The confusing history of Brown & McCoy, Roseville, Ohio, stoneware dealers, is clarified.  James E. Brown and James W. McCoy were stoneware dealers or merchants-- not manufacturers.  William C. Brown, Crooksville, Ohio, was both a potter and merchant

Murphy, James L., 1941-

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ROSEVILLE LEGENDThe Official Publication of the Roseville Historical SocietyThe Real (Brown) & McCoyFall200SBy James L. Murphy and Carole E. WilliamsA rare stoneware crock stenciled in cobaltwith the words "BROWN & McCOY WHOLE-SALE DEALERS IN STONEWARE ROSE-VILLE. 0." presents three intriguing questions:Who was Brown? Was there ever a Brown &McCoy Pottery? What role did Brown &McCoy play in the pottery industry of Roseville?There is no doubt that the McCoy in questionwas James W. McCoy (1848-1914), founder in1899 of the J. W. McCoy Pottery Company butwho was the Brown in Brown & McCoy? Somehave surmised that he was James W. McCoy'sfather-in-law and that the two were partners in aRoseville pottery from 1871 until 1876, whenMcCoy operated his own general merchandisestore.Unfortunately, McCoy's wife, Sarah "Sade"Brown McCoy, has sometimes been misidenti-fied as the daughter of William C. Brown (1827-1905). He was a potter in the Crooksville areafrom at least 1860 to 1880, after which he openeda store in Crooksville. There is a crock stenciled"W. C. Brown Depot Crooksville, 0." in thesame fashion as the stencil on the Brown &McCoy piece, and these crocks no doubt weresold at W.C. Brown's store. William C. Brownwas, in fact, related to Sarah, being a half-uncleof her father James, but a contemporary in age.Who then was James W. McCoy's father-in-law? For the answer we look at another partner-ship between Brown & McCoy which occurredon April 28, 1870 in Roseville. On that day 21year-old Sarah Elizabeth Brown, daughter ofJames E. and Lucy Ann Sowers Brown, be-came the bride of 22 year-old James WilliamMcCoy, son of William Nelson and EstherBrown McCoy of Putnam, Springfield Town-ship., Muskingum County. The young coupleBrown & McCoy were wholesale dealers of stoneware in Roseville from1872 to 1888. Our research concludes that they were not partners in apottery business. [Photo courtesy of James L Murphy]made their first home in Uniontown, Newton Township, Musk-ingum County, where James operated a dry goods store. Thefollowing year the McCoys moved to Roseville, and it was hereJames W. McCoy partnered with his father-in-law, James E.Brown in a general merchandising store. Mr. Brown, who hadbeen in the mercantile business at Roseville since 1844, was acapable mentor to young James McCoy. Their business part-nership became known as Brown & McCoy.As mentioned, some have been led to believe that these twomen were partners in a Roseville pottery named Brown &McCoy. Our research of the Roseville tax duplicates at theContinued on Page 44The Real (Brown) & McCoy (Continued fromPage 1)Muskingum County Records office in Zanesvilleprovided not only the answer to the question regard-ing their business relationship but also documentedwhere the firm was located. Brown & McCoy firstappeared in the tax duplicate in 1872 when the com-pany paid $3,400 in personal property taxes. By1888, the last year the company was listed, personalproperty taxes had risen to $6,450. Most impor-tantly, the 1884 tax duplicate identified the locationof Brown & McCoy as occupying 26 by 65 feet inthe northeast corner of Lot 23 in Roseville. WhileBrown & McCoy paid personal taxes on the north-eastern corner of Lot 23, real property taxes for theentire lot were paid by James Brown, indicatingthat Brown & McCoy was solely a business ar-rangement and the Brown was the sole owner of theproperty. This lot, on the southwest corner of Firstand Main Streets in Roseville, is now a vacant.After 1888, James E. Brown, at 68 years ofage, went on to establish a furniture store in a newbuilding on First Street., now a private residence. Healso partnered wiih and supported his son GeOl-geW. Brown who opened a general store on the north-west corner of First and Main Street (James Brown& Son are first listed in the 1888 personal propertytax duplicate.) James E. Brown died in 1907 at age88.James W. McCoy, was a partner in the Wil-liams & McCoy Pottery Company (subsequentlythe Kildow, Williams and McCoy Pottery Com-pany, and later the Midland Pottery Company ofRoseville) before establishing the J. W McCoy Pot-tery in 1899. He, with the assistance of his son, Ar-thur, continued operating a general merchandisingstore along with his pottery ventures until his deathin his 67th year in 1914.We have established that James E. Brown andhis son-in-law James W. McCoy were merchants,who operated under the name of Brown & McCoyfrom 1872-1888 on Main Street, Roseville. We findno evidence that their partnership included themanufacture of pottery but were simply wholesaledealers of stoneware, as the stenciling on the crockindicates. As merchants they provided a valuableservice by merchandising and marketing the prod-ucts of the many small local potteries.William C Brown was a potter from approximately1860 until 1880 in the Crooksville-area He subse-quently opened a store in Crooksville. [Photo cour-tesy of James L Murphy.]About the Authors:James L Murphy is an Emeritus Professor, OhioState University Libraries, Columbus, Ohio. Hehas been a contributor to the Roseville Legendforthe past 10 years.Carole J. Williams is a Brown family historian.She has been researching and compilingfamilyhistories for over 15yearsRoseville Historical SocietyThank you for your generous supportthis past year as we celebrated our tenthyear as an organization.Please consider volunteering and/orloaning or donating items to be exhib-ited in the Roseville Historical Societymuseum. We appreciate your support.RHS Celebrates 1998-2008bl1200X

The Real (Brown) & McCoy

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The Real (Brown) & McCoy

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