"Stray" Potter in Eastern Washington,1931

My friend, Charles, found this "stray Potter" while doing some indexing for the Washington State Archives (the SCRIBE program). This family lived in the little town of Ione, on the Pend Oreille River in the county of the same name, north of Spokane in Eastern Washington (just 22 miles from the Canadian border).  The town was first settled in 1894 and incorporated in 1910. Mining and timbering were the two primary occupations.

The Marriage Affidavit Record above is for Ray Potter, age 21, of Ione, and Esther Sarah Applegate, also age 21, and of Ione. They were married on 28 May 1931 in Ione and Gertrude Applegate was a witness.

I could not find the Potter family in either the 1930 nor 1940 U.S. Federal Censuses.

I did find the Applegate family in 1930 living in Ione; Gertrude was 43, a widow, born in Kansas, with children Esther, 20 (store clerk), Marvin, 18, Fred, 15, and Forest 12. In the 1940 census, poor dear Gertrude is living all by herself in Burns, Harney Co, Oregon.

So where did Mr. Ray Potter come from? And where did he go? To which Potter family does he belong?

Potters Resting in Richmond, VA, Hollywood Cemetery

I was lucky enough to be able to visit a second time to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The name derives from the many holly bushes and trees on the site. Opened in 1849, many notables from the history of the South rest there. In the President's Circle (above) is the gravesite of President James Monroe.

Many folks of humble origin and service are buried there too. Amazingly, there are only five Potter persons resting there......... out of all those thousands! I was surprised. They are:

May Handy Potter, died age 86, buried 5 Jun 1952
Mary D. Potter (Mrs. Benj. J.), died age 54, buried 24 Mar 1937, last residence was Atlanta, GA
Hazeltine Wattson Potter (Mrs. S.B.), died aged 83, buried 26 Mar 1982.
Ben. J. Potter, buried 12 Nov 1913
Eva Landrum Potter (Mrs. Jas.), died age 81, buried 7 Jan 1938, lived at 2509 W. Grace St.

Potter Towns

Perhaps the most famous town with the Potter name, Pottersville, comes from the Jimmy Stewart Christmas classic movie, It's A Wonderful Life. Who hasn't seen this wonderful movie and longed for an angel to ring a bell on their behalf??

I've learned that there are other, real-life, towns and counties bearing the Potter name:

Potter, Yates County, New York..... named for Arnold Potter, the first proprietor
Potter Township and County, Pennsylvania..... named for Gen. James Potter, Revolutionary officer
Potter County, South Dakota ............ named for a prominent physician in the state
Potter County, Texas ............... named for Robert Potter, temporary secretary of the Texas Navy in 1836

Potter Hollow, a village in Albany County, New York.......... named for Samuel Potter

Potterville, Eaton County, Michigan......... named for Linus Potter who settled his family there in 1844

Pottersville, unincorporated village in Bedminster County, New Jersey
Pottersville, unincorporated village in Howell County, Missouri

Did I miss any?

** I do remember that Robert Potter, in Texas in 1836, was quite a character. In one volume of Potter Profiles I included a newspaper sketch of his colorful life.

Potter Query: Line of Nathaniel Potter (ca 1615-1664).

On Fri, Jan 10, 2014 at 8:03 PM, Mike and Cassy Palmer <mcpalmer7@roadrunner.com> wrote:

Hi Donna, my name is Mike Palmer and I spend way too much of my free time on my genealogy hobby.  I published my book in 2011 but my research continues.

Tonight I am researching a certain Alvin Jered Potter who married Harriett Reynolds.  While I have found various records detailing his descendants, I found this on an old message board:

Found in "Potter Profiles" vol.17, p.42-43: [John Reynolds Potter line - somewhat abbreviated here]

1. #1 Nathaniel Potter (ca.1615-1664 RI) m. Dorothy ___
2. #2 Nathaniel Potter (1637-1704) m. Elizabeth Stokes
3. #6 Nathaniel Potter (1669 MA-1736) m. Joan Wilbour
4. #376 William Potter (1689 MA-1777 RI) m. Mary Brownell
5. #382 David Potter (1722 MA-1801 RI) m.1748/9 Susanna(h) Barber
6. #569 David Potter (1767 RI-1834 NY) m. Hannah Wilkinson
7. #907+ John Reynolds Potter (1811 NY-) m.1835 Charlotte Knapp
8. #934 Alvin Jered Potter (1836 NY-1893 MI) m.1866 Harriet Reynolds; Alvin d. in Scottville, Mason, MI, m. in MI
9. [#934.1] Edna Sedenia Potter (1871 MI-1951 WA) m.1903 Charles Near; Edna b. in Hastings, Barry, MI, m. in Scottville, Mason, MI
10. Helen Maxine Near (1905 MI-) m.1927 Robert Blaine Thurston; Helen b. in Scottville, Mason, MI, m. in Vancouver, WA
[etc.]

Can you tell me, how is this book, Potter Profiles, volume 17?   I want to cite my source correctly.

  

It's #8,9,10 above that interests me.

Thank you,   Mike Palmer,   Winterport, Maine

Notes on Daniel Potter, wife Lydia Hale, early 1800s in New York, Part 6

Back in Potter Profiles, Vol. 11, March 1987, Virginia Zadorozny (who lived in Palmyra, NY) sent this material as it pertained to her line. She added this note that came with the material:  "This chapter on the Potters was written by Clayton Buell Potter, grandson of Daniel Potter and Lydia Hale. It is included in a handwritten book compiled in 1909 by Edward Augustus Parks, the stepson of Clayton's sister, Cassandana Potter Parks.

Part 6:

"I remember some of the sentiments of war times. Edgar was at the front and in the Army of the Potomac and like most of the soldiers at the time in that department was under the personal magnetism of General George B. McClellan. Mother took issue. She did not believe in the loyalty or the honesty of "Little Mac." Edgar did, for a time, and would wind up his letter with "Hurrah for Little Mac!" Mother would not hurrah for him until he did something to hurrah for and she would rather have the soldiers have some chance in the game for coming out alive instead of being held in that dismal swamp to die of malaria faster than they could have been shot by the rebels. She believed that Gen. McClelland was so much in sympathy with the South that he was nearly if not quite a traitor. And Edgar, after the long weary months of promises of Mc. to move and fight , and after Lincoln had pleaded month after month and Mc. continued to remain inactive, finally acknowledged that Mother was right and he wrote to that effect." 

THE END

A summary of this family as gleaned from the above is:

Daniel Potter married Lydia Hale and they had Allen, Clarissa, David, William, Daniel, Joseph, Hannah, Silas and Achsah. 

Joseph Potter (who d. 8 Apr 1882) married Mary Eunice Wylie (who d. 4 Dec 1883). They had:

     1. Cassandana Louise on 22 Deb 1838, m. Samuel Orlando Parks

     2.  Edgar Wylie on 25 Mary 1840; d. 30 May 1864 at Cold Harbor, VA.

     3.  Stanley Noble on 21 Jul 1842; m. Laura Cheney and had:  E. Clifford, Mable, Mildred, Theo,

                                              Gilman and an unnamed infant.

     4.  Irving Delmont, b/d/ ca 1845

     5.  unnamed son, b/d ca 1846

     6.  Ellen Lavancha on 30 Jun 1850; m. Lewis King; she d. 7 Oct 1903

     7.  Lydia Arnot Augusta on 30 Jun 1850; m. Lorentus S. Edson; had: Lena (m. Ira Marble) and Edgar

     8.  Clayton Buell on 9 Sep 1852; m. 12 Oct 1876 to Jane Whetmuth; had:  Mary Walker, Ada

                                               Whetmuth, Frederick Clayton, Alice Louise, Ethel Wylie and Edgar Lamont

     9.  Lorenzo Warderell on 10 Apr 1855; d. 1856.

    10. Argus Lamont on 22 Sep 1857; m. Clare Wright; had: Earl Lamont;  Argus d. 5 Aug 1883. 

Notes on Daniel Potter & wife Lydia Hale, early 1800s in New York, Part 5

Back in Potter Profiles, Vol. 11, March 1987, Virginia Zadorozny (who lived in Palmyra, NY) sent this material as it pertained to her line. She added this note that came with the material:  "This chapter on the Potters was written by Clayton Buell Potter, grandson of Daniel Potter and Lydia Hale. It is included in a handwritten book compiled in 1909 by Edward Augustus Parks, the stepson of Clayton's sister, Cassandana Potter Parks.

Part 5:

"The last of the family births was Argus Lamont Potter, born on September 22nd, 1857. He was the brightest of the family, easy and quick to learn. I recall one winter when our school dwindled to a failure, Lamont and I went to the Lime Lake school taught by Flotilla Watson and she was par excellent. Figuring closely, I think Lamont was 6 years old. He wore a waist to which his trousers were buttoned. When he took his place in the highest reading class in school he stood beside a boy three times his age and twice his size holding his side of the Sanders 4th Reader and having to reach up to meet the other's height, look up to see the page-eyes as black and shining as jets, and the whole school brought to silent amazement for he could read better than any of them. Later in life he married Clara Wright and one son, Earl Lamont Potter, was born to them. This brother of mine was of genial happy disposition and was loved by everyone who knew him. He used to write up weekly news items for the county papers. They were always interesting articles and most happily written and he surely made his mark. He took up carpentering and was successful until overcome by typhoid fever, dying on August 5th, 1883, aged 24 years, 10 months and 13 days.

"On April 8th, 1882, father died of pneumonia and only four months after Lamont's death, on December 4th, 1883, mother died. She was the one person that I have known who did not in the least fear death. She had suffered with inflammatory rheumatism and her sight had failed and she could no longer read and could no longer do much to help anyone else and felt that she had done what she could and did not want to be a care of burden to anyone and was ready and anxious for the change and she felt to know it would be better. We had been summoned and were gathered at the old Homestead and on that morning we were at the breakfast table and I was where I could see her on the bed in the adjoining room. I have never known what or how to describe it, but something occurred and I said, 'it has come,' and was at her bedside at once. She said, 'is this death?' And I said, 'Yes, Mother, it surely is present.' She was conscious and knew all of us and had words of kindness and wisdom for each and passed away without struggle, fear or dread. She had lived, practiced and died in the faith of a true Christian.

"If I knew how, I would like to emphasize the fact of this woman's intellectual character and her remarkable executive ability. I have never known another woman who had more than a slight beginning toward accomplishing work of any nature that my mother had. Her house was always clean, her work about the house was always up and done with nothing hanging about and her cooking could not be beaten. I am amazed when I think of her taking the flax as it came from the hitchel and weaving it into the linen homespun suits for the men or into handsome patterns for table linen and towels  and weaving handsome bedspreads, quilting, knitting, darning, sewing of all kinds, shirts and collars, vest coats and trousers for the men and all the clothing for the girls. Then there were the carpets, hundreds of yards of them and the coloring, etc. 

(To be continued.......)

Notes on Daniel Potter & wife Lydia Hale, early 1800s in NY, Part 4

Back in Potter Profiles, Vol. 11, March 1987, Virginia Zadorozny (who lived in Palmyra, NY) sent this material as it pertained to her line. She added this note that came with the material:  "This chapter on the Potters was written by Clayton Buell Potter, grandson of Daniel Potter and Lydia Hale. It is included in a handwritten book compiled in 1909 by Edward Augustus Parks, the stepson of Clayton's sister, Cassandana Potter Parks.

Part 4:

"The next two children of Joseph and Mary Potter were Irving Delmont and an un-named son, the former living but a few months and the latter but 21 days. Then on February 24th 1848 was born Ellen Lavancha who was a beautiful character and had one of the sweetest self-sacrificing dispositions carried to a point of actual self-sacrifice to a grasping selfish man that would and did let her suffer and die rather than provide suitable nourishment and care in her sickness. She died on October 7, 1903, aged 55 years and 7 months. It is told to me that her husband insisted in burying her in the old ground at Elton where the grave dug for her was nearly half full of water when they lowered in the coffin. It might have cost him forty dollars for a whole lot in a decent place. He was abundantly able and she had helped him to become so. She left a daughter, Lora. 

"In the town of Farmersville on June 30, 1850, was born another daughter who is still living in the old Homestead and in that sentence is shown the true spirit of Lydia Arnot Augusta Edson, nee Potter. Such a noble home lover could not be content away from the place of her birth. She would not consider any money value as an inducement to leave the old associations where she had been from earliest childhood and was a friend to every animal on the place. She had a chord of affection for each one that made them all as members of the family and a heart so tender that it responded to the suffering and weeps at the death of a horse, a cow or a sheep. Augusta married Lorentus S. Edson somewhere about 1870. They were a devoted couple and he was a man of the most sterling quality. His devotion to his wife could only be surpassed by his wife's devotion to him. They had two children, both now living. Lena, the wife of Ira Marble and Edgar as yet unmarried. As these children develop the character of their parents becomes more and more prominent.

"When Augusta and I were young, we were constant companions. We can remember the old log house a little and I can remember the partly built new frame house but do not remember the transfer from the old to the new. Augusta and I used to yoke the oxen and hitch them to the stone boat and draw stones from the fields or hitch them to the stumps and old logs and haul them together and burn them, thus contributing in play quite an item toward clearing the farm. We would tap from 50 to 75 maple trees each spring and do all the work of making sugar when we were 8 and 10 years old. We would gather up the sap and tote it to the boiling place, let it boil into syrup and then carry it to the house...and sometimes the snow was deep...it would be late at night before we could get through. We have lost all of a day's labor by having the snow slump underfoot or stubbing our tired toes and spilling the syrup. I think we know the old farm better than any others. 

"The next of the family of Joseph and Mary was born on September 9th, 1852. I am told that the name of Clayton was given by Aunt Augusta Wylie and the other by Joseph who had admiration for the contractor of a railroad that was begun and never finished and as I write, that may seem quite typical, too, for I am certain he had aims, ambitions and hopes that he has never had the power to realize.

"In 1876, October 12th, at 6 o'clock in the morning were married Clayton Buell Potter and Alice Jane Whetmath in the village of Geneseo, Livingston County, New York, where they lived till May 1891 and then moved to Albany, New York. Their children are Mary Walker Bosboro (who married in 1902 and has three children), Ada Whetmuth, Frederick Clayton and Alice Louise. Alice Louise married in 1907 to a Rulison and has one child, a son named James Potter Rulison. Ethel Wylie Potter and Edgar Lamont Potter, and two, Fanny and Harriott, died in infancy and are buried in Temple Hill Cemetery.

"As to ourselves, others may write or talk but we ahve as good and honorable children as are born to man. 

"The next of father's family was Lorenzo Warderell Potter and he was born on April 10th, 1855 and then died when 10 months and 28 days of age. 

(To be continued.......)