Jerry Chinner, Brick-er

Jerry Chinner was a brick maker upon freedom, and a street is named after his family (Fannin County Historical Museum).

One of the more exciting things I do in my life is collect bricks. Okay. I know it's not exciting. Made you look!

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, much of the brick used in building Bonham (Fannin County, Texas) was fired in the kilns owned by Jerry Chinner. Chinner was born enslaved in 1843 and opened his brickyard in Bonham by the 1880s. The kiln was located on 6th Street, though I am unsure of the exact location. It may have been close to the Reich Brickyard along Powder Creek, south of the T&P depot. Chinner and Reich may have had a connection in the brick molding and firing trade.

I have no clue if Chinner put his name or location on his bricks. It's pretty nifty, nonetheless, to discover a photograph of one of the Red River Valley's brick makers.

In 1919, the Honey Grove Express opined, in its customary obtuse fashion, that Fannin County should focus on its own brick making -- like the bricks manufactured by Jerry Chinner -- and not farm out the task to other cities