Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1921-11-19
WRITES NICE STORY
OF WACO POTTERY
Courier-Journal Magazine Tells
History of Growing Industry
In Madison

very interesting story OF the pot
tcrv works near Waco. this Coun-
". written by Laura BrcCkin-
ridge MCC lintuck The article
was accompanied by Il number of
pictures OF the plant and the pop
ular proprietors. What Miss
McClintock says will be read
with interest. She wrote aS fol-
/ lows:
/ Nesting in the foothills of the
I Kentucky mountains in Madison
county i the little sleepy hamlet
oi Bybcc. Staggering along both
sides of the dusty road which
leads from Richmond To Irvine.
five mile, from the nearest
branch railroad. Jew people were
aware of itS existence 4 var ago
Farmers worked together in their
rocky fields a long a. they t. !
and then turned their plows tci
their children and their children ;
children. Few changes occurred
To ripple the current OF their
mode at living Inherited from
their pioneer ancestors. They
spun their own llaX. ground then
own meal and made their OWN
, earthcnwarc.
ScVcnty-iiVc years ago man
by the name Of John CorncliSoii
sold his few COWS and horses and
+ with his hard-carncd say ng~ pur
chased the only pottery industry
in the community The plant.
built ui huge logs was old when
ne bought it and was of the prim
! tive construction. The man min
: ed his own clay from the hillside
and dumped the crumbliu@ white
/ Jumps into an iron tub and car
ricd water from pond ncarh 4
. With the help of mule he u,Xcl
hi, clay. nodded his wares. anl
baked them in an impruvisrt
brick and earthcnwarc oven. in
this manner he manufactured all
the bricks. tiles. ChurnS. mill.
crooks and wine Jars. for the en-
tire countryside though he had nn
tools other than his own hand,
and a lew pine twigs Whitfield 10
work with.
hat WAS nearly 4 century a&p.
Today the same primitive indus
try j. being carried ON IN Bvhcy-
,! on -the-ruad- from Richmond 10.
! Irvine. a. the country people
quantity term il. With the cN-
ccptiun Of Webb Corneli,on who
{, succeeded hi> father in the bust
ness. nothing j. changed The old
log hut with the glimpSc> of blue
ky through the dilapidatcd roof.
he mixing bowl with the anti
quatcd harness for the mule. the
moldin@ table. worn hollow in the
middle. and the workman 3,
bench drawn near the dusty VIII
dow. are all the same a. the,
, were when John Curnelison mold
ed his first butter chnrn long
: wears ago.
.Aftcr his father died. Webb
/: Corncl;son continued in the busi-
, ness. For forty years off and ON
he has been ''pottering around
, +vith potter'> clay" One day
while watching his wife dve an
: old dress he conceived the idea
of putting some vegetable d. (
. into his glazing barrel
e., Il Just thought ! would SIC
what would happen ne drawlei
- That was less than wear ago
P. Today hundreds OF automobile
daily throng the roads from Rici
L mond searching for the place
q where the blue pottery is made
in the hopes that they can buy al
r first hand the mugs. vases and
:. pitchers which Mr. Cornclisor
l. had already contracted for
d months ahead For every p:eyt
y he makes he had an order for al,
regardless of how many hun
dredS OF pieces he delivers month
II ly. his contractors are inSistent
II they cannot begin To ill the dc
y mand for his handiwork
1t While Webb Cornelison j. re
:, sponsible for every piece oi POI
terry that l. manufactured. hi:
ri cousin. Donald Cornelison, own.
n and controls the thriving. thougl
y antiquated. industry. 1t seem
; To be another case OF brains V
al Drawn one man has the artis
of tic ability and the other. while n
In lcan't fashion even the PLANES
e mug. furnishes the brains for tn
le business.
r. The manufacturing method
Ut used are simplicity itself. Tw
cr or three times a week a two
IS horse wagon Is driven to a neai
Id by farm where potter's clay
oftpurchased at SO cents load Tt