Herbert Bolton, the “Palermo Stone,” and Two Cruel Pranks of History

In 1936, a story began to unfold in academia which tipped an avalanche of negative effects for decades. A fellow found a small, inscribed brass plaque on the side of the road in the San Francisco Bay area, not far from San Quentin Prison. It was not long before he was encouraged to show it to a California historian who might interpret its significance. The thing was taken to UC Berkeley, where the venerable Professor Herbert Bolton held court, and he and another historian ended up purchasing the plaque for $3,500.00... in 1936 dollars, which would translate into much more money today. Given that this was during the height of the Great Depression, and money was scarce and there were great tragedies unfolding all over the world, it is even more amazing, and suggestive of the importance these two men attached to this newfound artifact, which they believed was going to re-write North American history. *************************************************************************************************************** As news of the find emerged, several people claimed to have seen it in the same vicinity, and after looking at it they had tossed it into the weeds as a piece of junk... Finally it been scooped up by the last “finder,” who put it on its amazing trajectory. With such dubious origins, Bolton and his associate desired to authenticate and justify their artifact, and to silence skepticism, and so they had a metallurgist examine the plaque. Afterwards they proudly claimed unequivocally that the plaque had been left on the California shores by Sir Francis Drake, as a land claim for his King.

This was the favorite legend often kicked around in California historical circles, that California had actually been originally claimed by the English, and not the Spanish. And Bolton was one of the leaders of this “school.” Now he had the proof. The words scrawled on the brass turned Bolton's theory into historical fact and became his lasting legacy. *************************************************************************************************************** Soon the plaque was proudly displayed at the Golden Gate International Exposition. Copies were made of it and sent to the First Lady, and to Queen Elizabeth II. *************************************************************************************************************** This was all very exciting, until more information trickled out over the next few years. Herbert Bolton belonged to a bizarre club of academics, who prided themselves in hilarity and historical ironies. They were known to fund and place historical plaques wherever there was some irony to celebrate. In their heyday they placed a plaque in commemoration of where the Spanish priests, coming to Christianize the natives, signaled the establishment of their ministry with the sounding of... cannons. They placed the first “permanent” monument, a historical marker on a... ship, where it could conceivably float anywhere.

This was a powerful collection of historical geniuses, with a hysterical, even impish strain, and possessing a pool of knowledge and talent which could have convinced any museum anywhere of almost anything- within reason. And especially something that someone already wanted to believe.

Almost forty years later it all finally came out, when surviving members of “E Clampus Vitus” more or less confessed that the whole thing had been conceived as a joke among themselves, to heckle one of their most esteemed members, and that the joke got way out of their hands and had, well... terrible, unexpected consequences. E Clampus jokesters ducked out somehow and avoided much bad publicity for the trouble they had caused. ***************************************************************************************************************** The scandal and all of the uncertainty it inspired had dogged Bolton for the rest of his life, and strongly threw all of his scholarship into question. One of the perpetrators had committed suicide. The organization had to somehow repair its respectability, so they light-heartedly went on as if the scandal, barely ever documented then or now, was merely a sad chain of events, which had become like most of history; blotted with regrettable instances of man's inhumanity to man.

This brings us to the “Palermo Stone.” ( Sorry about the stitched-together photo, it had been printed across two pages in a newspaper magazine) Outside of a few scholars, few persons would have recognized history repeating itself, when the scarred chunk of sandstone, marked with the word “LSall” and the number 14 was reportedly found during highway construction in Brazos County. A fellow named Luke Palermo had found what appeared to be a crudely inscribed boulder, which may have been related to the French discoverer and explorer of the Brazos Valley, Ren`e-Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle. In fact he was believed to have been murdered by his own men, just across the river, somewhere near the crossing of the old La Bahia Trail and the fork of the Brazos and Navasota rivers.

And who might have researched and published this theory? That's right, Herbert Bolton. Bolton had literally marched the terrain between Matagorda and Navasota, and matched landmarks along the way as they would have been mentioned by those who left journals. (And yes, there were several, and in French) It was his scholarship pointing to modern-day Navasota as where La Salle must have met his premature death, and his published theories which inspired the Daughters of the American Revolution to commission the bronze sculpture of La Salle, which was prominently placed in Navasota in the middle of Washington Avenue, in time for the Texas Centennial in 1936.

It took years for the secrets of E Clampus Vitus to come out, but there was a clandestine network of scholars who knew since the 1930's about Bolton's problems and thus had to be wary of any artifacts related to his research. It seems that, while Bolton was doggedly out in the field documenting and pontificating, there were funny guys back in California devoted to popping his prolific history balloons. And there was no better way to accomplish that than placing counterfeit artifacts at his every turn, for him to embrace and publicize- and then be shocked and defrocked as they proved to be hoaxes. And as with most of their monuments, irony played a role in their conception... ****************************************************************************************************************** The original Palermo stone was associated with the Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, circa about 2300 B.C., a stone which contained inscriptions which had been maliciously chiseled off of Egyptian steles and lost for thousands of years. It could have been just a coincidence, but more probably this Brazos Valley “find” by a Palermo might have been considered a hilarious spoof, designed to tease Bolton with his very own “Palermo stone.” It was probably immediately recognized as absurd, even to him, and might well have rattled his confidence about his controversial brass plate, the Holy Grail of his career. The Clampus Vitus had been trying to subtley clue him that they had planted the Drake Plate, but to no avail. Surely his friends would never do such a costly and embarrassing thing to him... So when the “Palermo stone” appeared in 1940 in Bryan, Texas, it was treated with inexplicable, almost institutional skepticism. Mr. Palermo took it to Texas A&M, and later to Houston scholars, and received some press coverage, and then the find died. Luckily, nobody with credentials would or could dare believe it, possibly remembering what embarrassing results evolved out of Drake's Plate.

Palermo genuinely tried to establish the stone's provenance and authenticity, and give it its due place in history, as he believed that it deserved. And this suggests that he was somehow led to the discovery, an innocent stooge, probably directed by someone connected to E Clampus Vitus. The eccentric fraternity had very cleverly concealed their association with Drake's Plate, so that the finders were never aware that the artifact had been placed where it might be “discovered.” The main difference in the Texas scenario was there was no passionate professor/collector like Herbert Bolton in Texas to sell it to. And thank goodness.

If the stone was for real, its timing, its association with a Bolton theory, and its almost unintelligible message, condemned it to obscurity. Disgusted with the whole mystery, Palermo loaned the stone to a local museum. It was last seen, gathering dust in the boneyard at the Brazos Museum... and then by 1990's, nobody knew its whereabouts. ************************************************************************************************************** Recently, Betty Dunn of Two Rivers Heritage Foundation in Navasota met someone who said they knew exactly where the discarded relic resided. It was in a barn in north Grimes County. And for such a precious artifact of Brazos Valley to end up there... it was unconscionable! Soon Mrs. Dunn had it and was studying it at her home. That was when the inconsistencies of the latest epiphany of a Brazos Palermo Stone began to puzzle its beholders.

It was more like a facsimile of the one photographed by newspapers in the 1930's. Marks and arrows were missing... important ones, and others had appeared, and spacing between the letters was not exact. This suggested that there had been two La Salle stones made by someone, which had ended up lost to history. Had Palermo made a copy for easy transport as he showed it around Bryan and Houston? Considered by him to be very valuable, and with the original stone quite cumbersome, a more portable copy of the artifact would have made perfect sense. If so, was this the copy? *************************************************************************************************************** OR, and this would be the suggestion by scholars, several spurious “Palermo Stones” might have been produced until the history gremlins were satisfied they had a believable forgery which might pass routine, non-academic inspection. The idea was not to change history, but to temporarily excite Herbert Bolton and harmlessly remind everyone that real historic finds were rare, and for people not to trust anything. Perhaps a local artisan had been commissioned to fashion it, and the road construction created the perfect event to unveil it, an historic landmark waiting near the Brazos River after centuries. Of course, the impish Clampus elites never worried much about the temporary damage done to local history. They would plant a forgery somewhere where it could easily be found, and then after some fun, one of their people would no doubt be the very person who would call it a forgery. No harm done... And that should have been the end of it. ******************************************************************************************************************* It would have been, if local historians like Pamela Puryear, and Russell Cushman, and Betty Dunn, had not cherished the thought of the rumored find, and wondered about it for many years. When Dunn finally located the stone, or at least one of them, it was a rock-my-world moment for myself and several history buffs. As I have studied and thought about it, its significance might have been changed, but not the depth of the story behind it. ***************************************************************************************************************** Eventually, the so-called Drake's Plate was deaccessioned and sold by the Berkeley archive, and this was a mindless and unnecessary purging. The plaque was actually quite significant, even if its importance had changed. Much like the removed fragments of Egyptian steles such as the Palermo stone, which had been "erased" thousands of years ago to destroy former legacies and simultaneously elevate the status of later pharaohs, the remnants of academic predecessors keep coming to the surface. It would have been much more useful to history for the brass forgery to have remained, and to be displayed, as a relic of professional ruthlessness and cupidity. ********************************************************************************************************************** Likewise, the Brazos “Palermo Stone” is important. It is, in itself quite historical, since Bolton's research has stood the test of time, even if a certain purchased artifact in his collection has not; Because it may well illustrate the degree old cronies of Herbert Bolton, perhaps out of professional jealousy, would go to discredit and humiliate him. And that it is probably the resounding theme of most conflicts throughout history.

The Mid-Brazos Potters of Falls and Limestone Counties

Sherds from Lyon's Pottery Co, at Denny. Courtesy University of Texas at San Antonio

Perhaps the most ignored pottery region of Texas is what I call the Mid-Brazos region, that area along the Brazos Valley that spreads from Marlin down to Kosse, and which includes the Denny site. This would be encompassed by Falls, Freestone and Limestone Counties, a wedge shaped area between the Brazos and Navasota rivers...  There were lots of potters in this region and they began to produce fairly early. But the problem has always been identification and scarcity. And to be honest, downright homely pottery for the most part. And since it has not inspired Texas Stoneware collectors, there has always been that void of information... and thus a pile of unidentifiable stoneware in all of our collections. You need to have at least a vague picture of this region’s pottery if, for no other reason, to help in the process of elimination, when trying to figure out the origin of a strange pot…

J. L. Stone produced pottery in the Brazos Valley for at least ten years, working for three different Mid- Brazos region potteries. His figural vessels like this one bring astronomical prices.

My friend, potter Sonny Moss of Calvert helped clean up the Denny site and photographed the findings some seventeen years ago.  I have since met descendants of William Lyon, who built the kiln in the pictures around 1894. They were barely engaged about the present interest in Texas Stoneware, and the possible value of their great grandfather’s work to history and antique collectors. They knew where the old kiln was, but weren’t so sure about authentic samples of Lyon pottery. Sonny was gracious enough to share his photos of the kiln site, and so I thought I would blog about what I know so far about the Mid-Brazos Stoneware.

William Lyon's overgrown kiln at the Denny site in 1995. Photo provided by Sonny Moss.

First of all, the potters, in order of their appearance: (Major names in bold letters) An *asterisk means they signed their work.

Alberry Johnson            1859    Limestone Co.

William Knox                  1860   Austin (now Waller) Co.

 

A really fine Kimik pitcher. Kimik produced pottery in the Brazos Valley for around thiriy years. Photo courtesy Burley Auctions, New Braunfels, Tx.

*L. Kimik                                          1870    Freestone Co.

J. L. Stone  (at Knox)                      1870    Limestone Co.

William Knox (Knox Pottery Co.)  1870    Limestone Co.

 

J. Fowler churn, made in Thornton, Tx.

*John &  E. J. Fowler       1872   Limestone Co.

J. L. Stone  (at Fowler)              1872   Limestone Co.

*L. Kimik                                      1875   Limestone Co.

 

Churn made by the Fire Brick & Tile Co., Kosse, Tx. Although only salt-glazed, this is an elegant, classically formed churn, very fine craftsmanship for Mid-Brazos pottery... probably the work of  Stone or someome like him. 

*Fire Brick & Tile           1875   Limestone Co.

J. L. Stone (at Fire Brick & Tile) 1875   Limestone Co.

Jasper Gibbs                              1875   Limestone Co.

J. L. Stone (at Fowler)              1878   Limestone Co.

W. P. Bullard (at Kimik)            1880    Limestone Co.

D. B. France                                1880    Limestone Co.

M. B. Griffith                              1880   Limestone Co.

F. W. Gilbert                               1880   Limestone Co.

J. P. Reid                                      1880   Limestone Co.

Henry Welch                                1880   Limestone Co.

William Harker                            1880    Limestone Co.

William Lyon (at Fire Brick & Tile) 1881 Limestone Co.

*Kosse Pottery & Brick     1884    Limestone Co.

Baker Pottery Co.                         1893    Falls Co.

 

These two vessels and misc. lids photographed by Sonny Moss in 1995 are my only clues to the appearance of  William Lyon's pottery. Runny, streaky, tar brown, and your basic white. This Turn of the Century standard was often achieved with a clear salt-glaze, and only worked when the clay would fire to white. Inferior pink and orange clays were glazed with various browns.

William Lyon (Denny PC)              1894        Falls Co.

John Lyon (Denny PC)                    1900        Falls Co.

 

 Athens Pottery began production pretty late, with poor, iron-infested clay, around 1920.

Athens Pottery                        1920    Limestone Co.

 

A signed, "cavetto rimmed' Kimik crock, from the Georgeanna Greer Collection auction catalog, Harmer Rooke Galleries. Note the fancy rim, the wonderful impressed stamp, and the incised trim ring, which goes through the handles.

It appears that the northern influenced forms of L. Kimik and William Knox were the first to appear with any success in the Mid-Brazos Region around 1870, even though there were others who might have preceded Them. The Knox pottery is very rare, and since he started in Waller County before the Civil War, it is expected that his forms would be more ovoid to semi-ovoid.  Following the success of Knox and John and E. J. Fowler over in Limestone County, Kimik moved from Freestone to Limestone County five years later, and this seems to have set off a virtual stoneware rush.  By 1880, at least ten potters were active in Limestone County.

 

 A pristine J. Fowler pitcher.

And as new stoneware companies started up operations, J. L. Stone seemed to be the man to hire to build kilns and set up production, as he started production in 1870 with Knox, 1872 with Fowler, and in 1875 Fire Brick & Tile at Kosse. In 1878 Stone returned to his original employer, John Fowler. Perhaps it was here where he began to shape the famous sculpture jugs that have brought so much attention in recent years.

Orange, red, gray,.... all found in the wall of the Denny kiln. Courtesy Sonny Moss.

If you read my blog about Kirbee pottery, you know that most Texas pottery can be traced by clay body, and that pink and red clays were not as common, and were used at the Kirbee site near Montgomery, Texas.  Well here is where the confusion could start, except that Kirbee was out of business by the time Limestone County potters began to produce pottery with red clays as well; Red, pink, orange, gray, white, peach, khaki… Mid-Brazos potters had a kaleidoscope of earth colors to choose from. They seemed to use whatever was convenient, not hesitating to use any clay that would present itself. Some of the potters were more selective, and seemed to also throw better forms as well.

A rare view inside William Lyon's Denny Pottery kiln. Courtesy Sonny Moss, Calvert, Tx.

Knox and Kimik were good turners, with distinct styles and craftsmanship; Mostly salt glazed jugs and pitchers, white to khaki colored clay, and luckily, Kimik had a stamp which he impressed into some of his handsome vessels. They are a big deal. He is one of the few other Texas potters besides John Wilson who used the northern style “cavetto” rims, a decorative molding at the mouth of a vessel, which has the profile of a robust picture frame ogee.  

The sturdy Fowler two-handled jug is an essential for any Texas stoneware collection.

Texas stoneware collectors LOVE those big salt drops on the pots.

Not as typical of Fowler construction, I believe this to be a Fowler churn made by J. L. Stone. Note the fancy "cavetto rim" typical of their competitor, L. Kimik.

 

The Fowlers were probably the most prolific, cranking out what seems to be train car loads of sturdy, utilitarian, salt-glazed stoneware, some huge two handled jugs, large crocks and churns.  The handles are bold, sometimes like handle bars, and Fowler not only had a distinctive style, but a stamp which he impressed into his wares, and  later a familiar blue indigo stencil.  The marked Fowler pieces are also a pretty big deal, fetching impressive prices.

 

 

Typical wire-bound Fire Brick & Tile crock from Kosse.

The Kosse Fire Brick and Tile crocks and churns are not seen as much but are always coveted, as they sport a large, decorative label in indigo which is unusual for Texas Stoneware. Unfortunately, they are almost always in bad repair, held together with bailing wire. They must have been better at bricks than they were at stoneware. They manufactured miles and miles of clay sewer pipe, and a lot of brick... fire brick for chimneys and I fear that rotting, soft brick you can see in some of the abandoned, dilapidated  buildings in Calvert.

Some hot-colored red and orange clay vessels, perhaps by Wm. Lyons, and a pink brick from the Mid-Brazos region.

The entrance to the Denny kiln illustrates the diversity of Lyon stoneware from Falls County.

The problem: The stoneware made at the Denny Pottery by the Lyons is fairly common, but hard to identify. Having no signature stamp, clay body, color, glaze or distinct style, it must be studied closely to identify. William Lyon was originally a potter for the Durham -Chandler pottery (Third site Wilson) of Guadalupe County in 1878, before he turned for William Saenger in Bexar Co., in 1879, then he came up to Limestone County for a brief stint at Fire Brick & Tile, and then got involved in a partnership in Wilson County which took over the old Suttles pottery in 1882, placing his craftsmanship far south of the Mid-Brazos region for the better part of 16 years. Lyon & Parkhurst operated from 1882 until he came back to ther Mid-Brazos area to establish his own Denny Pottery Co. in Falls County in 1894. The overlap from pottery to pottery is significant. William Lyon's style would have been the aggregate of three San Antonio area potteries.

To make things even tougher to pin down, one potter, J. L. Stone, probably the best of them all, turned pottery for three different Mid-Brazos operations over a critical ten year period. It would be possible to find Stone’s various stoneware with very similar construction that could be either Knox, Fowler or Fire Brick & Tile, and the only way to tell the difference would be the glaze… if that. Stone's craftsmanship would have been the quintessential amalgamation of the major Mid-Brazos potteries, (minus Kimik). So great study needs to be made of these two master potters to identify the Mid-Brazos stoneware accurately.

Note: it is important to note that the beautiful, slope-shouldered,  Albany slip- glazed jugs with LYONS impressed in them have nothing to do with this potter, or as some have suggested, Lyons, Texas, and are in fact from New York. 

Lyon (singular) pottery can be almost any color of clay, but often orange, and with opaque brown, or white, or transparent, almost black-brown glazes. Note the notch out of the underside of each end of the pulls... (Compare to Moss's grouping) Methinks alot of formerly attributed Stoker pottery (Bastrop Co.) of similar description may actually be from Lyon's.

Distinctive notches under the pulls... The impressed italic 2 is VERY similar to Kimik's 2.

Another nicely formed Fire & Brick churn... and the obligatory CRACK.

 

Found this lovely 3 gallon, handled churn in Reisel, Texas. Interesting rust-brown glaze... excellent white clay like McDade's, handle finished much like the Fowlers I have seen... Anybody got any ideas? Could be William Lyon... check out caramel glaze in pile of sherds in very first photo from UT San Antnio.

Good luck, and please...

TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!