Following the Civil War, two brothers and Union veterans, Isaac Suttles and George Washington Suttles, moved from Zanesville, Ohio, to Texas and established a pottery operation that became an important part of La Vernia's past and of Texas industry and artistry. Isaac, who married Mary Ann McBride in 1866, appeared in the 1870 census for Seguin, where he worked at Wilson Potteries, though records indicate his wife may not have moved to Texas with him. George, who married Elizabeth Strate in 1861, first appeared in Wilson County records in 1877 after reportedly moving to Texas in 1876 for her health. George joined Isaac at a kiln in the Sand Hills near La Vernia, where they fired bricks and household and decorative stoneware, and an 1877 newspaper article praised their workmanship and noted strong demand for their products. Around 1882, they moved the operation into La Vernia to a kiln near this site. The brothers were members of the Asbury Methodist Church, now La Vernia United Methodist Church. In September 1884, Isaac was killed in Abilene, Texas, possibly during a robbery attempt, and George continued operating the kiln in La Vernia for many years. He and Elizabeth raised four children, and their descendants remain in the area. Although few records survive about the pottery operation, firsthand accounts, archeological excavations, and ongoing investigations indicate that George had an updraft-type kiln and probably used a salt glaze, Albany slip techniques, and perhaps an alkaline glaze technique. The operation would have included a clay mixing area, a potter's wheel, the kiln, and waster piles of broken pottery sherds, and although no apparent physical evidence of the kiln remains, the enterprise was a significant part of local and state history.