The Potteries
of Greenwich
and Galesville
by Warren F. Broderick and
William C. Ketchum,jr.
B
ald Mountain and Galesville are two relatively small hamlets in Washington County, located about ten miles southeast of Fort Edward, one of the nation's major stoneware
manufacturing communities of the late 19th century. Pottery was
produced at these two lesser known communities from as early as
1810 to as late as 1874. The number of persons involved with these
potteries and the variety of marks and ware make for a surprisingly
complex and interesting story.
The story begins in the first decade of the 19th century with the
settlement of Lemuel Rowell, a potter from Connecticut, at Bald
Mountain, a hamlet in the western part of the Town of Greenwich.
Bald or "Ball" Mountain was the site of an early potash works and
later extensive lime kilns which dominated the landscape, leaving
remnants of the huge stone furnaces which survive into the present
era. Rowell, who was born circa 1782, is first documented at Bald
Mountain when he was enumerated in the 1810 Census for Greenwich.
An 1812 Jury List for the Town of Greenwich, filed with the Washington County Clerk, identifies Rowell as a "potter." Rowell's pottery
was located on the east side of the old Hartford Road, leading from
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Argyle south to Galesville, on a small piece of land described in
deeds as being bounded on the east by the "lime rocks" and a spring
on the western edge of the mountain.
Little is known about the early years of the Bald Mountain pottery.
The potter Truman Wilcox is believed to have worked here during
these years. According to a Saratoga County history, Wilcox, from
Hartford, Connecticut, first worked at Bald Mountain before moving
"across the River" and eventually settling at Fortsville in the Town of
Moreau, where he manufactured earthenware for a number ofyears. l
This is verified by a War of 1812 service claim in which Wilcox stated
that he had entered military service in a company of men from
Greenwich. 2 Wilcox could not have worked at Bald Mountain very
long, for following a brief stay at Gansevoort, by 1824 he was established in business at Fortsville.
One may assume that Lemuel Rowell originally manufactured
earthenware at Bald Mountain, using clay which was available locally
but switching to stoneware production sometime after the importing
of stoneware clay from New Jersey was made easier by the construction of the Champlain Canal in 1823. The wagons of clay would
have been transported about three miles from the canal at Fort Miller
eastward to Bald Mountain. The earliest known stoneware vessels
bearing a Bald Mountain mark appear to date from the 1830s. These
are marked simply "L. Rowell/Greenwich," "Rowell and Lundy/
Greenwich," "Rowell and Lundy/Greenwich/Ball Mountain Pottery,"
and "L. ROWELL & SON/GREENWICH/E. ORCUTT, MANUFACTURER." They consist primarily of ovoid stoneware jugs which appear
to have been produced during the 1830s and early 1840s.
These unusual marks indicate two partnerships in which Lemuel
Rowell was associated. One involved William Lundy, an important
early Troy potter who moved to Argyle, which borders Greenwich
on the north, in 1828. While Lundy was engaged in farming at Argyle,
he doubtless was involved for a brief period in the Bald Mountain
pottery. Another person involved with Rowell was Eleazer Orcutt, a
well-traveled stoneware potter of many talents. Orcutt operated a
pottery in Albany between 1838 and 1843 and in Lansingburgh from
1843 to 1847. He then moved out of the area to establish a pottery at
Ashfield, Massachusetts, and did not return until 1850 when he is
found at Bennington, Vermont. Two theories relative to Orcutt's partnership with Rowell have been raised: He may have briefly worked
in Greenwich, manufacturing pottery there with Rowell, or the stoneware bearing their mark may have been produced by Orcuttfor Rowell
at Orcutt's Albany or Lansingburgh pottery. It is worth noting that a
The Potteries of Greenwich and Galesville
59
Rockingham pitcher marked Otto V. Lewis, Greenwich. (Courtesy of the New York State Museum,
Albany)
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The Hudson Valley Regional Review
stoneware jug in the Grande collection bearing the mark of Orcutt
and Rowell is decorated partly in ochre, a substance which Orcutt
used to decorate some vessels he produced in Lansingurgh.
Additional vessels bear the mark "L. ROWELL & SON/GREENWICH." Lemuel Rowell did have a son, Lemuel Rowell, Jr. (18061887), but the younger Rowell was never known to have been a potter and by the 1840s was residing in the Town of Fort Ann. Dougald
McArthur of Wilton, who has researched the Greenwich and Galesville potteries for some time, believes that the "Son" in this venture
was really Lemuel Rowell's "son-in-law," Otto V. Lewis.
Otto V. Lewis is one of the most intriguing figures in the history
of New York State ceramics. The son ofa Nehemiah Lewis, Otto was
born circa 1811 in Saratoga County and by the next year was living
in Greenwich, where his father enlisted in service during the War of
1812.3 Otto Lewis appears to have first become involved in the pottery business during the early 1840s and by 1846 had married Sarah,
daughter of Lemuel Rowell. Lewis was in business with his father-inlaw, probably explaining the mark mentioned above. Court records
reveal that Lewis incurred debts across central and western New
York State beginning in the early 1840s. In 1841, for instance, he
co-signed a promissory note with Jeremiah Hildreth, a Rochester
merchant and canal-boat builder. These records strongly indicate
that Lewis was engaged in selling wares from the Bald Mountain
pottery at communities along the Erie Canal.
Lemuel Rowell died of influenza on February 18, 1850, and left
Otto Lewis in charge of the pottery. Lewis had apparently taken over
the management of the pottery business for the aging Rowell, for
Allen Corey wrote in late 1849 or early 1850 that O. V. Lewis was its
"present proprietor." Corey added that "an excellent article is here
manufactured and disposed of in all parts of this and the adjoining
counties."4
By 1850 Otto Lewis had entered a partnership with Russell
Ellsworth of Stillwater. Ellsworth was a Troy potter who removed to
Stillwater about 1838 and established a small stoneware pottery in
that town. Ellsworth was related to Rowell's wife, Sarah, and was in
fact probably Sarah's brother. 5 While Russell Ellsworth is listed living
with his wife and son, in the 1850 Census for Stillwater, he was also
enumerated that year in Greenwich, living in the household of Sally
Rowell and Otto Lewis at Bald Mountain. Ellsworth's partnership is
further substantiated by Washington County court records. An 1850
The Potteries of Greenwich and Galesville
61
lawsuit brought by Noah Freeman against Lewis and Ellsworth to
recover a debt of $160 states that Russell Ellsworth was served papers
"at his place of business in the Town of Greenwich" along with Otto
Lewis. 6
Lewis continued to operate the pottery at Bald Mountain until
1851, when the land on which the pottery stood was sold by Lemuel
Rowell's son. Vessels marked "OTTO. V. LEWIS/GREENWICH" probably date from Rowell's retirement in the late 1840s until Lewis was
forced to close the Bald Mountain pottery forever. Three outstanding pieces of American ceramics bear this mark. The first is a bluedecorated stoneware water cooler with a pair of incised fish , in the
collection of the Ford Museum at Greenfield Village. The larger fish
has a strange pair oflegs and holds the smaller fish in its feet.' Both
the New York State Museum and the Brooklyn Museum own attractive tall Rockingham-glazed pitchers with a body consisting of at
least partially yellow ware clay and bearing the identical mark on the
bottom. The· molded pitchers have an attractive bi-color glaze of
dark brown contrasting the light yellow background and speak highly
of the quality of ware produced at this obscure rural location.
In addition, a batter jug was located marked merely "O.V.LEWIS."
The body of this jug is a mixture of stoneware and red earthenware
clays, suggesting that Lewis diluted expensive imported stoneware
clay with local clays either to save money or to experiment with the
composition of bodies. The experimentation with pottery bodies was,
of course, practiced by Joel Farnam and John Harrison at Mechanicville, a place where Lewis worked in the early 1850s.
Other potters were associated with the Bald Mountain pottery
during this time period. Another one was Daniel Morse, a potter
from Norfolk, born circa 1796, in Connecticut, who appears in the
1850 Census for Greenwich. Morse moved to West Troy in 1852 but
returned to Greenwich about 1856. Morse's wife, Catherine, died at
Galesville in 1860, and he again removed to West Troy before 1865,.
where he apparently died. The 1857 insolvency proceedings in Washington County Court involving Otto Lewis show that Lewis then
owed Daniel Morse $52.15 for "work and labor" Morse provided
Lewis in the past.
The 1850 Census for Greenwich also shows brothers William and
George Marsh living and working at Bald Mountain. In 1844 William
Marsh, who had arrived from Massachusetts some time earlier, purchased one-half acre of land adjoining Lemuel Rowell's property on
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Seroing jar marked O. V. Lewis, Greenwich. (From the collections of Henry Ford Musuem & Green[zeld
Village)
The Potteries of Greenwich and Galesville
63
the south. Marsh sold the land in 1853 and moved away from
Greenwich to a yet unidentified place. No details regarding the
careers of the Marsh brothers are known, but it is apparent they
were either in business with or employed by Lemuel Rowell and
Otto Lewis. William Marsh would have been about 56 years old and
his brother, George, about 48 years old when they left Greenwich.
While Otto Lewis had taken over the pottery business from his
father-in-law, Lemuel Rowell deeded the land where his pottery was
located to his son, Lemuel RowellJr. in 1849, retaining life use of the
property.8 In 1851, Lemuel Rowell Jr., who was living at Fort Ann
and not involved in the pottery at Bald Mountain, sold the land to
Samuel Seely. He excepted "the Stone Ware kiln and the fixtures
and machinery connected therewith and wheels and ware" from the
conveyance, but stated that the pottery had to soon be "removed
from said premises" by Otto Lewis. 9 Lemuel RowellJr. had few connections with the homestead by this time, and Lewis owed him nearly
$1,000 on account. Rowell's sister, Sarah, wife of Otto Lewis, had
since died on August 16, 1850, at the age of only 32 years.
By the late 1850s both the Rowell and Marsh parcels had been
sold to Robert Lowber, who had established the sizeable lime kilns
at Bald Mountain. One may assume that this new business greatly
altered the landscape and obliterated all traces of the former pottery. Dougald McArthur has explored the site and, while locating
the spring and possibly the foundation of the house mentioned in
the deeds, could not positively identify the pottery site.
The closing of the Bald Mountain pottery in 1851-1852 corresponds with the opening of a stoneware pottery at Galesville, a small
industrial settlement on both sides of the Battenkill, about a mile
south of Bald Mountain. The Battenkill flows east to west through
Galesville, separating the Towns of Greenwich on the north and
Easton on the south. The pottery was established on the south side
of the stream near the south end of the present highway bridge on
state routes 40 and 29. This site is marked "potters" on Morris Levey's
1853 map of Washington County.
The pottery site and a number of other pieces of land at Galesville
were owned by Frederick A. Gale and his half-brother, Amander B.
Sherman. Gale apparently managed the various businesses located
here, while for financial reasons (probably to protect the title of the
property from liens secured by creditors) the real property was in
Sherman's name. 10 The commercial ventures located here included
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a woolen factory, saw mill, grist mill, plaster mill, retail store, and
the pottery. An 1855 tax roll for the Town of Easton, filed with the
County Treasurer, lists "A. Bryant Sherman of Greenwich" as owner
of a "Grist mill, Store, Sawmill, Plaster Mill, Pottery and other Buildings lying on the Battenkill containing 4 acres" valued at $12,000.
We had assumed, until recently, that Otto V. Lewis removed his
pottery from Bald Mountain to Galesville about 1852. While this
assumption seemed logical, evidence obtained from various court
records now indicates that Lewis was operating his pottery in Mechanicville, in neighboring Saratoga County, between 1851 and 1853. A
debt Lewis owed to James V. Bradshaw for rent of his shop at
Mechanicville, still outstanding when Otto filed for insolvency in
1857, had "accrued" while Bradshaw was a resident of Newark, New
Jersey, apparently during this short period of time. Lewis may have
been somehow involved in the selection of the Galesville pottery
site and the construction and opening of the pottery there, but the
first proprietors appear to have been Moses Farrar and Kingsley Soper.
Moses C. Farrar was a young member of the illustrious Farrar
potting family who worked at various places in New York, Vermont,
and Canada in the mid-19th century. His relationship to others in
the family has not been established, but he is probably closely related
to an older Moses Farrar who was in Troy in the late 1830s and in St.
Johns and Iberville, Quebec, in the 1840s and 1850s.u Moses Farrar
is shown as a 19-year-old potter in the 1850 Census for Fairfax, Vermont, an established pottery town where the Farrar family had been
in business for a number of years. He removed to Galesville from
Fairfax in 1852, along with younger brothers George W. (born circa
1837) and Charles (born circa 1841).
Kingsley Soper was born in Saratoga County circa 1826 and also
came to Galesville in 1852. His brother, Burtis, four years younger,
had been living in Easton since 1845. Burtis is called a "laborer" in
the 1850 Census and a "farmer" in the 1855 enumeration, while the
latter Census calls Kingsley a "stone-ware potter." Kingsley Soper
and George W. Farrar married sisters, daughters ofJohn McCumber,
who worked at the Galesville plaster mill. How much stoneware was
manufactured by this firm is unclear, for only two vessels have been
located to date bearing the mark "FARRAR & SOPERIGALESVILLE."
The firm failed in business, for on January 6, 1854, Frederick A.
Gale obtained a judgment of $1,464.88 against them in Supreme
Court in Washington County on the "sworn confession" of the defendants. The partners had apparently borrowed money from Gale in
order to establish their pottery, and were unable to repay their debt
The Potteries of Greenwich and Galesville
65
two years later. Neither Moses nor Charles Farrar can be located
after 1855. Their brother, George W. Farrar, worked in Fort Edward
as a potter until he entered Civil War service in 1862; he died at Fort
Stephens in 1864. 12 The Soper brothers continued to live in Washington County for a while. Kingsley removed to West Troy in 1865
and Burtis followed in 1873. Both worked at the West Troy Pottery
until 1875 when they moved away, and neither can be located from
this date onward.
Otto Lewis returned to Galesville by 1855, where he and his
brother, William, are listed as potters in the Census for Easton. That
Census also lists 18-year-old George Prouty in Greenwich and states
his occupation as "potter." Prouty removed to Fort Edward a few
years later and worked there as a potter for the rest of his life. Daniel
Morse had returned from West Troy by 1856 to work at the Galesville
pottery as well. William A. Lewis (1822-1894), Otto's younger brother,
became directly involved in the pottery operation at this time. William
was listed as a farmer by trade in the 1850 Census for Greenwich but
soon learned the potter's trade from his brother. A judgment awarded
in 1859 in Greenwich TownJustice's Court and filed with the county
clerk indicated that partners Otto and William Lewis still owed A. B.
Sherman for rent of the pottery at Galesville. A few pieces of stoneware have been located bearing the mark "OTTO V. LEWIS/GALESVILLE" and date from the period 1855-1858. Whether William A.
Lewis was a full partner or merely worked for his brother during
these years is unclear.
Otto V. Lewis had a history of complicated and shaky finances
when he returned to the Galesville pottery in the 1850s. By 1857 he
was in serious financial trouble, having no assets to payoff many of
his debts. Judgment dockets maintained by the county clerk reveal
nearly 30 judgments rendered against him dating from the early
1840s. In some of these, Otto's brothers William A. Lewis and Green
R. Lewis are listed as co-defendants. These were awarded in various
town, county, and state level courts and provide some interesting
insights into the nature and extent of his business. An 1859 judgment, for instance, awarded in Supreme Court in Albany County,
indicates that Lewis owed West Troy clay dealer Henry Evertsen
$lOO.91 for a shipment of clay delivered to the potter.
In 1857 Otto Lewis petitioned Washington County Court, "having
become insolvent ... praying for relief ... to be discharged from his
debts" if he agreed to give up all his assets except a few articles of
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clothing and other personal property.13 His potter's wheel and tools
had probably been already transferred to his brother William by this
time. Otto's creditors had to agree to sign off their debts, understanding that Lewis had no means to satisfy them, to prevent his
being sent to prison for non-payment. Otto's brother, William, was
assigned by Judge Wait to act as administrator of his brother's accounts.
Papers filed with the County Court relative to the insolvency proceedings provide a number of insights into the business dealings of
Otto Lewis. They reveal that Otto not only owed potter Daniel Morse
$52.15 for services rendered, but that he also owed his own father,
Nehemiah Lewis, $573 for "labor" assisting Otto operate the pottery.
These records show three debts incurred while Otto rented his
pottery shop at Mechanicville from James Bradshaw, and more
importantly provide the first documentation dating the Mechanicville
venture. One of the more interesting debts revealed in these papers
was $624 owed on account to Jeremiah Hildreth of Brighton, N.Y.
Hildreth was a well-known boat builder in Rochester from whom
Lewis purchased the canal boat "S. G. Scranton" in 1848. Otto Lewis
apparently exported his products widely utilizing the state's canal
system, thus explaining why some of his marked ware has been
discovered in central and western New York. Galesville was only a
three-mile journey by wagon from the Champlain Canal at either
Schuylerville or Fort Miller.
By 1858 Otto Lewis had given up all interest in the Galesville
pottery and moved to Fort Edward, where, with financial backing
from a silent partner, he purchased a structure on Mill Street and
converted it into Fort Edward's first pottery.14 This new business venture is described in an article in the Fort Edward Ledger of May 28,
1858:
Mr. Lewis, of Galesville, is now erecting works, in the furnace building
next to the paper mill, for the manufacture of Stone Ware, on an extensive scale. The workmen are busily engaged in putting up the Oven, which,
when completed, if we mistake not, will be the largest in the State. The
facilities for obtaining materials, by canal or railroad, and the abundant
supply of fuel almost at the door, renders the location well adapted to the
manufacture of wares of that description. Mr. L. is an enterprising, business man, and as his Wares already have a high reputation for finish and
durability, will, without doubt, meet with handsome returns for the capital
invested in the enterprise.
According to another article in the Ledger of July 6, 1860, which
describes the pottery in considerable detail, Lewis' pottery commenced operation in September of 1858. In February of 1859 Otto
The Potteries of Greenwich and Galesville
67
took George Satterlee as his partner, and the following September,
A. J. Russell bought out Lewis' interest in the works. In the 1860
Census, Otto, called a "potter," is shown living alone in Fort Edward.
One stoneware jug has been located marked "OTTO V. LEWIS/FORT
EDWARD, N.Y.," which must date from this period. How much longer
he remained in Fort Edward is uncertain, and the rest of his life
remains a total mystery. It is unfortunate that such a talented and
versatile craftsman as Otto V. Lewis should vanish into total obscurity before he was even 50 years old.
William A Lewis operated the Galesville pottery alone from 1858
until 1860, when the Census taken that year lists him as a "farm
laborer" living in Greenwich. A number of blue-decorated stoneware vessels exist bearing the mark "WALEWIS/GALESVILLE"; many
of them have attractive, sometimes elaborate floral decorations. The
most unique is a crock in the Willard Grande collection decorated
with a hand-drawn cobalt representation of the pottery building.
This is only one of two pieces of stoneware known to depict the
pottery at which each was manufactured. William A. Lewis appears
to have given up the potter's trade and worked the remainder of
his life as a farmer. A stoneware vessel has been found marked
"WA.LEWIS/GALWAY," however, suggesting that for a brief time, possibly during the early 1860s, Lewis operated the pottery at Galway,
Saratoga County, about 25 miles southwest of Galesville. This would
have been the pottery operated at Galway by Nathaniel Hudson into
the early 1860s, when it is believed to have closed.1 5 No records have
been found documenting William A Lewis' presence at Galway, and
the possibility always exists that Lewis manufactured the pottery at
Galesville for the Galway pottery.
At some time Frederick A. Gale (1810-1882) become directly
involved in the Galesville pottery's management, although he was
not a potter by trade. Frederick was the son ofJohn Gale, a prominent early merchant and industrialist who purchased these mill sites
in 1810 and for whom the hamlet was named. (It was renamed Middle Falls in the 1880s.) As previously stated, the Dun Credit ledgers
indicate that most of Gale's real property was held in the name of
his half-brother, Amander B. Sherman (1803-1872), to protect the
property from liens of creditors. A number of stoneware vessels,
some bearing attractive deep cobalt blue decorations, are marked
"F.A.GALE/GALESVILLE" and a few "GALE'S POTTERY." These
are probably representative of the period after 1860 when Frederick
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Gale directly managed the pottery business. The 1866 Atlas of Washington County identifies the pottery site as "F.A.Gale."16 How much
longer the pottery operated is not clear, but the entry in the Dun
credit ledgers dated July 8, 1874, notes that Frederick A. Gale "owns
the Mill, Store & Pottery & some 10 Houses. Keeps insr'd." We can
probably assume that the pottery was still operating at this date, or
else it would not have been mentioned in the credit ledgers.
The 1865 Census for Easton lists two potters, William Whiting and
John Giles, living at Dill's Hotel at Galesville. Whiting was a potter
from Connecticut (born circa 1817) who worked primarily at West
Troy between 1861 and 1867. John A. Giles (born 1817) was a Troy
native who was the brother-in-law of Eleazer Orcutt. Giles had been
in business in Albany in 1838, moved to Gardiner, Maine, by 1840,
and is found in Portland, Maine, between 1850 and 1856. 17 John
Giles must have operated the Galesville pottery for a brief time,
accounting for a stoneware jug in the Grande collection marked
'TH. GILES/GALESVILLE."
Notwithstanding all the information we have gleaned from the
archival records preserved by Washington County, many questions
remain unanswered. Not a single earthenware vessel manufactured
by Lemuel Rowell in the early years at Bald Mountain has been
identified. Equally puzzling is what became of Otto V. Lewis after he
is located in Fort Edward in 1860. One only needs to examine closely
the two marked Rockingham-glazed pitchers produced at Bald Mountain and those pieces produced at Mechanicville to appreciate his
skill at the potter's trade. And whatever became of Moses C. Farrar
and the Soper brothers? Hopefully, someday, we will find the answers
to these missing links.
Notes
1. N. B. Sylvester, History of Saratoga County, N. Y. (Philadelphia, 1878), p. 426.
2. Adjutant General, War of 1812 Claims, State Archives and Records Administration, Albany.
3. ibid.
4. Allen Corey, Gazetteer of the County of Washington, New York (Schuylerville, New
York, 1850-1), p. 24.
5. An entry in the records of the Greenwich Reformed Church dated April 3,
1817, states that "Sally Ellsworth wife of Lemuel Rowell" was "received from Stillwater."
6. Washington County Supreme Court,Judgment Rolls, County Clerk's Office.
7. Donald B. Webster, Decorated Stoneware Pottery of North America (Rutland, Vermont, 1971), p. 135.
8. Deed Book 21, pp. 440-42, Washington County Clerk's Office.
9. Deed Book 26, p. 59, Washington County Clerk's Office.
The Potteries of Greenwich and Galesville
69
10. R. G. Dun & Co. (Dun & Bradstreet), Credit Ledgers, New York State, Vol.
612, p. 72 (Archives and Manuscripts, Baker Library, Harvard University School of
Business Administration, Boston).
11. Elizabeth Collard, Nineteenth Century Pottery and Porcelain of Canada, second
edition (Kingston, Ontario, 1984), pp. 269-80; Lura W. Watkins, Early New England
Potters and Their Wares (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1950), pp. 148-50.
12. Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the l-l1ar 1900,
Serial no. 23 (Albany, 1901), p . 1169.
13. Miscellaneous Records, Vol. 3, pp. 104 and 105, Washington County Clerk's
Office.
14. William C. Ketchum, Jr., Potters and Potteries of New York State, 1650-1900
(Syracuse, 1987), pp. 245 and 248.
15. Ketchum, pp. 230-32.
16. New Topographical Atlas of Washington County (Philadelphia, 1866), p . 41.
17. F. Lelyn Branin, The Early Potters and Potteries of Maine (Middletown, Connecticut, 1978), pp. 57, 62 and 63.
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