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CITY OF DUBOIS Page 49
"The first pottery was built in Brady Township by
Robert W. Moore and Ira Fisher on a piece of land containing three
acres, and located about one mile east of the present location of
Luthersburg, on what was then known as the Mill Road, leading to the
Moore Mills, and later known as the Snowshoe and Packersville
Turnpike, which was practically laid out on the old Mill road.
"Moore and Fisher manufactured what was known as red
ware, and the old round log building stood on the lot now owned by
Edward Caldwell. In the early Thirties, Moore and Fisher sold this
property to Robert C. Taylor and Lott Teats, who continued to make
red ware for several years, or about 1840, when Mr. Taylor purchased
his partners interests in the pottery, and moved it on to a piece of
ground purchased from William Woods, where he rebuilt the pottery
and made many improvements in the manufacturing of red ware. He
owned and made red ware at this place until 1853, when he sold the
property to Moses and William Porter, who lived at Pleasantville, in
Venango County, Pennsylvania. They remodeled the Taylor pottery, and
commenced the making of stone ware that same year.
"In 1863 Wm. T. Hamilton and George C. Kirk built a
pottery, and in 1865 the two potteries were merged under the firm
name of Kirk, Porter and Seyler. About the year 188o Kirk and Porter
sold their respective interests in the business to their partner
Joseph Seyler, Jr., who for several years carried on the business.
"The material from which red ware was made was known as
swamp clay, and is found on low swampy land, and was dug in the fall
so it would freeze during the winter, and thus become pulverized,
when it was placed in a tub made of three inch thich oak plank, in
which an upright shaft, with an arm, or sweep, as it was called,
placed in the shaft, about ten feet long, and a horse hitched
thereto would walk in a circle aroung the tub in which the clay was
placed, and there mixed until the clay became what we called
tempered, when it was ready for the turner, who if making one gallon
vessels, would make it into balls weighing seven pounds. He would
then place the ball on a horizontal wheelhead, making about fifty
revolutions per minute, where he would make it into a crock, jug or
pitcher, or any other kind of a vessel that he wished to make. When
the vessel was finished it would be lifted off the wheelhead, and
placed on a board to dry. When throughly dry, it would be glazed
inside with a slip made of red lead mixed with water. When enough
ware of the different sizes were made, usually about one thousand
gallons for a red ware kiln, the ware was placed in the kiln, and
burned to a body, hat is, hard enough so that the clay would
be impervious to water, which usually took thirty-six hours.
"The clay, from which this red ware was made, was got
on lands now owned by Mrs. Florence R. Kirk, and is still in
abundance.
"The clay, from which stoneware was made, is known as
soft fire clay, and is found in the hills throughout Brady Township
in veins about six feet in thickness.
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