Sunday, August 18, 2013

Abijah Potter (1760-1842) & Mary Tower (1761-1861) in New Hampshire

This bit is from the History of Stark, New Hampshire, 1774-1974 published by the Stark Bicentennial Committee. ........ The Potter Family:

Abijah Potter, son of Theophilus Potter and Lois (Walker) Potter, a farmer, came to Percy with his family in 1806. He served in the Revolution and was a sergeant. He married Mary Tower, daughter of Joseph and Hepsibah (Gibbs) Tower, and their children were:  Abijah, Polly, Mark, Charlotte, Lorana, Aaron and Justus. (Lorana married John Waid, son of John and Ruth (Merriman) Waid. Their children were Mary, Caleb and Laura.)

Aijah Potter, farmer, son of Abijah and Mary (Tower) Potter, married Lydia Rowell, daughter of Daniel and Judith (French) Rowell. They had at least one son, Leonard.

Aaron Potter, farmer, son of Abijah and Mary (Tower) Potter, married Hannah Miles, daughter of Captain Daniel and Elizabeth (Smith) Miles. He served as town clerk.

Justus Potter, son of Abijah and Mary (Tower) Potter, married in 1819 Elizabeth Miles, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Smith) Miles. Their children were:  Justus, Alvira, Mary, Charles, Daniel, Hannah, Aaron, Naomi Elizabeth, Naville, Abijah and Horace. Justtus married, as his second wife, Almine Peabody, and, as this third wife, Susan (Rowell) Curren. (Naomi Elizabeth married Cyrus Thompson, son of Benjamin and Sarah (Wheeler) Thompson. They had one son, Elwin. Both father and son died in 1862 from diphtheria. Naomi remarried and moved away.)

Leonard Potter, son of Abijah and Lydia (Rowell) Potter, married Susan Cole, daughter of Andrew and Hannah (Peverly) Cole. Their children were: Freeman, Norman (who died age 15), Edwin, Elizabeth and Mary.

Justus Potter, son of Justus and Elizabeth (Miles) Potter, a farmer, married Hannah Dodge, daughter of David and Rachel Dodge. Their children were: Louisa, Olive, Lucina, Lafayette (who died in infancy), Elizabeth, Adonna and his twin, Augusta, who died in infancy. (Elizabeth married Hazen Merrill, son of Nathanial and Drusilla (Stone) Merrill. They had two children:  Irven and Susie and lived on his father's farm.)

Aaron A. Potter, son of Justus and Elizabeth (Miles) Potter, married Ella McFarland of Northumberland. Her served several terms in town office.

Abijah Potter, son of Justus and Elizabeth (Miles) Potter, married Mary Roxana Peabody, daughter of Lorenzo and Lydia Peabody of Milan. Their children were:  Flora, Iona, Leon, Iva and Royal Wilbur. (Iva married Osmar Cole, son of Hiram and Matilda Cole.)

Horace Potter, son of Justus and Elizabeth (Miles) Potter, married Elizabeth Woodward, sister of Billy Woodward. They built the house near the Jimmy Cole place and farmed. Their children were:  Elvia, Charles, Aaron, William, Elizabeth and Marcia (who died in infancy). They also raised Albert Emery, Clair and Susana Walker.

Freeman Potter, son of Leonard and Susan (Cole) Potter, married Lavina Rowell, daughter of Levi and Caroline (McFarland) Rowell. Their farm was on the lower part of Percy Plain. Their children were: Eva, Daisy, Harley and Nellie.

Adonna, of "Don" Potter, son of Justus and Hannah (Dodge) Potter, was a farmer, served as selectman, road agent, and representative, and was also active in church affairs. He married, first, Emma Growe, and second, Florence Skiff. Their children were Sybil and Ruth. His third wife was Adelaide Powell. Their children were:  Donald and Robert. His fourth wife was Irene Hamlin.

R. Wilbur Potter, son of Abijah and Mary (Peabody) Potter, married Jessie Lang, daughter of Emerson and Alice Lang. They had one son, Mark. His second wife was Selma Christianson, and their children were:  Roma, Carl and Norman. This third wife was Margaret Goehler, and their children were: Erma, Wilbur and Arthur.

Charlie Potter, son of Horace and Elizabeth (Woodward) Potter,  never married. He ran a blacksmith shop, worked in the woods and farmed with Albert Emery.

Aaron Potter, son of Horace and Elizabeth (Woodward) Potter, like his brother Charlie, never married. Both lived on the home place and were well known as "characters."

William Potter, son of Horace and Elizabeth Potter, married Georgia Smith. Their children were: Ellis, Lois, Vera, Leonard and Alice.

Norman Potter, son of R. Wilbur and Selma Potter, married Opal Gibson, daughter of Robert and Maude (Basset) Gibson. Norman has worked int he woods and on town roads, loves to fish. Opal worked at Granite State Rubber So. They had two sons, Carl and Norman, Jr.

Ellis Potter, son of William and Georgia Potter, married Margaret "Maggie" Collins. Their children were: William, Ellis, Jr., Eva, Elmer and George. His second wife was Olida Charest, and they had one daughter, Sandra.

Carl, or "Toby" Potter, son of Norman and Opal Potter, married Gloria Phelps. Toby works at the Groveton Mill and is serving as road agent.

Norman, or "Bud" Potter, son of Norman and Opal Potter, married Elizabeth Christopher, daughter of Columbus and Shirley (Maguire) Christopher. They had one daughter, Fawn. Their home is the old Blake schoolhouse which has been recently renovated. Bud works in the Groveton Mill and Betty has served as school treasurer.

Ellis, or "Tinker" Potter, son of Ellis and Maggie Potter, married Marjorie Palmer. They had two children. His second wife was Cecile Croteau, daughter of James and Arline (Lettre) Croteau. After her death, he married Opal Potter. They live in Stark Village and run a restaurant in Groveton.

Lyman Potter donated the land for the Percy Cemetery. His home still stands nearby and has been recently renovated. He married Judith Robbins and their children were: Lydia, Carrie (who is now 104 years old) and "Doctor" John.

(This sketch first appeared in Potter Profiles, Volume 8, 1986, page 16-18.)

Covered bridge over the Upper Ammonoosuc River in front of former paper mill in Groveton. The Percy Peaks are in the distance.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Genealogies of the Potter Family, 1888, available for Kindle




Big thanks to Potter Profiles reader Ann Marie Potter (addyam61@live.com) who shared this bit:  I'm sure most of your readers have stumbled across this, but just in case....there is a wonderful ebook available on Amazon (Kindle) called Genealogies of the Potter Families & Their Descendants in America to the Present Generation (1888, Charles E. Potter). I'm not sure what the hard cover price is but on Kindle it's only 99 cents. 

Thanks, Ann Marie, for sharing this bit.   


Saturday, August 3, 2013

Herman Boerhave Potter, 1786-1804, Connecticut

HERMAN BOERHAAVE (m). Dutch doctor, theorist, lecturer and medical writer (1672-1738), of Leyden; he never came to this country. 

Dr. James and Abigail (Barns) Potter of New Fairfield, Connecticut, named their youngest son Herman Boerhave Potter (1786-1804). Father and son died within days of each other; the expenses of both funerals were listed in Dr. Potter's estate papers (1804-06). Dr. Potter's inventory also included a six-volume set of Dr. Boerhaave's lectures (New Milford Probate #2149), finally distributed to son William Cicero Potter (1773-1856), who himself later named a son Herman B. Potter (Charles Edward Potter,Genealogies of the Potter Families and their Descendants in America [1888], Part 5, p. 3.) (DAR Patriot Index, Millennium Administration [2003], 3:2156 mistakenly gives Mrs. Potter's maiden name as "Boerhave," extrapolating from her youngest son's middle name without taking into account her husband's [and possibly her own] penchant for imaginative naming.)
The Name Origins article, written by Julie Helen Otto, originally appeared in The Weekly Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Issue #645, July 24, 2013.