Potters in the 1940 census?

Are you eagerly looking forward to finding your Potter people in the 1940 census? By law, it will be released on April 2, 2012........ but did you also know it will NOT NOT be indexed? The various folks who index databases (Ancestry, FamilySearch) are geared up and eager to begin the project but legally they, too, must wait until the opening day. So for the first few months how to find your Potter people? You must be prepared to browse or you must have a good idea of where they lived. There are already some good finding aids for discerning their address; click to www.stevemorse.org .

 Rejoice, cross your fingers and wait, I guess, to find our Potter people.

Potters in 1899 in Portland, Oregon

Potters found in the 1899 Portland, Oregon, City Directory:

Addison Potter,  Alex Potter,   Mrs. Caroline V. Potter,   Charles E. Potter,   Charles L. Potter,   Frank E. Potter,   George Potter,   Miss Grace I. Potter,   Hannah M. (wid Levi C.) Potter,   Harry E. Potter,   John S. Potter,   Julia M. (wid Henry N.) Potter,   Joseph C. Potter,   Lester G. Potter,   Salina (wid Sylvester) Potter,   Thad S. Potter,   T.J. Potter,    Washington I. Potter,   Willis E. Potter,   William M. Potter.

Was your Potter family living in this Pacific-coast state in 1899??

Potters in Congress, 1774-1971

The Biographical Dictionary of the American Congress, 1774-1971, published by the U.S. Printing Office, 1971, lists these eleven Potter ancestors who were members of Congress:

Allen POTTER, 1818-1885, representative from Michigan
Charles Edward POTTER, b. 1916, representative and senator from Michigan
Clarkson Nott POTTER, 1825-1882, representative from New York
Elisha Reynolds POTTER, 1764-1835, representative from Rhode Island
Elisha Reynolds POTTER, Jr.,  1811-1882, representative from Rhode Island
Emery Davis POTTER, 1804-1896, representative from Ohio
John Fox POTTER, 1817-1899, representative from Wisconsin
Orlando Brunson POTTER, 1823-1894, representative from New York
Robert POTTER, about 1800-1841, representative from North Carolina
Samuel John POTTER, 1753-1804, representative from Rhode Island
William Wilson POTTER, 1792-1839, representative from Pennsylvania

Potter County, Pennsylvania

How did Potter County, Pennsylvania, get its name? Years ago, the librarian at the Coudersport Public Library answered my letter of inquiry about this. She said that the first name proposed for the county was the Indian name Sinnemahoning, meaning Stony Lick, but the Senate wished to have a county named in honor of Gen. James Potter, and this name was chosen. This Gen. James Potter was born in Co. Tyrone, Ireland, in 1729 and came to this country when 12 years of age. He served under Col. John Armstrong, the noted Indian fighter, and in the Revolution as Commander of a Battalion of the militia under Gen. Washington at Trenton and Princeton, and also as Brigadier General at Brandywine and Germantown. He held carious public offices before and after the Revolution. He came into the Susquehanna area soon after the Treaty of 1768 as the agent and surveyor of the land company on the Sinnemahoning; he died in 1789. Some one who new Gen. Potter described him thusly:  A stout, broad-shouldered, plucky, active man, 5'9", of dark complexion, and of a hopeful disposition which no troubles could conquer. Potter County is honored in bearing his name even though he never trod upon its soil.

Henry Melville Potter, 1888-1952

Henry Melville "Mel" Potter had a rough start in life. His father, Francis Matthew Potter, worked construction for the Santa Fe RR and on a hot July day in 1894, he was killed in an accident. Mel was only 6 years old the oldest of four children. They were living in Pawnee County, Kansas, a long way from home. His mother Wanda (nee Goss) was left a widow at age 23. These circumstances directed his life for the next 20 years. Mel didn't marry until he was 29 because of having to help support his mother. (He married Efa Hope Carr.) Mel apparently had no formal training for an occupation for he worked for the Post Office and then in the local prison as a guard. He also helped take the 1920 census where he lived in Nashville, Illinois, and it is such fun to read the names in his handwriting.

I do not remember him well; we lived way out in California and he lived in Illinois and as my Dad was in the Air Force we did not get "back east" as often as we would have liked. I remember one really good picture of him and grandma Efa...... he was very tall and she was very short so she had to stand on a box!

My entire Potter ancestry is posted on Ancestry's Family Trees. Someday I expect to get a great big bear hug from Grandpa Mel.

Potter in Arkansas??

								My good friend, LindaSue Davis, shared her Potter Profiles "need" with me for you:  "I have Potters! I just found them! The oldest so far is Jonas Potter, b. 1822 in Ohio, died in Arkansas; his son David Potter was born in Missouri  in 1857 and died in Indian Territory, Oklahoma, in 1914. And his son, Arthur Lonza Potter was born in Oklahoma in 1909 and died in Lane County, Oregon, in 1980.  Contact LindaSue at LDavis@yumaregional.org .

More POTTER PROFILES Branches

Branch 10  --  Joseph Potter, 1758-1854, m. (1) unknown; had Paul, Elizabeth, Mary, Ann, Gilbert (who m. Martha Ferris).  He married (2) Jemima Skinner; had Catherine (m. Daniel McClain), John, Daniel (m. Mary McClain), Jane (m. John McCammom) , Joseph (m. Margaret Taylor), Thomas (m. MaryAnn Heaslett), Walter (m. Eleanor Finley), Reuben, Nancy(m. Abijah Leonard), Ann (m. John Garvin) and Abigail (m. Harvey Heaslett).

Branch 11  --  Elias Monroe Potter, b.ca. 1818, m. Prudence Keesee; had George W., Martha Jane (m. Edward P. Carter), Sarah, Elias, Susanna, Mozella, John, Prudence, Sarah and Robert.

Branch 12  --  William Potter, b.ca. 1850, m. Margaret Duffy, had Edgar, George, James, John, William (m. Beatrice Hoffman), Francis, Agnes.

Branch 13  --  Orrin Potter, ca 1705-1862, m. Mary Ann ???, had George Wellington (m. Margaret Ann Kennedy), Susannah, Francis.

I realize these are the barest of sketches, but the "full meal deal" can be found in Volume 1 of POTTER PROFILES....... check it out if you spot a match.