In the late 1980s, a South Carolina archeologist found a pair of 19th century stoneware tombstones on the outskirts of the Springfield Missionary Baptist Church graveyard, which is located on the Edgefield and Aiken county line in southwestern portion of the state. Each tombstone was composed of alkaline glazed stoneware clay, and carefully inlaid kaolin clay letters, which recognized both the deceased as well as the objects’ maker (Figures 1 & 2). The craftsman and creator, F.E. Justice, has remained unidentified with any distinction.
MAKER. Collection of the South Carolina State Museum.
STONEWARE PRODUCTION & SPRINGFIELD MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
Throughout the 19th century alkaline glazed stoneware production was a leading industry in the Edgefield District of South Carolina, which encompassed portions of present day Aiken, Edgefield, Greenwood, McCormick, and Saluda counties. White planters, who initially utilized itinerant potters and enslaved labor to effectively run their businesses, predominantly owned the large production potteries, or factories. After the end of the Civil War, factory owners began employing freedmen. During the last three decades of the 19th century, the Landrum, Miles and Seigler families managed stoneware factories in present day Aiken County, South Carolina.
THE / LORD / F.E. JUSTICE / MAKER. Collection of the South Carolina State Museum.
Remarkably, since its inception, the church has been twice burned down, leveled by a storm, and rebuilt three times.
Today, the sandy graveyard is sprinkled with surviving headstones although many have been broken or damaged by the elements as well as vandals. Headstones or grave markers found here were usually a simple wooden marker, molded concrete tombstones, or no marker at all rather broken household goods or mementos of the deceased. The alkaline glazed stoneware tombstones made by Justice are the only two of such character known to exist, and are the earliest known markers used in the cemetery.
FINDING FORTUNE JUSTICE
The surname Justice was not common in the Old Edgefield District, South Carolina.
However, by 1880 an African American named Fortune [Justice] Jelters, born 1859, was living in Shaws Township, Aiken County, South Carolina where he worked as a “laborer.” His housemates included Wash Miles (age 28), Harriet Miles (wife, age 22), George Miles (son, age 1), and Briscoe [Brister] Jones (age 21). Wash Miles was noted working as a “farmer,” while similar to Justice, Brister Jones was a laborer. Could Fortune Justice be the maker of the stoneware tombstones as “F.E. Justice?”
This seems plausible since Miles, Jones and Justice were living five dwellings away from John W. Seigler who owned a saw mill, grist mill and stoneware pottery on Shaws Creek, near present day Eureka, South Carolina. Seigler, and eventually his son, George Preston Seigler, maintained the sawmill and pottery until 1895. Additionally, Wash Miles and Brister Jones have been positively identified as stoneware potters; and Miles enumerated in the 1880 U.S Census non-population industry schedule as running a stoneware pottery.
Pre-1880 documentation of Fortune Justice, and likewise, Wash Miles are sparse which is not necessarily an uncommon occurrence. Probably born no later than 1860, Justice would have been excluded from the 1867 – 1868 South Carolina Voter’s Registration and 1868 South Carolina Militia Registration; but would have been included in the 1869 South Carolina State Population Census and 1870 U.S. Census. In turn, Wash Miles (born no earlier than 1852) and Brister Jones (born no later than 1861) should have had similar patterns of record exclusion and inclusion. Just as the three were excluded from the voter’s registration and militia roll, none of them were found as head of household, the only named individual per dwelling noted in the state census, which would be consistent with a hierarchal family structure.
Furthermore, Fortune Justice and Wash Miles have not been found in the 1870 U.S. Census. Brister Jones, on the other hand, was found living in Edgefield County, Shaw’s Creek Township with stoneware potters Mark Jones (his father) and David Drake. Likewise, Miles’ future common law wife, Harriet Pope was also found living in Shaw’s Creek Township with her parents, Wade and Mary Pope. Notably, the emancipated African American community was ensconced in a hostile political and social climate during Reconstruction, which likely discouraged participation by individuals and encouraged enumerators to casually undercount in particular geographic areas. Additionally, stoneware potters were itinerant, even within a finite radius and could have been away from home selling wares or traveling between factory sites, thus having missed the enumerator’s visit. A surname change by Justice and Miles was also considered, but no compelling evidence was discovered for further pursuit.
THE WILL OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN LANDRUM, SR.
Benjamin Franklin Landrum, Sr. born 1810 operated a stoneware factory in the Horse Creek Valley for more than four decades. On 3 June 1887, he penned a codicil to his 1884 will dictating how a variety of debts accrued by his children were to be collected by the estate after his death. Notably, long time neighbor, William Riggs, with an “X” as his mark, witnessed the codicil. On the line below Riggs, in careful script, the final witness signed “F.E. Justice.” When Landrum died in December 1888, the estate was appraised and personal property sold by the sheriff on 15 January 1889. Both “Wash Mils [sic]” and “Justic Fortun [sic]” purchased multiple items at the sale; two of only three identified African Americans who participated in the probate sale.
This codicil entry and probate sale participation illustrates a direct association between (Fortune) E. Justice and B.F. Landrum, demonstrates literacy on Justice’s part, and implies Justice’s standing amongst the potting community at not only the Seigler pottery, but also the Landrum factory. F.E. Justice’s intimate involvement with the Landrum family along with Fortune Justice’s and, his fellow potter and peer, Wash Miles further suggests that Fortune (F.E.) Justice was the creator of the stoneware tombstones.
STONEWARE AS GENEALOGICAL MATERIAL CULTURE
The three stoneware artifacts described are dual purpose in that they contain both material culture context as well as and genealogical information.
- Stoneware tombstone of Henry Daniels as shown in Figure 1 reads “SACRED / TO THE
/ MEMORY / OFF / HENRY / DANIELS / BORN SEPT / THE . 6 . 1868 / DIDE . JULY / THE . 24 . 1873 / F.E. JUSTICE / MAKER.”
- Stoneware tombstone of Mrs. Harriet Haszard [sic] as shown in Figure 2 reads “SACRED / TO THE / MEMORY / OF MRS. HARRIET / HASZARD / WIFE OFF / ROBERT / HASZARD / BORN 1838 / DIDE 1868 / BLESSED IS / THE DEAD / THAT DID[E] / IN THE / LORD / F.E. JUSTICE / ”
- Stoneware single handle, alkaline glazed face jug with kaolin inset eyes and teeth incised “JOE RANFORD” as shown in Figures 5 – 9.
In the first two examples, F.E. Justice used a local, established industry, materials and techniques to create a unique product (alkaline glazed stoneware tombstones) for the deceased, Henry Daniels and Robert Haszard; specific to southwestern South Carolina. Robert Haszard [Hazzard], after the burial of his wife, was found living near the Miles and Landrum potteries, less than three miles from the Springfield Missionary Baptist Church in 1870 and 1880 as part of the Shaws Creek, and later Shaw Township community.
Lastly, a stoneware face vessel resides in the collection of the Smithsonian’s The National Museum of American History. The name “JOE RANFORD” is found incised circumferentially around the shoulder in a font exceptionally similar to that used by F.E. Justice on the stoneware tombstones. Joe Ranford, African American and born 1861, was living two dwellings away from John W. Seigler; and three dwellings away from Fortune Justice, Wash Miles and Brister Jones at the time the 1880 U.S. census was recorded. A comparison of the font used on the tombstones created by F.E. Justice to the Ranford face jug is compelling. While kaolin clay was not inlaid to form each letter on the jug, a difficult task to complete on a concave ceramic body, the execution of serif-style font letters E, R, A, F and N are nearly identical to those found on the tombstones. (Figures 5 – 9). If, in 1880, Fortune Justice was living with potters Wash Miles and Brister Jones near the John W. Seigler pottery on Shaws Creek, Joe Ranford was also living three households away, the face jug’s archeological attributes suggest it was likely made at the Seigler pottery, and analysis of the incised font used is comparable to that of the tombstones; then the evidence further identifies Fortune Justice as F.E. Justice, stoneware potter and craftsman.
CONCLUSION:
Although fleeting in the documentary record, F.E. Justice, has been identified as Fortune Justice, a talented, Reconstruction Era African American potter. Justice’s identity could be found using indirect community associations, employment, kinship, and the artisan’s distinct style and technique as a signature.
Reference material available upon request.
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