Ack Pottery, Mooresburg Pa

 

Ack Pottery, Mooresburg Pa
1854-1910

"The high clay content in the soil at Mooresburg was the bane of many farmers, but toe Daniel Ack, who established Ack Pottery in 1882, the clay was a blessing."

Daniel Ack and his wife, natives of Berks County, came to Mooresburg to open a Pot Shop in 1854.

The clay, obtained from nearby farms, was hand dug and hauled by horse and wagon to the shop.

Promotional Piece For Daniel Ack Pottery, 1896

Ack produced flower pots, batter bowls, vases, flue crocks, pickling jars, and more. Many featured elaborate cobalt blue decoration of flowers, birds, and figures.

Train cars departed Mooresburg Freight Siding, loaded with Ack Pottery.  The train would take the pottery as far away as Philadelphia to be sold for as little as 2 cents each.

Today, Ack Pottery can bring as much as $500 a piece.

Ack Potter inside the shop, 1900.

Daniels sons John and Edward joined him in the pottery business for a time.  

Edward eventually sought other work, with John continuing in the business through 1911, when he left to pursue the field of photography.

Daniel Ack, a blank invoice, and Jack Ack

From  Made Of Mud: Stoneware Potteries In Central Pennsylvania, by Lasansky:

"A story of cooking chickens in the kiln fireboxes during or following a firing is told. It is similar in basic details to the stories told about Bloomsburg and Mount Eagle Potteries. The legend and Dan's case was even more amusing because the chicken he ate with such relish had been stolen from his coupe by his helpers, rather than from a neighbors as he had instructed. The joke was on Dan, by who all accounts was a feisty soul. The chickens would be dressed but still have their feathers. They were then wrapped in clay.  After they were cooked the clay was removed, taking the feathers with it. People also can recall strong demonstrating his skill at throwing, long after the kilns last firing on April 8th, 1904. Upon request, he would transport his wheel to various schools and groups. This wheel a treadle type complete with handles on the sides, is on display in the Mooresburg museum.

Dan axe pieces had a bulbous form and attention to rim detail reminiscent of earlier pottery. Neither he nor his son excelled in decoration. The Thistle was their standard motif, as well as a flower that had their personal touch. Two stamped act pieces with faces have been seen. One portrait is complete with hat and pipe! Many of the pieces found locally are misshapen casualties of poor kiln firing. Much of their wear was shipped in barrels to Philadelphia on the Catawissa railroad. One might assume that this was where more perfect pieces went. John complained that Hyssongs in Bloomsburg benefited more from more favorable rail rates, Helping to force him out of business. He supposedly worked a year or two in Berwick pottery, possibly Wessler and Edwards, after his pottery closed in 1904."

Much of the original pottery is stamped "D. Ack, Mooresburg".  When John took over, the stamp was changed to "J.F. Ack, Mooresburg."

Ack Pottery is at the end of the road, on the left

Ack Pottery, seen from the rear [c. 1904-1909 - before the kiln was torn down]  

From Left to Right: Warehouse, Kiln, Pot Shop, family home.

By 1910, all that remained was the main warehouse.

In 1910, William Davis purchased the Ack Pottery warehouse.  He had it torn down, and constructed a house from the materials that remained.

The house Davis built stands directly east of the Liberty Township Municipal Building.

Daniel Ack in Pottery Shop

Photo taken by son John

Daniel Ack Obituary, May 1914

This invoice is billed to J.H. Cole, the founder of todays Coles Hardware Chain.

Another, larger,  invoice for J.H. Cole, showing the signature of J. Ack

Ack Crocks stacked in the Mooresburg Warehouse

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Daniel Ack Pottery is shown on the map, on the far left here.

Daniels daughter Caroline married Lyman Ritter.  She lived to be 94 years old, dying in 1943.

John Ack

According to Lasansky, J.F. Ack and his wife Sarah [Falls] Ack,  who were childless, took in their nephew, 9 year old Clyde, after "the early deaths of Sarah Ack Hendershot and her husband left some of their 6 children homeless."  Clyde assisted his uncle at the pottery, although his name never appeared on the stamp.  In 1907, J.F. took his family to Johnstown to try photography. They returned to Mooresburg about 1914, when Dan Ack died.