THE RISE OF THE POTTERY IXDUSTRY 



153 



ton, the latter a great-grandson of John Norton, one of the 

 founders. 



A " china '' manufactory existed in Philadelphia ninetj^-one 

 years ago, but very little is known regarding it. A friend has 

 recently shown me a letter, dated August 14, 1800, written by a 

 merchant of that city to his wife, who was then visiting in New 

 Jersey, in which occurs the following interesting bit of news : 

 " On account of a man being murdered at the China Factory on 

 Monday evening last, a block maker by trade, a number of the 

 same profession, with Ro]3e makers and Carpenters, assembled and 

 on Tuesday evening began to pull down the buildings ; they con- 

 tinued at their work till yesterday mid-day, — it was pulled down 

 by Ropes in spite all the Squires and Constables that could be col- 

 lected — say every house, only leaving the Chimneys standing." 

 The writer, an ancestor of the present owner of the letter, was in 

 business at that time near Fourth and Chestnut Streets, and we 

 are led to infer that the factory was somewhere in that neigh- 

 borhood. All white ware at that time was known as china, and 

 the term was evidently applied 

 to queen's-ware — certainly not 

 porcelain. 



Paul Cushman had a stone- 

 ware factory at Albany, N. Y., 

 in the first decade of this cent- 

 ury, and some examples of his 

 ware are now in the possession 

 of Mr. S. L. Frey, of Palatine 

 Bridge, N. Y., one of which 

 bears the inscription, impressed 

 on the surface of the jar, and 

 twice repeated around the body, 

 " Paul Cushman Stone Ware 

 Factory 1809 Half a Mile West 

 of Albany Gaol." 



In 1813 Thomas Haig, from 

 Scotland, established a pottery 

 in the Northern Liberties, 

 Philadelphia, where he made red and black ware. At the Frank- 

 lin Institute exhibition in 1825, articles made at this pottery were 

 considered, " in the opinion of the judges, better than goods of 

 the same kind brought from England." The pottery is still op- 

 erated by Thomas Haig, a son of the founder, wdio is now in his 

 eightieth year. 



Queen's-ware was j^robably first made in the United States 

 about 1800. Eight years later the Columbian pottery, on South 

 Street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth, in Philadelphia, was 



VOL. XL. — 13 



Fio. 3. — Albany Stone-ware. (Collection of 

 Mr. S. L. Frey. ) Made about 1809. 



