The Purpose

Charles Decker came to America for opportunity and a better life.  After establishing himself as a potter and independent businessman in Philadelphia, Decker eventually joined the swarms of settlers making their way down the Great Road. This decision may have been based on the fact that by 1810, according to the Encylopedia of Greater Philadelphia, 164 of the 194 potteries in the nation were concentrated in Philadelphia. Whether it was the lure of greener pastures and cheaper land, or the desire to leave the densely settled city of Philadelphia, Decker loaded up his wife, two sons, and worldly belongings into a one-horse wagon and headed south. 

This was not a journey for the weak or ill-prepared.  This ancient path was originally carved by the buffalo.  It became the Warriors' Path of the Iroquois, and a hunting, trade, and warpath of Native American Tribes.  In The Great Wagon Road, an historian, Carl Bridenbaugh, describes it as the most heavily traveled road in all America...vehicles jolting along its rough and tortuous way...many clearings only four feet wide in the deep forest...  This is the road of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and George Washington.  Little more than a dirt path, the terrain grew more treacherous farther south.  Rivers and streams had to be forded.  Some of the heavily laden wagons weighed up to 1,000 pounds and were extremely cumbersome.  And while the road was improved over time, the danger was prevalent and very real.  Inclement weather, especially heavy rains and flooding, swelled river and creek crossings, while also increasing the chance of the wagons becoming mired in mud.  Axle and wheel breakage due to deep holes or ruts, skittish horses on ferries, and illness and disease, kept travelers ever vigilant on this perilous journey.  Decker and his family traveled nearly 500 miles from Philadelphia to Abingdon, Virginia.  Depending on circumstances, this trip could take anywhere from six weeks to three months.  There is no record for Decker other than that he made the journey.

Decker eventually found his way to the abundant and beautiful Chuckey Valley of Washington County, Tennessee in 1872.  His purposeful and discriminating choice of 100 acres of prime land along the Nolichuckey served him well, providing ample space for his home and fertile farmland.  The rich deposits of clay would ensure the necessary resources for his pottery business, and incoming settlers would ensure the demand for his pottery.  Jugs, crocks, and pitchers were in high demand as people needed cheap and sturdy wares.  But Decker soon introduced the people of not only the Chuckey Valley, but hundreds of miles around, to the unique quality and variety of Keystone Pottery.  

The demand for utilitarian pottery increased exponentially during this time.  The 1870 census documented 15 potters in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee.  Keystone Pottery dominated the pottery business, and supplied the widest known variety of pottery to several Appalachian states, some pieces unique.  In a time when most potteries were small and seasonal, Keystone Pottery was operational on a year-round basis, and at one time employed as many as 25 people.  The year-round operation, and the hiring of employees outside of the family, attests to Decker’s success as a potter.

This rubber stamp impression for Keystone Pottery, taken from an 1886 journal page, lists the establishment date of Keystone Pottery of 1857.  By the time Decker reached his final destination in Chuckey Valley, he had been in the pottery business for 15 years.

While in hindsight the stating of a mission of a person can only be conjecture, it would more than likely be factual to say that Decker’s mission and purpose was to be successful as a potter in order to support his family.  Crocks and containers were much in demand in Appalachia during the late nineteenth century, especially in towns located near the main thoroughfares.  Decker’s focus to provide high quality goods to consumers soon turned what began as a family business, with only him and his four sons, Charles Jr., William, Fred, and Henry, into an industry.  According to the Herald Tribune, Decker was a prime producer of stoneware containers in the Jonesboro area.  A three-year credit ledger of Decker’s shows that he sold pottery to thirty points in Tennessee plus three in North Carolina.