Greene County Jugs

Welcome to IVCHA’s official Jugs Web Page!!! We have developed these pages from our research for the 2010 Jugs Quilted tour. It is our desire to continue to research and add to the Jugs Pages. If you have stories or photos of the Clay Industry of Greene County Illinois you can send them to seth.mcgee@eldredhouse.com

The stoneware industry of White Hall was the largest in the world at that time. Numerous stoneware plants were spread throughout the town and smoke stacks billowed as literally millions of pieces of stoneware were manufactured annually.

A complete history of all the stoneware plants in White Hall and the surrounding towns can be found in last year’s history installment Jugs. For purposes here we will give a brief description of the businesses that made White Hall a booming city and forever changed the history of Greene County.

In 1825, John Neff Ebey migrated from Ohio to Springfield Illinois and began the production of red ware. Having learned of a vast source of clay at White Hall, he travelled here to take samples for testing. It was discovered that beneath the soft ground was the finest quality clay unmatched by any other location in the world and the stoneware industry was born.

Since this initial discovery, many entrepreneurs decided to try their hand at stoneware production and plants of all sizes seemed to spring up from the ground. The Ebey Pottery Works would become the first in a long line of plants that flourished during these years.

Augustus Pierce would be known as the Father of the Industrial Age of Stoneware as he was the first to manufacture stoneware and ship it out to other locations. He was also first to use more advanced technology within his plant producing mainly drain tile that would have been utilized by local farmers.

David Culbertson was at one time a partner of Pierce until he decided to branch out with his own endeavor. The D. Culbertson Stoneware Co. was at its height producing 2,000,000 drain tiles per year.

The White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stoneware Co. was always considered the hub of all stoneware manufacturing in Greene County. It was also known as the “Big Shop” and at one time employed 150 men, not including the 50 men that worked at Clay City excavating the clay and transporting it for multiple purposes. The sheer size of this plant contributed to their ability to produce up to three railway cars daily of stoneware, drain tile and sewer pipe.

The A. D. Ruckel plant known as the White Hall Pottery Works had gone through many names and incarnations throughout its history. A. D. Ruckel was most famous for his use in color. Not one to produce generic pieces, he was an innovator in more decorative pieces that combined form and function. The stoneware produced here is still highly collectible and desired today including his Velvet and Blue Band Lines.

The success of the stoneware industry of White Hall affected all citizens of the entire county as it employed many men and the sales of their products ensured a healthy economy that continued for years. It will go down in history as the financial backbone of White Hall.

Stoneware Plants of Greene County