Page 36 - DesMoinesRiver

Journal 1887). By 1875 the pottery was producing
brown glazed stoneware, terra cotta drain tile,
and fire-proof brick (Andreas 1875). The shop
was the largest in Van Buren County and fur-
nished employment to about a dozen workmen
(Daily Gate City 1875; Rogers 1999:8).

Left: detail of construction at the Bonaparte There was a fire in the main pottery building
Pottery. Right: exterior view of the Pottery on November 17, 1875 but the business appar-
Building at the Bonaparte Pottery. ently did not suffer appreciably. Reconstruction
began immediately, with 12 men at work on the
example of the pottery industry in Iowa (Rogers 1999). The buildings and new building, which was said to be twice as large
archaeological features at the site provide important information about the as the old one (Birmingham Enterprise 1875). By
history of this industry in the state. March 8, 1876, “the new pottery [was] now in full
blast, turning out a great many gallons of the best
The pottery at Bonaparte was originally founded as the “Parker and Han- ware in the state” (Daily Gate City 1876). By 1878
back Pottery” in 1866 by Thomas A. Hanback and Sidney Parker. It grew the company employed ten men, was producing
quickly and within four years it was reported that this pottery employed 75,000 gallons of stoneware per year, and had added a tile factory that
four men and operated all year round. A new partner, Robert Wilson, could produce 6,000 feet of tile per day. The 1880 Gazetteer indicated
joined the operation in 1871. Wilson was born in Staffordshire, England, that the pottery produced both tile and sewer pipe (Polk and Danser
and emigrated to the United States in 1855. By the time he joined the 1880; Rogers 1999:8).
company at Bonaparte he had many years of experience from major pot-
tery manufacturing centers in England and Illinois. After 1873, the pottery The business continued to flourish. By 1887 the Hanback and Wilson
was known as the “Hanback and Wilson” or the “Bonaparte Pottery”.
Thomas Hanback was the senior partner and traveling salesman (Bonaparte Pottery was advertised as keeping on hand “a full line of the best Glazed

36 A River of Unrivaled Advantages—Life Along the Lower Des Moines River Ware in the State. They also manufacture and deal in Flower Pots, Drain

Pipe, Fire-Proof Brick, Fruit Cans, With

Metal Covers, etc....8, 10, 12, and 15 Gal-

lon Jars made to order” (Bonaparte Jour-

nal 1887:30; Rogers 1999:9). The “fruit

cans” noted in this advertisement were

likely the twelve-sided preserves jars that

the Bonaparte Pottery was producing

during Wilson’s tenure. The form of this

twelve-sided jar is very similar to a type

Jug and facetted canning jar manufactured associated with the Peoria Pottery, and
at the Bonaparte Pottery. its production at the Bonaparte Pottery