12. :5. 6." ''' So large an amount implies a wholesale 

 purchase from a potter. Was William Rogers, then, 

 the "poor potter" of Yorktown? 



Scattered throughout the records are references to 

 several William Roget ses from 1 7th- and 18th-century 

 Virginia (see Appendix I), hut none seems likely to 

 refer to the ""poor potter" until one reaches Yorktown. 

 Then- a deed is recorded from the "Trustees to 

 the Port Land in Yorktown," granting two lots of 

 land on \Ia\ 19, 1711, to "William Rogers aforesaid 

 Brewer." "" That he was a brewer admittedly is a 



'» C. Maio.i m Watkins, //;• Cultural Histor) oj Marlborough, 

 I inia, (Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, 

 U.S. National Museum Bulletin 253), Washington: Smith- 

 sonian Institution, in press. 



-'" York County Records: Deeds & Bonds, vol. 2, 1701-1711, 

 p. io~> (In York County Courthouse, Yorktown, Va.). 



weak clue to his being a potter. But, despite this, it 

 is necessary to pursue this William Rogers further. 

 These two lots were granted to Rogers by the Trustees 

 in accordance with previous acts for establishing 

 port towns. Yorktown had been established accord- 

 ing to the Act for Ports and Towns in 1691, and 

 Rogers' lots were numbers 51 and 55 (see plat, fig. 1 ), 

 lying contiguously on the northern border of the town 

 between Read and Nelson Streets. To this day they 

 continue to bear the same numbers. 



For year after year nothing appears in the York 

 County records to indicate that William Rogers was 

 connected even remotely with a pottery works. I I in 

 he was soon prospering as a brewer is suggested by the 

 mention of "Roger's [sic] best Virg a ailc," as selling 

 at sixpence per quart, in a list of liquor prices pre- 

 sented for Yorktown tavern keepers on March 19, 



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Figure 2.- -Major Lawrenci Smith's oricinal survey plat of Yorktown, Virginia, made according to the 

 Virginia Port Act of 1691, which set up a port town for each county. This plat, still in the Yoi k County 

 records, bears the names ol successive lot holders from 1691 on into the 18th century. William Rogers' 

 name appens on lots "'1 and 55. He was granted this property by the town leoilees in 1711. Additional 

 properties he acquired are mentioned in his will as lots 59, 74, and 75. 



80 



BULLETIN 249: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



