John Potter (1777 - 1868)

Born 27 Mar 1777 in Brookfield, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Lydia (Holloway) Potter — married 16 Apr 1799 in Litchfield, Herkimer, New York, United States

Descendants

Died 26 Mar 1868 at age 90 in Brownville, Jefferson, New York, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Steve Selbrede [send private message]

Biography

Pvt. John Potter served for New York in the War of 1812
Service started: 25 June 1812
Unit(s):
Service ended: 4 August 1812

John was born in 1777. He was the son of John Potter and Lydia Cutting. He passed away in 1868.

John Potter served as a Private in Capt. Elisha Camp's 6th Artillery Company of BGen. Jacob Brown's New York State Militia. He was engaged in the First Battle of Sackets Harbor on 19 Jul 1812. The battle was the first engagement of the War in U.S. territory and went into the history books as a victory for America.

The last known "possible" census event for John Potter (at 83 years of age, born in MA) is in the 1860 US Census, showing him living in Hounsfield NY with a presumed second wife (she at 60 years of age) named Harriet. No other information is found, and it may be assumed that she was just his housekeeper, and not his wife, and that they omitted her last name for expedience and possibly mislabeled her as his wife. [1]

Via the History of North Brookfield document, page 710 [2] it state that John, son of Capt. John Potter, died at Brownville, New York, 26 March 1868. On 16 April 1799, he married Lydia Holloway of Litchfield, New York, who died at Brownville, July 2, 1860. Thus, this is used as the official death date and location, replacing the historically unsourced "Sackets Harbor" as the death location. Typos within the History of North Brookfield document have been corrected in this paragraph.

John's burial location is unknown and the location of his death is suspect and without known source except for a town history document. Vital records were not required in NY State until after 1880. The date of 26 Mar 1868 is confirmed via the Potter Families Genealogy Document 1888, but a location is not shown. For many ancestry trees, the use of "Sackets Harbor" NY is expedient and is a catch-all location for anything in Jefferson County (thus, perhaps someone's guess over the decades). While he does have a memorial shown in Find A Grave [3], and it is historically suspected that he is buried Sulphur Springs Cemetery, Hounsfield NY next to wife Lydia [4], whose stone states "Wife of John Potter," and Lydia's parents Daniel Holloway/Chloe Bates are buried at the same cemetery, it has not been perfectly confirmed.

Further regarding his burial location, a random news article from about 1865 (showing this John to be 88 years of age) showed he had taken his son Anson to court to recoup payment for land he had sold to Anson in 1857 and John was awarded the preliminary verdict and a sum of just over $2,000. Thus, the father and son were disaffected, and Anson had probably not arranged his burial in the typical way (or facilitated the burial next to his father's predeceased wife - also Anson's mother). Also, if he was awarded $2,000 it seems he may have moved away from his seemingly disaffected son, but based on his death in Brownville, he may have come to terms with his son or lost his argument for payment for the farm.

John Potter seems to have disappeared for the 1865 census, or at least he is not in Jefferson County or may have been too poor to be counted (assumption based on the newspaper article that covered his lawsuit with his son Anson). While the above lawsuit mentions him at 88 years of age, which makes him still alive in 1865 or so, no trace of him can be found. There is another John Potter shown in Oswego County in 1865 who was about the same age, but other census documents in 1855 in the same location show him to be a different persona. [5]

Sources

• Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 vital records for Brookfield, Massachusetts shows his birth date, location and parents. Via Ancestry.com [6]. Please note that "Brookfield" MA was split into three other towns about 1813, and the locations for this John and others might be "North Brookfield" MA after 1813.
• Genealogies of the Potter families and their descendants in America to the present generation, with historical and biographical sketches by Potter, Charles Edward. Publication date 1888. Section 1, Page 3 shows John's family and that of his son Anson, and his father John's family is shown on Page 1. Shown to be pretty reliable when compared with vital records. Believed to be taken from a letter survey at the time which probably included family bible histories and other sources. Very useful as in Upstate NY at the time they did not collect vital records info until the late 1800s. Archive.org [7]
• History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Preceded by an account of old Quabaug, Indian and English occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield records, 1686-1783. By Temple, J. H. (Josiah Howard) ,and Adams, Charles. Publication date 1887 [8]. Page 710 shows and detailed and extensive Potter genealogy starting with Anthony Potter (1627-1690) up through the Capt. John Potter and son Daniel generations, and more. Tricky about the document is that this Potter Genealogy Register is not shown in the "historical" index. It shows the death location and date for John Potter, born 1777.
• Find A Grave Index [9]
• New York, War of 1812 Certificates and Applications of Claim and Related Records, 1858-1869, NYSA Generals Office-Box 1, bound volume, Claims 1-199. Shows John's War of 1812 Service Record. [10].
• This site shows a writeup of his Company Commander Elisha Camp and signatures of those in the unit for the battle [www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/jefferson/hounsfield/campsartillery.html]
• Ancestry.com Public Tree (for reference only) Ancestry-Wooley. No sources. No spouse.