State

THE STATE A Weekly Survey of North Carolina К mured u Mcond-rlM* muter, June 1, 1933, ml (lit Koitoflif* ml lUloijh. Norib Carol lorn, under lb- Art of U.rrli 8. 187». Vol.V. No. 45 April 9, 1938 Obtaining the First Kaolin And it was only at an exorbitant cost and as llie result of great privations and suffering that English potters were enabled to make a shipment of the North Carolina elay overseas. By J. K. IIICKLW ESTA BLI SH M E NT of g i a n t kaolin plants in the Spruce Pino region of Western North Caro¬ lina recalls that this high grade white clay was secured for the master Eng¬ lish potter, Josiah Wedge woo- 1, in North Carolina as early as 1767 — at the enormous cost of $600 n ton. Out of this clay he fashioned a china (or white porcelain) dinner set for King (ieorge III. The great hardships suffered by T. Griffiths, who was sent for the elay bv Wedge wood, are recounted in his diary which was unearthed in the archives of Etrutia Museum at Stokes-on-Trent in England, a copy of which came into possession of the lute Dr. F. A. Sondloy, of Asheville, and is now on the shelves of Sondley Reference I.ibrarv. First White Porcelain A few years before the expedition of Griffiths to America, the first white porcelain had been brought to Europe by the ship captains returning from the Far East. Nearly all of the Eu¬ ropean monarchs at once set their most skilled potters to work to re¬ produce this china, but no suitable clay was at hand. Competition be¬ tween England, France and Germany was especially keen, and Wedgewood, recognized ns perhaps the world’s greatest jitter of all time, set about to “scoop’’ his competitors and win the distinction for England. Wedgewood had heard that kaolin pits wore being worked near what is now Franklin, in Western North Carolina, and hurried off his trusted lieutenant, Griffiths, to secure a quan¬ tity of the clay at all costs. About six months wero consumed in return¬ ing five tons of the clay to England at a cost of $3,000. Soon after the clay reached Eng¬ land, however, great deposits of a high-grade kaolin wore found in the British Isles, and England provided the United States with more than one-half of the clay used in th.- manu¬ facture of porcelain until the World War. Through the assistance of the Tennessee Valley Authority, North Carolina kaolin has come into in¬ creasingly widespread use in the United States, and bids fair to grow in importance ns new formulaes are developed. After 66 days of sailing on the ship America, Griffiths landed in Charles Town (Charleston), S. C. on Septem¬ ber 21, 1767, “a miserable hot and sick day.” “In this Port I remained ’till Sun¬ day fourth day of October," Griffiths wrote in his diary, “and then off for the Cherokee (Indian) nation.” A Bad Climate Pussing through lower South Caro¬ lina, Griffiths notes that “the weather is very hot and fuiuty, ami the people almost dying of the ague and fever.” He adds that he was “obliged to sleep under a tree with my horse, very near the place where five people had been robbed and murdered hut two days before by tho Virginia crackers and rebels, a set of thieves that were joined together to rob travelers and plunder and destroy the poor defense¬ less inhabitants of tho Now Settle¬ ment.” Recounting in detail the dangers and hardships endured on his trek through South Carolina, Griffiths re¬ lates how ho escorted an Indian squaw, who had been stolen by “tho Y ounghtanom,” back to the Cherokee chiefs, and won their friendship. Beaching Fort Prince George, called old Kcowce, in upper South Carolina and the last white outpost outside the Cherokee nation, he found a grand council in session. There he “mot with Capt. Cameron, our deputy commissary for Indian Affairs; the great Prince of Choice, the old Wolf of Kcowce and Kinet- tito, the gutt of Toquah, the old and young warriors and aton kullcullah or ochulla stoyostoyah, the Little Car¬ penter; besides the Great Bear, and the Rising Sun; being most of the chiefs of the Cherokee nation. “All then met at this Fort to call a council, and hold a grain! talk con¬ cerning a pence with the Northward enemies, and to appoint proper per¬ sons to proceed to New York and the Mohawk nation for that purpose. Aft¬ er I had eat, drink, and smoked and began to be familiar with these cop- Ег Gentry, I thought it a ir opportunity to request leave to travel through their nation in search of anything that curiosity might lead one to; and in particular to speculate on their Ayoree white earth. Finally Obtained Consent “This they granted after a long hesitation and several debates among themselves; tho young Waiter and one more seemed to consent with reluc¬ tance, saying they had been troubled with some young men long before who made great holes in their lands and took away their fine white clay ( Continued on page twenty-two)