woolsey.]  CLAYS    OF    OHIO    VALLEY    IN    PENNSYLVANIA.  477 
Across  the  northern  part  of  Beaver  County  lies  the  great  terminal 
moraine  of  the  Glacial  epoch,  which  in  Allegheny  County  and  else- 
where often  contains  irregular  beds  of  clay.  But  there  is  no  record 
that  such  clay  deposits  have  been  found  in  Beaver  County. 
In  other  counties  valuable  "basin  deposits"  of  glacial  clays  are 
worked.  These  were  formed  in  local  lakes  produced  by  the  glacier, 
and  are  consequently  to  be  looked  for  just  south  of  the  terminal 
moraine.  Like  the  morainal  deposits,  these  u  basin  deposits,"  so  far 
as  known,  have  not  been  discovered  in  Beaver  County.  Such  deposits 
must,  from  their  origin,  necessarily  be  impure  and  sandy,  but  screen- 
ing and  washing  often  produce  a  good  quality  of  clay  for  red  bricks, 
flower  pots,  and,  if  mixed  with  other  clays,  even  for  terra  cotta. 
CLAY  INDUSTRIES. 
General. — The  clay  industries  along  these  two  rivers  may  be  classed 
according  to  products  as  follows:  Pottery,  tiles,  sewer  pipe,  refrac- 
tory materials,  building  materials,  and  paving  materials.  These  will 
be  briefly  described  in  order. 
Pottery. — The  clays  used  for  pottery  are  almost  infinite  in  variety, 
according  to  the  grade  of  ware  desired.  Earthenware  is  often  made 
from  very  impure  clay,  which  is  sometimes  glazed  to  conceal  imper- 
fections, and  sometimes  not,  as  in  flower  pots.  Such  material  consists 
of  impure  fire  clays,  shales,  or  glacial  clays,  or  mixtures  of  them. 
Stoneware  is  usually  made  from  domestic  fire  clays,  but  porcelain  and 
china  ware  require  white  clays,  such  as  are  not  found  in  Beaver 
County.  Small  quantities  of  fire  clay,  however,  may  be  mixed  with 
the  latter  to  obtain  the  proper  degree  of  plasticity. 
The  first  attempt  at  pottery  making  in  the  Beaver  Valley,  so  far  as 
can  be  ascertained,  was  about  the  year  1834,  when  Thomas  Jackson 
started  a  small  pottery  at  New  Brighton.  The  panic  of  1837,  so  dis- 
astrous to  the  business  interests  of  the  country,  caused  Mr.  Jackson 
to  suspend  business.  Perhaps  the  next  venture  was  by  Hamilton 
Bros,  at  West  Bridgewater,  but  the  exact  date  of  their  operations  is 
not  known.  The}^  obtained  clay  on  the  west  side  of  Bradys  Run  near 
its  confluence  with  Beaver  River.  Their  chief  products  were  crocks 
and  jugs.  The  Mackenzie  Bros.,  at  possibly  the  same  date,  manufac- 
tured pottery  at  Vanport  and  procured  their  clay,  it  is  reported,  from 
the  Beaver  Valley. a 
The  present  large  pottery  and  kindred  industries  at  New  Brighton 
date  from  1862,  when  Mr.  Thomas  Elverson  began  making  Rocking- 
ham and  yellow  ware  in  a  little  pottery  on  the  hillside  above  the  present 
site  of  the  New  Brighton  pottery.  This  little  pottery,  which  was  the 
nucleus  of  all  of  the  large  works  now  in  the  valley,  continued  Opera- 
ra  Hopkins,  T.  C,  Clays  and  Clay  Industries  of  Pennsylvania;  Clays  of  Western  Pennsylvania: 
Appendix  to  Ann.  Kept.  Penn.  State  College  for  1897,  1898,  p.  37. 
