Show IA U 41 DUP MARKER jim clark proudly displays welding job he did on the DUP camp porter merrell marker in duples DUP camp porter merrell marker now on display in naples ward four years work has recently been culminated by the DUP camp porter merrell with their replica of the old roberts hall and pottery shop which was placed on top of the marker the material for this little building was taken from the fence that for years surrounded the graves of mr and mrs ephraim H roberts and family in the ve nal memorial park mr myron roberts gave the fence to us just a few weeks before he passed away the building of the house which took hours of welding was done by jim dark clark of the basin machine and welding company who donated all his work just charing for the extra material he hai haa to buy to complete it glen knight of the modern heating company fashioned end and placed the windows door end and roof on the building charging only for the material he used rex negel St a business man of vernal donated the paint job which finished it up so nicely the plaque Is inscribed DAUGHTERS OF UTAH PIONEERS 1 no eted et acted 1 1952 PO POTTERY I 1 ERY SHOP in 1893 ephraim H 11 roberts a war veteran built a pottery here he ile and his sons made churns jars jugs and flower pots which were exchanged for produce sani samples ples of clay were tried before a suitable one was found lead for glazing was dug from a clay bank on the rifle range at fort duchesne later the building was used for an amusement center known as old roberts hall in 1820 1920 it was moved to davis ward where it served as a church and recreation hall it was wa razed in 1936 camp porter merrell D U P uintah county utah dedication the dedication and unveiling of tie cie marker was held on sept 24 1952 on the day of the annual convention of the county D DUP U P luncheon was sold by camp porter merrell daughters to help with the expense before a crowd of people george roberts a son and slyvia roberts allred a daughter of mr and mrs ephraim 11 II robarts builder of the pottery shop unveiled the markir myron roberts another son was unable to attend because he was seriously ill and frank the only other living son was as in europe at the time ephraim horace roberts was born june 13 1839 in ripley county ill he ile with his parents horace ephraim and harriet mcevers roberts left nauvoo illinois in 1844 1344 and settled in winter quarters iowa they immigrated to utah in 1851 where they lived at salt lake city until 1858 1853 while there ephraim was employed by a cousin boliver roberts to ride the pony express mall mail route from salt lake city utah to las vegas nevada and from there to san bernardino california while on these rides he had many terrifying encounters with hostile indians potter patter robert roberts he gave up his job and moved with his parents to prove provo utah and started in the pottery business which his father had engaged in at nauvoo ill by their trade they were known as potter roberts his ills experience with the indians was not at an end however for he was known as a minuteman minute man in the black hawk war under captain conover he lie served us wi guard most of the time ho was married to emma dorothy bell november 2 1161 in provo utah and here was born to them ephraim bell and john homer from provo they amov moved ed to mona utah where ten more children were born andrew bell william evermont myron theodore and marion howard twins george henry alfred leroy fred ernest alma frank edward sylvia may and don watson in the neighborhood where they lived there were four sets of twins born within a year including the roberts twing twins marion being born dec 31 1871 on a saturday night and myron being born jan 1 1672 1872 on sunday morning gave them the distinction of being born in different years months weeks and days four sets of twins A new family moved nto the neighborhood and asked grandpa roberts where they obtained their drinking water he ile told them from a community well and jokingly told them that within a year four sets of twins had been born to the four ami lies using the water and they could use it at own risk on aug 10 1803 the roberts family moved to vernal utah and settled in the naples ward here they started their pottery business on richard harrisons place then in they built a pottery shop of their own across we road from the he naples chapel the logs for the pottery shop were cut and hauled a distance of nf thirty five miles fron dry fork mountain by two two horse continued on page 10 16 DUP marker continued from page 9 teams teanis and on bob sleds made by he the roberts with monte and george as teamsters they made other trips to taylor mountain a distance of thirty five miles to andersons Ander sens saw mill for rafters and slabs for the roof root and sawed material for fini finishing shing the build mg ing the windows and doors were freighted brofn salt lake city by team and wagon ephraim 11 II the father who was noted 0 ted for his skill with the broad axe hewed and prepared t the 1 io logs for the building his ills wife emma and daughter sylvia S y I 1 may allay helped in the shop by arranging pottery on the shelves display room the building was used for a dispain room is as well as a workshop the logs logg were notched and johnd at it the thi miners ind ako alfo in each of if the side aide wills wall the notch ing wis was done with the bro ad axe the tile dimensions of tile building wa was 1 26 feet wide by 40 feet 1 long 9 the calling was 12 feet high ahe building faced the east mst with the windows and a double door in front there was one lindow in the north and a door opening into the kiln at the back the building was daubed with the same kind ot of clay as was used in making the pottery the root roof was covered with clay which shed the water better than the common dirt the kiln for tho the pottery was built behind the main building with it a brick canopy over the are arch h which was full of holes plugs were used in these holes to regulate the heat of the oven five hundred samples of clay were ere tried before n suitable one was found this was taken from the bullock ditch across from the ashley creek bridge on US highway 40 crocks and jars were given as rewards for clay samples tam ples lead dug at 1 I ft duchesne lead for glazing was dug from a clay bank on the soldier rifle range at fort duchesne miles west of vernal on the indian reservation three or four hundred pounds ot of lead would be obtained at a trip about a bushel basket full which would make about one hundred gallons of glaze when mixed with two parts clay the lead was ground at the old reynolds mill located about eight miles from naples in the maeser ward this solution when heated would boil boll as if water had been added the crockery was built on a plade turned by foot pow er at first then later by horsepower it took two pounds of clay to make a one gallon jar the clay h had ad to be worked strained and run into vats to aty diy until it could be used like molding clay this was worked till all the air bubbles were out then rolled into 8 inch inh rolls and placed on blocks on the plade which was run very true so there was no wobble and which kept the hole exactly in the center As it turned it was molded into shape by hand many and varied shapes were made into jars jugs milk flower pots pats etc to make small necked vinegar jugs the plade was turned at the fastest rate of speed possible and the neck of the jug molded as it turned the jars were then placed on the tables to dry and covered with wagon covers for five days during this time they were clamped on plaster of pans paris plates to keep them from warping they were then ithen placed in the kiln to be burned for four days until they were a biscuit brown then removed and quickly rolled in the hot glaze manganese obtained manganese was obtained from S salt it lake city to color the gli aglaie ale gallon jars were sold for each and 5 gallon jars for 2 00 others according to their size many were exchanged for produce after all this processing the finished products were beautiful apices puces of pottery complete jars and jugs arc are cherished relics in many homes hemes in ash le lei valley also some soine have been placed in the relic hall of the D U P in vernal utah eventually this industry was discontinued because the brent breathing of the I 1 imes from the lead caused the men to become leaded a condition affecting the lungs they were treated by dr archibald rose of vernal utah hie the only doctor in the ashley valle at it that time amusement center later the tile building was as used for or in n amusement centea dances and parties partle s were held acie thee and lie building became known os Rs the huberts hall tall some M people e ow orthey they si sa the first picture s show h they saw was at the roberts hall liall the building was also used a short time its is a school house and anti as a general store in 1920 the old ld roberts hall was torn down and moved to davis ward about two miles south of the original location where it served us as a church and recreation hall until it was rated in 1930 ater a years planning in icil 1951 the members of camp porter merrell D U P and their husbands started the erection ot of a marker in commemoration of the old roberta roberts hall and pottery shop on the same gite site where it stood this piece 0 of ground was donated by mr and mrs birchell lo odrich while for the base bas e and fence once many broken pieces of pottery were found material Ma lerial 1 some 0 of f t the I 1 material was bought b by 1 the h el camp camp some donated by various businessmen of the county graveling and grading was done by the state road I 1 commission under direction ol 01 harold mckee the fence surrounding the m marker arker was donated by jim fisher and taken from the old fisher cemetery plot Beautt beautiful ful and ind colorful colof lul native stone was used lor lot the facing work which was done by byron fisher of jensen utah now liv ing in Or orderville derville assisted b his daughter Vat ilce who painted mortar lines on the finished marker A pitcher made in ir the pottery shop was placed in ir the face of the marker |