Sacramento County
Biographies
Absalom
Morgan Addington, a potter by trade, and at one time owner of the Michigan Bar
pottery, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, September 28, 1824, his parents being
Morgan and Jane (Mendenhall) Addington.
His great-grandfather Addington was an English emigrant to Virginia in
1776, probably then in middle age. A
great-grandmother, known in later life as Mrs. Townsend, whether his wife or
not is not known, died in Wayne County, Indiana, in 1837, at the remarkable age
of 104 years. A brother of the Virginia
immigrant settled in the State of New York, and from these two it is thought
the American Addingtons are descended.
John Addington, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, died in
Wayne County, Indiana many years ago, aged sixty-four. The grand-parents, Mr. and Mrs. Absalom
Mendenhall, of Fountain County, Indiana, were both about that age when they
died. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan Addington
moved to Fountain County in 1830, and the father was a farmer there until his
death in 1837. A. M. Addington began to
learn the trade of potter in Green County, Wisconsin, in 1840, spending two
years there. He afterward spent two
years at a pottery in Fountain County, Indiana, going to school both
winters. He then worked at his trade
for six years at different points in the East.
In 1850 he came to California and went to mining eight years. In 1859 J. W. Orr erected the Michigan Bar
pottery, Mr. Addington helping to build and afterward working for him as
potter. The works were moved to the
present location at Orr’s clay-bank in 1862, Mr. Addington still remaining
connected with the manufacture of the goods.
He filed pre-emption papers to 160 acres. In 1865 he bought the land and pottery of Mr. Orr, and continued
the manufacture until he sold out to the present proprietor, J. B. Williams, in
1884. He still works there, but his
family residence is in Oakland. Mr.
Addington was married in Knoxville, Illinois, in 1852, to Miss Martha Boyd,
born in Ohio July 3, 1830, her parents being Robert and Jane (McKibben) Boyd,
both deceased. The father was born in
Kentucky, the son of a Scotchman, and the mother in Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish
parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Addington are
the parents of four living children, born in this State: David Morgan, February
9, 1853, now a physician at Upper Lake in Lake County, and the father of three
children: their mother, before marriage was Miss Abbie Yates, being also a
native of this State; Anna, born July 19, 1859, now Mrs. William Beaugner, of
Oakland, has one child; Thomas M., born February 15, 1862, is now living in
Felton, California; Charlie Boyd, born November 20, 1870, is learning the
potter’s trade from his father.
Transcribed by Karen
Pratt.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. Pages 487-488. Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2005 Karen Pratt.