Obituary - John W. Croxall
East Liverpool Tribune
b. May 5, 1824
d. October 20, 1904
JOHN W. CROXALL PIONEER POTTER DIED YESTERDAY
Busy and Useful Life Brought to a Close
Funereal Services Will Be Held at Croxall Home Sunday Afternoon
John W. Croxall, one of the pioneer potter manufacturers of this country, died at 3:20 yesterday morning at his home, 232 Fourth street, of dropsy, as announced in the Tribune Friday morning. He entertained callers on Thursday evening and although he complained of not feeling very well, the seriousness of his condition was not apparent to those who called on him. He ate a hearty supper and when he retired he appeared to be in good spirits. During the night he was seized with an attack of heart trouble and rose from his bed and took his seat in an arm chair. It was about 3 o'clock when the illness seized him and a few minutes later the grim reaper came.
The funeral services will be held at his late residence Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock and will be in charge of the Odd Fellows lodge. Dr. t. w. Lane, D.D. of the First M. E. church and the Rev. E. M. McMillin of the First Presbyterian church will be the officiating clergymen. Interment will be made in River cemetery. The pallbearers will be selected from among the members of the Odd Fellows lodge.
Mr. Croxall is survived by his wife and four children as follows: Joseph H. and George W. Croxall, of this city: Mrs. Charles Kidder, of Richmond, Indiana; Mrw. W. H. Gass, of this city. Two sisters also survive, Mrs. Mary Webster, of Chester, and Mrs. Edith Lable, of Melbourne, Australia.
The remains can be viewed this evening from 7 until 10 p. m.
Mr. Croxall was 82 years old and had been connected with the pottery industry the greater part of his life. He was born in England on May 5, 1824, and came to this country and to East Liverpool in 1844. His first employment was with the Bennett Bros., who operated the first pottery that was ever built in East Liverpool. The plant consisted of one lone kiln and was built in 1839 by James Bennett, who two years later organized the Pioneer Pottery company. The Bennett plant was located at the lower end of Second street just west of the Williams cooper shop. The structure was built of wood, the clay shops, packing room and office being in one end of the plant, which was two stories high. Rockingham and yellow ware were made, the clay being taken from neighboring hillsides.
Mr. Croxall retained the full use of all his faculties to a remarkable degree up to the time of his death, and it is interesting to listen to his story of his early experiences when a great industry was being born in this country.
In a recent interview he said:
:My wages amounted to about $2.50 a week and I had to work from 7 o'clock in the morning until 6 at night. I was employed at the Bennett plant from March until August of the year 1844 and all the money I received during that time did not amount to more than $3. The firm sold its product to farmers in exchange for apples, potatoes and other produce and we received most of our pay in these commodities.
"After the Bennetts built a pottery in Birmingham the Croxall boys, Thomas, Sam, Jesse, and John, leased the Pioneer plant and operated it until 1852. One morning when we went to the plant were surprised to find that it was no more. The Ohio river had risen to a flood stage during the night and carried part of it away. As we could not agree with the owners as to its repair we gave up the lease."
After this Mr. Croxall went to work for Harker & Taylor, who then operated the small plant on the present site of the Harker pottery, near the pumping station. He worked there for two years a a kilnman and received $1.25 a day. When Mr. Croxall left Taylor & Harker's he secured employment at the William Brunt Knob works, where he served as an apprentice for about two years. In 1856 Thomas Croxall, Johnathan Kinsey, Joseph Cartwright and Mr. Croxall formed a partnership and bought the Union Pottery. It is now known as the Croxall Pottery company in Second street. The partners operated the plant for a time when Thomas Croxall and Mr. Kinsey sold their interests to Messrs. Cartwright and Croxall. Joseph Cartwright died in 1877 and Mr. Croxall purchased his interest. In that year he gave his sons, George and Joseph, an interest in the business and the firm was incorporated as the Croxall Pottery company, which name it still retains.
Before the death of Mr. Cartwright the Mansion block, Washington and Second street, built originally for a hotel, was purchased. One kiln was then added, which was the only improvement made until about one year ago. The pottery still manufacturers the same yellow and Rocking ham ware that it made 60 years ago and is the only concern in the city that deals exclusively in these lines.
In the early days there was no railroad running into East Liverpool and the company's traveling men scoured the rural districts with wagons heavily laden with yellow and Rockingham ware. If they could not make a sale for each they exchanged for farm produce and calico and other merchandise when dealing with store keepers. Some of the produce was shipped by rafts and flatboats to points along the river. A ready market could always be found for all the ware the firm could manufacture, and people came for miles around to see the clay made up into vessels.
At that time the business section of the city was then confined entirely to the territory in the vicinity of Second street. East Liverpool was a village of only a few hundred inhabitants and Wellsville was regarded as quite ...
Mr. Croxall retired from active business several years ago, entrusting the management of the affairs of the Croxall Pottery company, of which he had so long been president, to his sons George W. and Joseph G. Croxall. It was his custom, however, up until a short time before his death to visit the plant daily and to meet and greet old friends.
Mr. Croxall also enjoyed the distinction of being the oldest odd Fellow in the city, having been affiliated with the East Liverpool lodge No. 378 for many years. He attended the meetings of the order with great regularity and was respected for his manly, conscientious, and upright character. He was also the oldest living Mason in the city and the only living charter member of Riddle lodge No. 315. He joined the Masonic order in Wellsville before the Riddle lodge was established, and remembered very well the first meetings of the latter organization, which were held in a log hut where the residence occupied by the Rev. E. M. McMillin, in Third street, now stands.
In January 1896 a meeting was held at the home of the late Joseph Barker, which Mr. Croxall attended, and a list made out of the then living potters who were in East Liverpool at the early period of 1849. Of this list there are now but three survivors, namely: Adam Booth, Joseph Bratt and Holland Manley. The original list follows: Joseph Barker, John Croxall, Charles Stanley, Wm Colclough, John Thomas, George Hallum, Joseph Dennis, Enoch Bradshaw, Enoch Riley, Wm. Rigby, George Morley, Adam Booth, Emanuel Booth, Jethro Manley, John Brooks, Joseph Cartwright, Chas. Kelsoil, Holland Manley, James Leigh, Wm. Williams, Wm. Hulme, Joseph Bratt.
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