Presbyterian minister John M. Wilson came to this area in 1856 with his family and slaves. Since earthen vessels were major 19th-century food storage items, Wilson established a pottery kiln in this vicinity in 1860. After Wilson sold his interest in the business in 1869, 3 of his former slaves began their own pottery shop. James, Hiram, and Wallace Wilson, who operated H. Wilson & Co. until 1884, created their own style of pottery and ran a successful business during the Reconstruction Era, when many newly-freed slaves found work only as sharecroppers.
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