DAVID ROBERTS AND THE FAYETTE POTTERY

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ON THE CORNER OF ERIE AND SARATOGA STREETS IN THE FLEDGLING SETTLER TOWN OF UTICA, NEW YORK, IN 1827, DAVID ROBERTS HELPED ESTABLISH THE FAYETTE POTTERY. ROBERTS WAS ASSISTED FINANCIALLY IN THE VENTURE BY THOMAS FIELD AND A MAN NAMED CLARK (PARTNER OF FIELD'S) AND PRESUMED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE LEGENDARY CLARK FAMILY OF NEW YORK STATE STONEWARE. FIELD AND CLARK WERE MERCHANT BUSINESSMEN AND WERE INTERESTED IN THE INVESTMENT END OF ROBERTS NEW BUSINESS.

THE POTTERY ITSELF WAS CALLED THE FAYETTE POTTERY WHICH STEMMED FROM THE LAND PROPERTY'S ASSOCIATION WITH THE FAYETTE FAMILY OF UTICA. ROBERTS HELD

ANOTHER SALES LOCATION ON GENESEE ST. UTICA, FOR SALE OF THE MERCHANDISE.

THIS POTTERY WAS ONE OF UTICA'S FIRST STONEWARE POTTERIES WITH JUSTIN CAMPBELL OPENING HIS POTTERY IN UTICA IN 1825, JUST TWO YEARS PRIOR TO ROBERTS FAYETTE POTTERY AND ALSO GEORGE BRAYTON, AARON KELLOGG AND SYLVESTER DOOLITTLE, OPENING IN THE SAME YEAR OF 1827, JUST ACROSS TOWN.

THIS WAS A MAD DASH FOR BUSINESS AND LAND, AS THE ERIE CANAL HAD JUST OPENED AND THERE WAS A FLOOD OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYONE WILLING TO CARVE IT OUT. SETTLERS WERE ARRIVING BY SLOOP AND BARGE AND CLAIMING PROPERTY AND BUILDING BUSINESSES THAT WOULD SOON SERVE A THRIVING COMMUNITY. THIS, A NEW ERA IN AMERICAN HISTORY THAT IS WORTHY OF STUDY BY ANYONE WITH INTEREST OF HOW OUR GREAT NATION WAS SETTLED.

THE EARLIER REFERENCED CAMPBELL POTTERY, WAS SOLD TO AMOS GAY A YEAR AFTER OPENING, AND GAY, IN 1829, WAS OUT OF BUSINESS. THE GEORGE BRAYTON CONCERN WAS DISSOLVED SOMETIME BETWEEN 1828 AND 1832. THE FAYETTE POTTERY WAS ALSO CLOSED IN 1830, WITH FINANCIAL SUPPORTERS FIELD AND CLARK, DISSOLVING THEIR PARTNERSHIP AND WITHDRAWING FROM THE BUSINESS. THERE WAS GREAT INSTABILITY IN THE ECONOMY DURING THIS PERIOD IN THE UNITED STATES, RECUPERATING FROM THE TWO TERRIBLE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE WITH THE BRITISH. THE VILLAGES ALONG THE ERIE WERE COMPLETELY UNSTABLE AND BUSINESSES WERE STARTED AND LOST WITH SOME REGULARITY.

NOAH WHITE (WHITE'S POTTERY), A WELL KNOWN LEGEND OF UTICA, STONEWARE DIDN'T OPEN UNTIL 1838.

IN THE SHORT, VERY EARLY TENURE, OF THE FAYETTE POTTERY, DAVID ROBERTS CREATED SOME OF EARLY UTICA'S FINEST STONEWARE. STONEWARE OF THE 1820'S ALONG THE HUDSON VALLEY WAS AT BEST BEAUTIFULLY CRUDE AND SOMETIMES UNATTRACTIVE BY DESIGN STANDARDS, BUT ROBERTS PIECES ARE BEAUTIFUL BY ANY STANDARD.

WE FOUND THIS CROCK IN OHIO IN AN OUTDOOR COUNTRY AUCTION. THIS IS THE ONLY PIECE OF STONEWARE WE HAVE EVER SEEN OR OWNED, STAMPED "FAYETTE POTTERY". THE STAMP READS; 

 D. ROBERTS & CO. 

FAYETTE POTTERY 

          UTICA

WE AT AMERICAN STONEWARE COLLECTORS WERE BLESSED TO FIND SUCH AN HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT CROCK FROM A TRUE LEGEND AND PIONEER OF UTICA, NEW YORK!