Speaker's Pottery in Brunersburg, Ohio

Not Speaker pottery

Lucas Speaker defined his occupation as "potter" on the 1850 census for Noble Township, Defiance County, Ohio.  In 1850, Lucas, a native of Germany, lived with his wife, Mary (Maria Anna Merkel) and children: Josephine, Lucas and Frederick in or near Brunersburg.  The pottery made by Lucas Speaker was apparently well known throughout the area.




The Defiance Democrat of June 15, 1872 reported on the good clay available for drainage tiles in Brunersburg.  But some history was also spoken of as the author remembered the Speaker Pottery establishment that was once located there.


"Drain Tiles.
The early settlers in these valleys were supplied with crockery from the Speaker Pottery at Brunersburg.  Forty years ago, the produce of that pottery was peddled by canoes and pirogues, along all these streams.

An old resident was speaking to us the other day of the excellence of this ware, mentioning that he had in use crocks of that make for more than thirty years, and that they wre likely to last many years yet.

The clay used by the Speakers was 'mined' out of the bluff bank opposite Brunersburg.  Pits were also worked on the Speaker farm south of the village.  We are told that not only there, but at other points in this vicinity, there is an abundance of potter's clay."
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Can those clay pits still be seen on the bluffs of the Tiffin River as one crosses the bridge on Route 15? 

Every effort was made to find a photo or example of Speaker pottery, but all were unsuccessful.  

Do any readers have a piece of this very old pottery or a photo of such?