success depended upon the quality of his ware.”[13]
Eber James’ Radnor Pottery
Assuming Benjamin Jones apprenticed with Eber James and he was about 14 when he began his apprenticeship, he would have only lived in East Caln Township briefly. In January 1830, Eber James purchased two adjacent tracts of land totaling 85 acres in Radnor Township, Delaware County. James quickly built a kiln and potter shop along the Old Lancaster Road (now Conestoga Road) and commenced making pottery in Radnor.[14]
The shift eastward to Delaware County was a curious move for James. While he now owned the land on which his pottery sat, his extended family and their potteries were based in Chester County. An examination of county histories and Whisker’s Pennsylvania Potters shows that prior to Eber James’ move to Radnor, only one pottery—that of the Carter family in Chester Township—was recorded in Delaware County.[15] In comparison, Philadelphia, Chester, and Lancaster counties seem brimming with potteries.[16] James may have been outcompeted in Chester County, saw an untapped market in Delaware County, or even just purchased a piece of available land.
If Benjamin Jones did not move to Radnor with Eber James in 1830, he was living and working there in January 1838 when he married 21-year-old Sarah Ann Esbin of Willistown Township, Chester County.[17] Little is known about Sarah Ann or her family, though it seems likely that she was related (a sister or cousin) of one Isaac H. Esbin, who had worked at the James pottery in Westtown.[18] Jones’ role at the Radnor pottery in the late 1830s is uncertain. Ashmead’s 1884 history indicates that Jones rented the pottery from Eber James for three or four years, though perhaps he was managing the pottery for James.[19] The 1840 census shows Jones living next door to James and a 15-to-20-year-old man living in the Jones household—possibly an apprentice potter.[20]
The Jones Pottery of Marple Township
On March 31, 1842, Benjamin Jones, then still a resident of Radnor, purchased a triangular 7.27-acre tract of land on West Chester Pike in Marple Township, just east of the Buck Tavern. Jones bought the small farm from John and Esther Wright for $2,000, taking out a $1,500 mortgage. Though not mentioned in the deed or depicted on a map, it is likely that a two-and-a-half-story stone house was on the property when Jones purchased it.[21] While a year off from Ashmead’s account, it seems unlikely that Jones was in Marple earlier than 1842. Jones appears in the 1842 county tax assessment along with another potter—the aforementioned Isaac Esbin. It seems likely that the 22-year-old Esbin was living with and employed by Jones as the latter was getting his own pottery operation off the ground.[22] Esbin soon disappears from the Marple tax lists however, reemerging into the historical record several years later in London Grove Township, Chester County. Here, the newly married potter purchased a tract of land and began a pottery which he closed and sold after just three years.[23]
Back in Marple, Benjamin Jones presumably continued to operate his pottery, though Ashmead’s History of Delaware County provides a conflicting account. Ashmead wrote that after Eber James died in 1846 at age 45, his Radnor pottery was operated for Benjamin Jones for six years, after which Eber’s son Levi G. James took over the pottery.[24] While James’ pottery was not terribly far (about five miles along the roads of the day), it seems unlikely that Jones, who had his own pottery and a property with a mortgage, would take over his former employer’s operation for six years. The Randor pottery is labeled “S James’ Pottery” on an 1848 map, indicating its ownership by Eber’s widow Sarah. While neither Jones’ Marple pottery or the Carter family’s pottery in Chester Township are labeled, this does not confirm that they were not in operation.[25] Jones is listed in the 1848 county tax assessment as a resident of Marple and a potter. Census data gathered two years later indicates that his pottery was almost certainly in operation through the late 1840s.[26]
The 1850 United States Census provides us with the first real contemporary data about Benjamin Jones’ pottery. Jones, now 36, was the head of a household that included his wife Sarah Ann, their five children, and two young potters—21-year-old Sargent N. Barr and 17-year-old Thomas Fimple.[27] Both Barr and Fimple families were living in Marple during this period and these young potters were likely local to the township.[28] The seven-acre farm, the smallest overall in the township at this time, likely provided the Jones household with food more than supplementary income. Benjamin Jones had a horse, a milk cow, and three swine, and grew just 15 bushels of wheat, 20 bushels of corn, 30 bushels of potatoes, and 3 tons of hay. The family was also able to churn 150 pounds of butter from what their cow produced. For comparison’s sake, the average farm in Marple had 69 total acres, two horses, seven milk cows, and seven swine. In addition to growing a wider variety of crops, the average farm produced 62 bushels of wheat, 164 bushels of corn, and 52 bushels of potatoes.[29]
Census data indicates that the pottery itself produced $1,240 worth of earthenware in the preceding year and Jones had spent about $275 on materials, including 35 tons of clay, 35 cords of wood, and 1600 pounds of lead for glazing his ceramics. Jones used a horse to power his clay mill and paid an average of $40 a month in wages to his two employees.[30]
While Jones’ operation was relatively small compared with Chester County potters like John Vickers & Son, which produced $2,800 worth of pottery annually,[31] it was a substantial operation when compared to other Delaware County potteries or even the old James pottery in Westtown, which incidentally was then operated by Isaac H. Esbin.[32]
| Pottery: | Marple (Jones) | Radnor (James) | Chester (Carter) | Westtown (Esbin) |
| Capital Invested | $500 | $1,200 | $1,000 | $1,030 |
| Clay Used | $70 worth | $100 worth | $180 worth | $80 worth |
| Wood Used | 35 cords | 25 cords | 60 cords | |
| Lead | 1,600 lbs. | 1,400 lbs. | ||
| Average Monthly Wages | $40 | $32 | $60 | $60 |
| Total Production Value | $1,240 | $750 | $1,000 | $1,500 |
Even with this data, we still do not know much about the dimensions or physical characteristics of the pottery. No pictures or written descriptions are known. Despite this, we can get a good sense of what Jones’ pottery may have looked like. An 1849 notice published in the Delaware County Republican newspaper described Carter’s Chester Township pottery as a two-story frame building, about 20 by 50 feet in size.[33] Two decades later, Eber James’ sons described the Radnor pottery as a two-story frame and stone building which was also about 20 by 50 feet in size.[34] These descriptions and dimensions seem to fit with the “pot shop” owned by Darlington Cope in Franklin Township, Chester County (see photo below).[35] It seems likely that Jones’ pottery was similar in appearance.
After nearly a decade in operation, Benjamin Jones’ pottery could hardly be called a failure; indeed, census data indicates that Elizabeth Lodge may have been closer to the mark when she characterized it as “very busy.” The good times would not last, however. Find out how the story of the Jones pottery comes to a conclusion in Part Two.
[1] Henry Graham Ashmead, History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1884), 582.
[2] Samuel T. Wiley, Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, ed. Winfield Scott Garner (Richmond, Indiana, and New York: Gresham Publishing Company, 1894), 137; S. F. Hotchkin, Rural Pennsylvania: In the Vicinity of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1897), 360; John W. Jordan, ed., A History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania and Its People, volume I (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1914), 347.
[3] Elizabeth C. Lodge, Marple’s Heritage 1684- (Philadelphia: T. A. McElwee (printer), 1969), 11.
[4] Lewis Palmer, A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of John and Mary Palmer, of Concord, Chester (now Delaware) Co., Pa. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1875), 68, 116.
[5] Arthur E. James, The Potters and Potteries of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Exton, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 1978), 98-99.
[6] James, Potters and Potteries, 98, 106-107.
[7] James Biser Whisker, Pennsylvania Potters, 1660-1900 (Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1993), 1.
[8] Whisker, Pennsylvania Potters, 5; James, Potters and Potteries, 11.
[9] Whisker, Pennsylvania Potters, 1.
[10] Whisker, Pennsylvania Potters, 5-6, 8-9; James, Potters and Potteries, 11.
[11] James, Potters and Potteries, 25.
[12] James, Potters and Potteries, 26-31.
[13] James, Potters and Potteries, 31-33.
[14] Delaware County Deed Book R, 706-707; James, Potters and Potteries, 107; Ashmead, History of Delaware County, 685.
[15] Whisker, Pennsylvania Potters, 73-74; Ashmead, History of Delaware County, 426.
[16] Whisker, Pennsylvania Potters.
[17] “Marriage,” Village Record (West Chester), 23 January 1838.
[18] James, Potters and Potteries, 106.
[19] Ashmead, History of Delaware County, 685.
[20] 1840 U.S. Census, Schedule of the Whole Number of Persons, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Radnor Township, sheet 107.
[21] Delaware County Deed Book V, 488; Delaware County Mortgage Book G, 100; Joshua W. Ash, Map of Delaware County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Robert P. Smith, 1848).
[22] Delaware County Tax Assessment Dockets, 1791-1854, Reel #6, “1842 Aston to Tinicum,” Marple Township (Microfilm on file at Delaware County Historical Society, Chester, Pennsylvania); Delaware County Tax Assessment Dockets, 1791-1854, Reel #8, “1844 Aston to Tinicum,” Marple Township (Microfilm on file at Delaware County Historical Society, Chester, Pennsylvania); 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 1.—Free Inhabitants, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Westtown Township, sheet 412A, lines 38.
[23] James, Potters and Potteries, 69-70; Esbin-Misc. [Marriage of Isaac H. Esbin to Eliza Jane Wilkinson, 25 February 1846], Family History Files, Chester County History Center, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
[24] Ashmead, History of Delaware County, 685.
[25] Ash, Map of Delaware County.
[26] Delaware County Tax Assessment Dockets, 1791-1854, Reel #11, “1848 Aston to Haverford thru 1848, Marple to Tinicum,” Marple Township (Microfilm on file at Delaware County Historical Society, Chester, Pennsylvania); 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 5—Products of Industry, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Marple Township, page 241, line 5.
[27] 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 1.—Free Inhabitants, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Marple Township, sheet 202A, lines 12-20.
[28] Ash, Map of Delaware County.
[29] 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 4.—Productions of Agriculture, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Newtown Township, pages [321]-[322], line 12; Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, “Delaware County 1850 Census Data,” Pennsylvania Agricultural History Project, 2013, retrieved from http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/agriculture/files/1850/data/delaware_county_1850_census_data.pdf.
[30] 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 5—Products of Industry, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Marple Township, page [671], line 5.
[31] 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 5—Products of Industry, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Uwchlan Township, page 245, line 18.
[32] 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 5—Products of Industry, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Radnor Township, page 245, line 18; 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 5—Products of Industry, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Chester Township, page 210, line 14; 1850 U.S. Census, Schedule 5—Products of Industry, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Westtown Township, page [779], line 15.
[33] “Sheriff’s Sale of Real Estate,” Delaware County Republican, 12 January 1849.
[34] “Public Sale of Personal Property,” Delaware County American, 6 February 1867.
[35] James, Potters and Potteries, 54-57.
FANTASTIC essay o n the Jones pottery. Love the excellent research. Can’t wait for the next chapter.