Editor’s note: Gloria Durffey of Franklin sent a copy of a Smoky Mountain News article about kaolin to Australian professor W.R. Ramsey. He sent this story back.

I am a researcher at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, and I was interested to receive a copy of March 7 edition of The Smoky Mountain News. On page 35 there was an excellent article by Mr. George Ellison, “Kaolin has a long and Unique History in Mountain Region.”

In this article, Mr. Ellison details the early history of kaolin search in the Franklin region by Thomas Griffiths, an agent for Josiah Wedgwood. This is highly commendable and I enjoyed reading it, especially noting the reference to previous work by T. W. Reynolds (The Southern Appalachian Region; vol. 2, 1966). Reynold’s comments about the Gurney Mine or Porter Mine, described by Watts in 1913, were very informative.

Further recognition has been afforded Thomas Griffiths and the Wedgwood ceramic concern in Staffordshire, UK, by means of a plaque in Franklin itself and a prominent sign out of Franklin at Cowee or Cowes Town. I am indeed pleased to see the recognition afforded the early pioneering adventures of Thomas Griffiths in 1767 as detailed by Bill Anderson published in The North Carolina Historical Review(1976) and summarised by your correspondent George Ellison.

The point of my writing is to suggest that the good folk of Franklin may be overlooking the exploits of a far more significant figure for whom reasonable to strong circumstantial evidence suggests the following:

° He was most likely to have been the first European to have discovered the location and to have recognised the ceramic properties of the clays from the Franklin region; this discovery can most likely be dated to 1741 – possibly during spring.

° There are good grounds to suppose that he was the first to transport this clay out of the Little Tennessee River Valley to London in 1743.

° There is reasonable circumstantial evidence that he introduced this clay to the proprietors of the future Bow Porcelain Manufactory during the period May – September 1743 whilst in London.

° Based on his memorial to the Upper House of the South Carolina Assembly in early 1746, it is strongly suspected that he was back in the Franklin area collecting clay or attempting to trade for clay in late 1743, possibly in early-mid 1744, and again in late 1745.

° He was most likely back in London in late 1744, where he may have been directly involved in the patenting of this clay (Cherokee clay or unaker) for the manufacture of porcelain.

° And, based on chemical analyses, it is likely that this clay was utilized in the manufacture of some of the earliest, quality porcelains, if not the earliest, manufactured in Britain.

It can only be speculated as to whether he contributed to the actual porcelain recipe filed on Dec. 6, 1744, in London, but it is not unreasonable, in view of his experimental work on porcelain in Georgia, that some or all of the 1744 patent reflects his research.

This person was the Savannah potter Andrew Duché. From the citation listed above, I might suggest that such a list of possible accomplishments is enough to arouse a reasonable amount of interest in this pioneering potter who was most likely in the Appalachians a quarter of a century before Thomas Griffiths yet receives little mention or recognition in North Carolina.

Whilst it must be emphasised that many of the claims listed are based essentially on circumstantial evidence, I write to request help from your readers with respect to the first claim, namely that Andrew Duché was exploring in the Franklin Nantahala region in 1741. With the help of your readers and a bit of geological sleuthing, it may be possible to tie down more accurately where Duché travelled in the Southern Appalachians. Evidence for this journey “in search of mines” is based on the Bolzius Journal in the Salzburger emigrant diaries. Bolzius of Ebeneezer, Georgia, makes two diary entries regarding Duché, the first on Oct. 14, 1741, and the second on Oct. 21. I enclose portions of both entries in chronological order.

“With General Oglethorpe’s authorisation he (Duché) has traveled amongst the Indians up in the mountains and has seen all sorts of singular things or else learned them from reliable persons. Amongst other things he recounted to me how amongst the Cherokees (a very populous nation, and amicable to England) where upon a cliff the footprints of an entire fleeing people, to wit, many men, women, and children, and all kinds of poultry, birds, and animals may clearly be seen. One also sees the imprint of fallen man who is trying to rise by supporting himself on both hands; this can be seen because his posterior and his heel are imprinted on the rock as in sand..... In the same region there are also some fire-spewing mountains, also a great cave in the cliff from which flows constantly a certain material which turns when it falls to the ground. There are many deep caves, just as in Canaan.”

Secondly, “He also knows a marble quarry in this country from which he is taking along (to London) samples.”

The references to both marble and caves are good evidence that Duché reached the Murphy Syncline within The Valley, north-west of Franklin. Secondly, the reference to “a certain material which turns when it falls to the ground” has been interpreted by a colleague, Dr. R.D. Hatcher Jr., as a reference to a surface efflorescence of alum minerals and native sulphur derived from the breakdown of pyrite in the Nantahala Slate. If any reader can give me the exact location of this second locality I would be grateful.
Moreover, any clues as to the location of fire-spewing mountains and the fossil imprints upon a cliff would be gratefully received. Possibly the fire-spewing mountain might refer to a prominent mountain often covered by cloud streams. If so, is it visible from any of the tracks heading west or north-west from the Franklin-Iotla region? The reference to fossil imprints on a cliff is so graphical that it is most likely that Duché did in fact see some sort of impressions, but where? Can your readers help?

On the basis that Duché journeyed over to Murphy from Savannah, then the assumed route taken from Savannah would have initially been up the Savannah River (we know that he owned a boat), and thence overland to Keowee or Fort Prince George. From there by Indian trails, most likely the very ones that later became known as the Bartram Route, Duché would have descended into the headwaters of the Little Tennessee River and thence to Franklin (Naqualasee). My understanding is that he would have then journeyed some five miles further northwards to the Iotla Valley (Ayoree?) and from there travelled westward through the Iotla Valley and over the Nantahala Ranges to The Valley. If this general route can be further substantiated then it can be reasonably assumed that Andrew Duché would have come across one or more white clay deposits (unaker) within the Little Tennessee River catchment.
Consequently, I am requesting help from your readers to fill in any of the geological blanks in this historical puzzle. It may be that a particular reader knows of a colleague who is a geologist or environmental officer who has worked in the area. Possibly someone who is an experienced bushwalker (you might use the term backwoodsman or back-country hiker) might know or have heard of such locations, which I am guessing lies in the upper reaches of the Little Tennessee River or somewhere between Franklin and Murphy. I have no reason to doubt that Bolzius recorded Duché’s account accurately, nor is there any reason to believe that Duché was not telling the truth. Help with this brain teaser will contribute more light on one of the initial pioneers of the clay industry in Franklin, if not the first pioneer, and arguably one of the founding fathers of the English porcelain industry.

Readers can contact me at the address below or by e-mail ramsayr@deakin.edu.au Thank you for your help and consideration of this request.

Dr. W.R. Ramsay
Earth Sciences
Deakin University
Rusden Campus
662 Blackburn Road
CLAYTON, Victoria, 3168
Australia

 

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