Tom, Larry and Jim--

Thanks for the response on the firebricks.

Tom--I should have checked your study since the McIntosh site is a
comparable time period to the ones we're looking at in Florida.  Sounds like
Berry's got around.

Larry--as far as we can tell these sites were not reused after their
destruction during the Second Seminole War (1836-42).  Basically they were
burned and much of the stonework was removed.  The sugar plantations were
not reestablished when the war ended, with a couple of exceptions (neither
of them the sites where we found the brick). I wish I could forward an image
of the brick, but the only photographs we have at the moment are not very
clear.  I'll check with our architect, who was also taking photos, and see
if he got clear shots.  They did appear to be far better made than the
hand-molded brick used elsewhere in the structures.  The firebrick were
confined to flues and fireboxes--naturally!

Jim--as noted above, our sites were in use prior to 1842--actually as early
as the beginning of the 19th century.  So we need a maker who was around in
the first quarter of the century.  Based on the historic record, we have a
pretty tight date on the sites, with both of the sites which have so far
yielded Berry bricks ceasing to function prior to 1842.  No recorded reuse
of either site.

Thanks much to those of you who responded to our querry.  We will keep
checking and see if we can find any kind of historic record which may
indicate sources--operations did buy steam engines, etc. and cane crushers
from northern states--presumably firebrick could have come from the same areas.

                                        Lucy Wayne