Jabez Vodrey
Encyclopedia
Early years
Vodrey was born on January 14, 1795 in TunstallTunstall, Staffordshire
Tunstall is an area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original six towns that federated to form the city. Tunstall is the most northern town of the city of Stoke-on-Trent....
, an area in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. This is the centuries-old centre of the English pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
industry. He is thought to be a cousin of Frederick Vodrey
Frederick Vodrey
Frederick Vodrey was a businessman from Staffordshire, England who emigrated to Ireland sometime in the late 19th century. He is thought to be a cousin of Jabez Vodrey, a potter who emigrated from Staffordshire to the United States in 1820....
, who emigrated from Staffordshire to Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
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 Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with another Staffordshire potter, William Frost. Vodrey and Frost operated a pottery in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
for about two years. In 1829, Vodrey moved alone to Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, where he continued to work as a potter for the next decade. In 1839, Vodrey moved to Troy, Indiana
Troy, Indiana
Troy is a town in Troy Township, Perry County, Indiana, along the Ohio River near the mouth of the Anderson River. The population was 392 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Troy is located at ....
(Perry County), on the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. 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, OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, 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
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 earthenware items for ordinary use.It is best known for its finely...
. 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 Blakely brothers lost their investment in the financial panic of 1857. A pencil sketch of John Simpson Blakely and his wife Jemima Fortune Blakely as well as the bankruptcy papers are conserved in the Ohio Historical Society collection. For full details on the Blakely family see margotwoodrough.com
The new pottery of Woodward, Blakely and Company called its ware Phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
, 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 Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
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 and his son John was killed in the Battle of New Hope ChurchBattle of New Hope Church
The Battle of New Hope Church was fought May 25–26, 1864, between the Union force of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
while fighting for the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
in May 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
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
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 East Liverpool's Riverview Cemetery.