Benjamin Harker Sr.

Elizabeth Ann and Benjamin Harker Sr.

For more information about this water cooler, click here

Benjamin Harker Sr. began East Liverpool’s second pottery.  A roof slater by trade, Harker immigrated to the United States in the late 1830s, bringing his second wife, Elizabeth Ann and their six children. By 1839, he had purchased fifty acres and a house, along with all its contents, from Abel Coffin for $3,700.  The land included river front property and Custard’s Island (now known as Babb’s Island).

Harker and his two eldest sons began mining the yellow clay from the rich riverbank deposits and sold it to glass factories in Pittsburgh and to another East Liverpool newcomer, James Bennett.  Bennett is credited with starting East Liverpool’s pottery dynasty when he established a pottery in 1839 and drew his first kiln of ware in 1840.  Bennett’s success was an inspiration for the Harkers and they proceeded to convert one of Coffin’s outbuildings into a pottery.  They built a six-foot beehive kiln, like those they had seen in their home town of Dudley, Staffordshire, England, and began making pottery ca. 1840.   Unlike Bennett and his brothers, the Harkers had no pottery experience and their early attempts were a failure.

Benjamin declared defeat and leased his small pottery to Edward Tunnicliff and John Wheldon, who also failed in their pottery endeavors.  In 1842, John Goodwin and Thomas Croxall, experienced potters from the Staffordshire pottery district, joined Tunnicliff and renewed the Harker lease with the stipulation that Benjamin’s sons, George and Benjamin Jr., be allowed to apprentice under the masters.  This arrangement lasted until 1846 when Benjamin and sons, along with James Taylor created Harker, Taylor, and Company.  

These skilled and competent potters built a three-story brick pottery which they named the Etruria Works after the Wedgewood Pottery in England.  The level of skill obtained by the men is demonstrated in the large water cooler seen on this page.  It is the largest single piece in the collection of the Museum of Ceramics.  Its sheer size, along with the unique glaze, makes it a marvel of early pottery production. Their company also becomes known for their hound handled mugs, spittoons and other beautifully molded Rockingham pieces. 

Benjamin Harker sold his shares in the pottery to his oldest son George in 1850.  By this time, the Harker dynasty was well established and would be one of the longest running potteries in the United States.  It closed in 1972 after 131 years of continuous operation.