Book Notes
Ohio Pottery and Glass Marks and
Manufacturers. By Lois Lehner. (Des
Moines, Iowa: Wallace-Homestead Books,
1978. 113p.; illustrations, notes, biblio-
graphy.) A useful updating of John
Ramsay's 1947 check list of Ohio potteries, with
additional material on Ohio glass
manufacturers, this work contains brief company
histories arranged alphabetically by
town or city and accompanied by reproduc-
tions of known ware marks. The
bibliography indicates an uneven utilization of
available material and neglect of some
important sources. Failure to consult some
county histories results in a number of
omissions-the Moxahala and Wellington
factories, for example. There are
numerous descrepancies of dates between the
author's account of East Liverpool
potteries and those of Wilber Stout's history of
the clay industries of Ohio and William
H. Vodrey's check list of East Liverpool
potteries, neither of which is included
in Lehner's bibliography. The book is also
marred by numerous misspellings, such as
Senaca, Sciota, Muskingham and
Painsville. Consulting city directories,
county atlases, manufacturers' census
reports, and other basic sources would
have greatly improved the accuracy of this
work. Sources of information are often
not documented. Despite such problems the
book is a helpful compendium for both
the historian and the collector of Ohio
pottery and glassware.
James Murphy
The History of Thornville, Thornport,
and Area Ohio. (Thornville, Ohio:
Thornville-Thornport History Committee,
1977. 72p.; illustrations, maps.) This
book is a brief history of a small town
founded in either 1801 or 1802 in the Buckeye
Lake area. It is well illustrated and is
an interesting addition to Ohio's town
histories.
Robert Daughterty
At the Crossroads: Michilimackinac
During the American Revolution. By
David
A. Armour and Keith R. Widder. (Mackinac
Island, Mich.: Mackinac Island State
Park Commission, 1978. v + 249p.;
illustrations, maps, appendix, motes, index.)
The American Revolution in the Old
Northwest featured more than just the
exploits of George Rogers Clark in the
Illinois country. Because historians of the
region have often omitted accounts of
the British post at Michilimackinac, the
authors offer as a corrective a detailed
review of the frequently difficult day-to-day
existence of the garrison stationed
there during the war. Located at the juncture of
Lakes Michigan and Huron,
Michilimackinac was Great Britain's northernmost
post in the Great Lakes area. The fort
came under threat of attack by American
raiders such as Clark, and later by
France and Spain as well. As Britain's sole ally,
the Indians constituted more of a
problem than a help because constant negotia-
tions were required to retain their
allegiance and prevent them from warring
amongst themselves. As the authors
admit, their book suffers from its almost
exclusive reliance upon papers left by
those British officials who kept written
records. Thus the story of those who
left no such records-enlisted men, Indians and
local residents-is described as seen
through the eyes of the more literate. An
interesting text accompanies a series of
excellent illustrations, especially those of
the reconstructed forts at
Michilimackinac and Mackinac Island.
Robert Daugherty