The tradition of multiple generations of a family working as utilitarian red earthenware or stoneware potters was abundant in the Mid-Atlantic region. This notion was prevalent in Pennsylvania in the 18th, 19th century, and early 20th century, especially with migrant potters, often of German descent. In fact, some of the previous feature stories Ive written for Antiques & Auction News have noted such family operations, including the Bell family in Waynesboro, Pa. (Dec. 7, 2018 issue), the Bach family in Allentown, Pa. (July 26, 2024 issue) and the Hissong family in Cassville, Pa. (Dec. 6, 2014 issue). However, another noted family of potters were the Millers, who produced red earthenware in Adams County, Pa. The familys production is documented in the early 19th century with Johanas Adam Miller (1768-1841), but the family business was likely established by George Miller (1728-79), a local farmer who migrated from Germany to Pennsylvania sometime before he married Maria Elisabetha Herring (1728-79) in York, in 1762. An account of the Miller familys red earthenware production was published in Jeannette Lasanskys book, Central Pennsylvania Redware Pottery, 1780-1904, published in 1979. It is from the Miller family that we can learn the most about an Adams County pottery. Adam Miller began working in Franklin Township, where George Miller had been working. Adam, building a kiln and a pot shop on his farm, worked into the late 1820s. Of his 11 children, it was his son, John (1803-60), and Johns children and grandchildren who carried on the pottery tradition. John worked full-time as a potter from age 24 until his death in 1860. Most of his nine children, including the girls, where involved with some aspect of the pottery, which moved up the road ca. 1863 to his eldest son Solomons (1832-1916) home. In particular, Adam C. (1837-1916) and later Samuel (1847-1927) helped their older brother, Solly (Solomon), after their fathers death. Many pieces with Solomons name on the base as well as a date (ranging from 1852-99) and a couple with Adam C. (dates with 1861-63) have been found. None of the thrown dishes, which were young Samuels specialty, were signed. Interestingly, the men themselves did not sign their ware; the women did, especially Samuels daughter, Amedia, (1877-1958), who worked at the pottery until she married (on March 17, 1898). On a Sunday, for lack of anything else to do, she and her sisters would pick up a stick and scratch the name Solomon, the date, and sometimes their county or the person for whom the piece was made. Those pieces that had dried too hard or out in the sun would be bypassed in favor of those pieces that were softer, or leather-hard. One flowerpot signed with Solomons name states, Made by Me / June 10th 1899 / Solomon Miller. He also appears to have previously visited the John W. Bell (1828-95) pottery in neighboring Franklin County in 1877 and signed his name and date on a similar piece stamped JOHN W. BELL. Solomon, and later Samuel, also employed journeymen potters, generally Germans, who lived with them or neighbors for a short time each year, often for several years. Two of these men might be at the pottery at the same time making some of the fancier forms. George Kimmel, whose father, Philip, had been a potter in adjoining Washington Township, York County, was one of Millers helpers. Two of his dated-green-glazed pieces signed Pleasant Hill Pottery near Hampton survive. He made the four-mile journey over to Millers, staying from Monday through Friday and working at the pottery in addition to helping on the farm. In good weather, the ware was packed amidst straw in a large wagon and taken to the towns in the area: Porter, Sideling, Mt. Holly, East Berlin, Biglerville, Arendtville and Hanover. Traditionally they were paid for the red earthenware the following year when they made the next delivery. Often small special pieces were given to customers as a courtesy. The forms made at the Miller Pottery were jars, crocks, custard cups, milk pans, jugs, spittoons, sugar bowls, master salts, mugs, stovepipe, garden urns, bird whistles and pierced-work bowls, as well as whimsical pieces and miniature objects. The Millers were also known to have used various stamps of different types impressed on a small number of large mottled green and black glazed red earthenware pitchers, which were further embellished with inscribed decorations, including plants and birds. These stamps may also help with identifying other forms adorned with matching stamps. Interestingly, a 19th century red earthenware cuspidor that was recently identified in Ontario, Canada, where the base appears to read, Samuel Miller Near Hampton May 24 1864. The Near Hampton was also described by Lasansky as being used in Washington Township. Among the notable examples of Miller Pottery in museum collections is a bowl owned by the New York Historical Society in Manhattan, as part of the Elie Nadelman (1882-1946) collection. Nadelman was a pioneer folk art collector influenced by the peasant arts of his native Poland and other European countries. He began collecting after immigrating to New York City in 1914. In 1937, the historical society acquired 15,000 objects that he and his wife, Viola Spiess Flannery (1878-1962), had amassed. Another museum object is a pierced-work bowl made by Samuel Miller that is owned by The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, which is dated on the base 1871. This type of production is reflective of the German heritage in Adams County. Furthermore, Adams County did see its share of German migrant potters in the 1800s, like Anthony Wise Baecher(1824-89), born in 1824 in Bavaria, Germany. He learned his trade from his father, and in 1848, Baecher immigrated to the United States via Ellis Island, New York, and held apprenticeships in both New Jersey and Adams County. He worked for David Ditzer in Adams County, as well as other potters. However, after a few years of working in Adams County, he moved to Maryland and later Virginia, where he was employed as a potter, as well. Lasansky also noted Amedia Millers perspective of the family business: Never marry a potter, said Amedia Miller, its hard work. She knew, for she had seen the others work and had helped grind the red lead in the quern, marked and packed the wares, and had gone with her father, Samuel, who made most of the deliveries. Their trips to the country stores in Adams and York counties were a pleasant opportunity to get muslin for quilts, in addition, fruit and candy treats. The Miller familys red earthenware production seems to have lasted into the early 20th century with Samuel Miller still listed with a primary occupation of potter in Adams County in the 1900 United States Federal Census. Solomon was also still likely working as a potter during this period. Nevertheless, Adams County was a significant production center in Pennsylvania in the 19th century; the wares were skilled and creative. The Millers production was clearly a successful family enterprise, based on the continued success of the familys pottery production, which lasted for multiple generations, and perhaps more than a century, possibly dating back to the 1700s. Sources: Adams County News, April 8, 1916. Comstock, H.E. The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region. Winston-Salem, N.C.: The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, 1994. Lasansky, Jeannette. Central Pennsylvania Redware Pottery 1780-1904. Lewisburg, PA: Union County Oral Traditions Project, 1979.