Jabez Vodrey (1795–1861) was the first English potter to emigrate to and work west of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

Early years

Vodrey was born on January 14, 1795 in Tunstall, an area in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. This is a centuries-old center of the English

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

industry. He is thought to be a cousin of Frederick Vodrey, who emigrated from Staffordshire to

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in the late 19th century and founded an art pottery there.

Emigration and first American potteries

In 1827, Vodrey and his wife, Sarah Nixon Vodrey, emigrated to

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, with another Staffordshire potter, William Frost. Vodrey and Frost operated a pottery in

for about two years. In 1829, Vodrey moved alone to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, where he continued to work as a potter for the next decade. In 1839, Vodrey moved to

Troy, Indiana Troy is a town in Troy Township, Perry County, Indiana, along the Ohio River near the mouth of the Anderson River. It is the second oldest city in Indiana. The population was 385 at the 2010 census. History Troy was laid out in 1815. Troy w ...

(Perry County), on the

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. There he took over the operation of the abandoned pottery of James Clews. It was not a success, as skilled labor was almost impossible to procure.

Years in East Liverpool, Ohio

In March 1847, Vodrey came to

East Liverpool East Liverpool is a city in southeastern Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,958 at the 2020 census. It lies along the Ohio River within the Upper Ohio Valley and borders Pennsylvania to the east and West Virginia to th ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where he found work in the area's booming pottery industry. He began in East Liverpool with the manufacture of clay smoking pipes and by 1848, had formed a partnership with William Woodward, a wealthy farmer. Together, the two men produced simple yellow ware and

Rockingham Pottery The Rockingham Pottery was a 19th-century manufacturer of porcelain of international repute, supplying fine wares and ornamental pieces to royalty and the aristocracy in Britain and overseas, as well as manufacturing porcelain and earthenwar ...

. Within months, their small pottery was destroyed by fire, but the men began to rebuild the pottery with the financial backing of brothers James and John Simpson Blakely. The new pottery of Woodward, Blakely and Company called its ware

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, in honor of their success in rising from the ashes of the first pottery Woodward and Vodrey had founded together. By 1852, the company employed more than six dozen workers in five buildings. A series of serious setbacks, including an

flood and a strike, decimated the business and by the end of 1857, it was essentially defunct. Meanwhile, Vodrey's sons William, James and John were busy converting an abandoned East Liverpool church into a pottery. By the spring of 1858, the Vodrey and Brother Pottery Company was operating at full capacity, producing Rockingham and yellow ware.

Later life

Jabez Vodrey died in 1861. His son John Wadsworth Vodrey was killed in the

Battle of New Hope Church The Battle of New Hope Church (May 25–26, 1864) was a clash between the Union Army under Major general (United States), Major General William T. Sherman and the Confederate States Army, Confederate Army of Tennessee led by General (CSA), Gene ...

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while fighting for the

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's 46th Pennsylvania Infantry on May 25, 1864. Despite these setbacks, the family pottery prospered for an additional six decades. In 1876, the pottery began production of white ironstone. In 1896, it changed its name to the Vodrey Pottery Company and semi-

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

became part of its offerings. Until it closed its doors for good in 1928, Vodrey Pottery produced domestic and commercial dinnerware and chamber ware. Vodrey and his wife, Sarah Nixon Vodrey, are both buried at

's Riverview Cemetery. Descendants of the Vodrey family remain in the area.

External links

Vodrey Pottery Works price list, East Liverpool, Ohio 1864 - 1865Museum Of CeramicsRiverview Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vodrey, Jabez 1794 births 1861 deaths American potters People from Tunstall, Staffordshire People from East Liverpool, Ohio