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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SBSVC, post: 74578, member: 136&quot;]I was thinking <u>B</u>ement Pottery...</p><p><br /></p><p>Info below is from </p><p><a href="http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bement-pottery-bement-illinois-matte-434975843" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bement-pottery-bement-illinois-matte-434975843" rel="nofollow">http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bement-pottery-bement-illinois-matte-434975843</a> :</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4"><b>BEMENT POTTERY (BEMENT, ILLINOIS)</b></font></p><p>There was a small plant in Bement that manufactured “Bement Pottery”. The building sat on what is now the Topflight Grain elevator lot, just east of the current office building. Prior to housing the pottery shop, the building had been home to the village’s water works. Bement Pottery was founded by Francis Lynn McClure in 1946. Francis and his sister, Cora (Mrs. Ralph Siders Sr.), were Bement natives. Francis was born in 1890, graduated from BementHigh School in 1908, and later moved to Sebring, Ohio. It was in Ohio that he became affiliated with the Limoges Pottery Company, and married Lucille Albright. Lucille’s family had a long history in the pottery business; some with roots in the pottery business in Liverpool, England. Lynn and his family moved back to Bement in 1946 and he established Bement Pottery. He bought the old village water works building and set up the pottery plant with the help of their son Ray. Production began in 1947. One of the problems encountered was that using propane to fire the kiln, since natural gas was not available, produced uneven heat and therefore imperfections in the pottery. However, production continued of vases and bowls in several colors, sometimes decorated with small flowers and different colored handles. Several different marks were used on the bottoms of the pieces to identify the company in Bement. By the late 1940’s, profits were not good, Lucille died, and son Ray left the operation. In the summer of 1952, Lynn sold the building and the contents, and moved to Florida. Unverified: the clay for the pottery was dug from what is now ForestPreservePark in Bement, where the Bement brickyard was working; and that one train car-load of vases was sold to Macy’s in Chicago, only to find that the vases leaked once they arrived in Chicago.</p><p><br /></p><p>This info, as obtained third hand from the Topflight Grain Coop newsletter, is attributed to Bob Swisher and the Champaign News-Gazette, obtained by him from Kent Siders , great-nephew of Lynn McClure. Other info obtained from the Sebring OH Historical Society website.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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