Jabez Vodrey (1795–1861) is generally thought to be the first English potter to emigrate to and work west of the Appalachian Mountains in the United States.
Vodrey was born on 14 January 1795 [citation needed] in Tunstall, Staffordshire, a centuries-old centre of the English pottery industry.
He is thought to be a cousin of Frederick Vodrey, who emigrated from Staffordshire to Dublin, Ireland in the late 19th century and founded an art pottery.
Meanwhile, Vodrey's sons William, James and John were busy converting an abandoned East Liverpool church into a pottery.
His son John Wadsworth Vodrey was killed in the Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia while fighting for the Union Army's 46th Pennsylvania Infantry on 25 May 1864.