Settlers XVI: George Whitefield Potter and the New England Migration

In mid-2002, as he continued his research into colonial and postcolonial migrations and marriages by and among the Potter descendants, Ernie Hatton sent us the following overview of his research efforts:

I have been writing a very extensive book on the Potter families, their relativies by marriage and other families with whom they shared the toil and sacrifices of life in the New World. Mine though is geared more to the personal side. It's really a story about all the folks that contributed to the country from the beginning to those that arrived at the turn of the century. The genealogy part, or names, contains not just Potters, but most of the family names from those times. I didn't want to limit myself, or the book, to a genealogy about just my family. My intention was to show history through the typical American family. I think history would be better served if someone could write something that more people can connect with.The children in school are presented the same thing rehashed over and over again with the same names. Seldom do they hear their own. They hear about Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and others but seldom hear the names like ours, and theirs.

That is the problem with history. It fails to involve us all even though our families may have been deeply involved, perhaps a few feet from Washington and Lincoln, but the farmer, coal miner and typical American isn't in those books. We, most of us, are referred to as the farmers, coal miners, troops, Washington's army. A collective name given to all of us. When I started to show my daughter that our family was a part of history. In other words, that we were there during the Revolution, Civil War, in the coal mines later, and I was able to help her identify personally with history, it made such a big difference in her interest in school, at least as far as American history/government was concerned. One of the reasons I didn't restrict myself was because the more names in the background genealogy the more children could identify with the story of America.

There are no famous people in my story, except for a passing mention here and there. Not that I want to downplay our historical figures; it's just that I want to elevate and present a picture of the rest who contributed so much. The farmer who farmed and fought. The coal miners who contributed so much. I think a good example of what I'm talking about is how, because of the news media today, we saw the great American heroes on September 11th. and after. The unknowns finally had names and their contributions recognized. When great historical events like that happened in our past they would not have been known in such a personal manner. History would have again referred to the "firemen, policemen and others", no names attached. It would be seen and written as seen through the eyes of government officials or the intellectual elite only. I was reading a book about the Revolutionary War and one of the typical passages was about Washington staying one night in a manor home while the troops bedded down in the snow not far away. I though wouldn't it be interesting to tell the story from the viewpoint of the cold and often frostbitten soldier. What a sacrifice! Now to put names and personalities to these poor suffering souls.

When I was reading the new additions to our family istory, I was familiar with the founding of most of the places mentioned. A lot of the families mentioned that settled on Monmouth, Connecticut farms, for example, were from Granville, Massachusetts. Ohio was then settled by Munsons and others from Granville Massachusetts. As I got deeper into my writing and research, I found that my wife was a cousin [ Munson] and our daughter a cousin to both of us through both families. That is making history personal alright!

The children of William Potter settled on Connecticut farms. Another connection!....that was very early mid-1600s.... and a few of John Potter's family also went to Monmouth. William and John Potter were brothers and the first settlers of New Haven in 1639. You can read all about the fouding of these communities and their first families in the East Haven Register.

I was also able to get copies of the original Wills of Phineas/Phinehas and Daniel Potter, who both fought in the Revolutionary War. I have only begun to put the final story together. Please join me for this journey back in time to the 17th century to meet the "unknown Potters" who helped build our country.

Ernie Hatton
August 2002

The Potter Family

Northern Pennsylvania and Upstate New York were in many cases settled by families from Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Potter family was one such and this is their story in Sullivan county.

George Whitefield Potter was born in Hartwick, Otsego County, NY on July 9, 1806, and died December 6, 1876, in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania; he is buried in Forksville with his wife Camilla. George was the son of Deacon Daniel Potter, who served seven years in the Revolutionary War.

The early Potter history in America is recorded in at least three references. These include Genealogies of the Potter Families and their Descendants in America, edited by Charles Edward Potter (Boston, 1888), The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Vol. 54, pages 20-26, Boston 1900), and The New Haven Genealogical Magazine (Vol VI, No. 3, January 1930). The first source includes outstanding family trees for the early Potter generations in America, and includes excerpts from the wills of the various Potters. The second reference includes the will information as well as a list of Potter births, marriages, and deaths in New Haven, Connecticut. The last reference contains an outline of births, deaths, children, and marriages.

Editor's Note: You can also read additional Potter family history at these sites:
1.) Descendants of Nathaniel Potter
2.) Descendants of James Watton Potter
3.) Descendants of William Wilson Potter

The first of our Potter family, Puritans, arrived in 1635 with Hannah Potter Beecher, widowed and remarrried to John Beecher. She arrived with her son William Potter and family. Her son John Potter arrived in 1638 and it is from John that Ernie Hatton, our contributor, and other Potters from this line are descended. This family of Potters is referred to as the New Haven Potters and can be found in the book Families of Ancient New Haven (see reference footnote at the end of this page). Both William and John signed the original Covenants and were first settlers of what became New Haven CT.

Editor's Note:

In Feburary 2002, Ernie Hatton informed us that: The genealogist for "First Families of America" has approved the descendancy from John Potter, a founder of New Haven, CT., to myself and my daughter Dawn Marie Hatton. First Families are families that arrived prior to 1662. Ours arrived in 1635 with John's mother Hannah and his brother William. John arrived in 1638. Both were grown men at the time of arrival.

The brothers John and William Potter were born in England in 1607 and 1608. Both signed the Plantation Covenant in New Haven, Connecticut on June 4, 1639, just nineteen years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They were among the first settlers of New Haven. John and William appeared in New Haven along with their mother, Hannah Potter Beecher (remarried). Her first husband, surnamed Potter, died in England. John married Elizabeth Wood in Chesham Co., Bucks, England on April 14, 1630. Together they had sons John, Jr. (b. 1635) and Samuel, both of whom were baptized in New Haven in 1641. John, Sr. died as early as 1643 with an estate of 25 English pounds. The direct lineage to John has been proven and therefore the Potters are members of the " First Families of America".

America's First Families
John Potter (1635-1706)
Courtesy of Ernest Hatton, Jr.

John Potter Jr. married Hannah Cooper in 1661. He purchased a homestead in East Haven in 1662. He was at least partly employed as a blacksmith. John and Hannah had nine children, at least six of whom died as infants or in early childhood. The three that became adults include Hannah (b. 1665), John the 3rd ("Sergeant") (b. 1667), and Samuel (b. 1675). Hannah died in 1675, and John Jr. remarried Mary Hitchcock Russel. John and Mary had a daughter, Abigail, in 1680. John Jr. died on December 24, 1706.

Sergeant John Potter the third (1667-1712) married Elizabeth Holt in 1691-2. Together they had seven children, including Joseph (b. 1691), John (b. 1695), Elizabeth (b. 1697), Gideon (b. 1700), Daniel (b. 1701-2), Enos (b. 1706), and Samuel (b. 1708). Upon the death of John and Elizabeth, their land was divided among the children. Daniel Potter (1701-2 to 1747) married Hannah Holbrook (or Hollock) in 1728. They had a family, including Nathan (b. 1729), Eunice (b. 1731), Phineas (b. 1733), Hosea (b. 1735), Lois (b. 1737), and Elam (b. 1742).
,br> Phineas Potter(1733-1799) was born January 7, 1733 in Winchester, CT and died in Otsego County, NY between January 8, 1799, the date his will was made, and April 2, 1799, the date his will was probated. He also served in the Revolutionary War in Captain Hill's company from Winchester, CT in 1788 (cf., DAR Lineage Book, Volume 3, page 338). He married Dorcas Hinman, whose father was Ebenezer Hinman who served in the first assembly in 1776. More Hinman family members fought in the Revolutionary War than any other family. This family lived in Woodbury, Connecticut, about twenty-five miles northwest of New Haven, and later in Winchester, Connecticut. The children included Sheldon, Daniel (b. 1759), Salem or Salmon (b. 1774), and Freedom Potter(b. 1776)

"Deacon" Daniel Potter (1760-1828) was born January 31, 1760 in Woodbury, Connecticut, the second child of Phineas Potter. Daniel Potter enlisted at Woodbury, Connecticut on May 23, 1776 as a private in Captain Granger's Company, Colonel Webb's 2nd regiment of Connecticut. Later he became a corporal in Captain Higbee's Company, Colonel Samuel P. Webb's regiment, and remained in service in the Revolutionary Army until the end of the war. He was honorably discharged at West Point, N.Y. in June 1783. Daniel married Naomi Crissey (b. 1759) in 1785. Together they had eight children, including Daniel Jr. (b. 1786), Abijah (b. 1788), Joseph Crissey (b. 1790), Alvan (b. Nov. 1791), Philo (b. 1793), Chester (b. 1795), Harvey (b. 1797), and Naomi (b. 1800).

At some point after Alvan's birth in 1791, Daniel moved to New York State. Naomi died in 1803 and Daniel remarried a widow, Martha Saunders, on February 28, 1804 in Hartwick, Otsego County, NY. A picture of his home is shown below. Martha had a son, Samuel Saunders, by her previous marriage. Together Daniel and Martha had one son, George Whitefield Potter, born in 1806. Daniel applied for a pension from Hartwick, Otsego County, N.Y. and was pensioned as a pensioner from Connecticut. Daniel died on June 16, 1828. Part of his will is on file at the Daughters of the American Revolution library in Washington, D.C. It states that he is to be buried in a plain pine coffin "under the cold clods of the earth by the side of Naomi, the wife of my youth."

Note: The DAR application for Deacon Daniel Potter is on record. A copy was given about 1930-40 to a 1/2 cousin in Scranton. The application mentions George Whitefield Potter as Daniel's son by Mrs. Martha Saunders, a widow. All Daniel's other children were the children of his first wife, Naomi Crissey. So, this 1/2 cousin did a wonderful thing by noting that Daniel had another son by his second wife, making things much simpler for later family historians like me. A wonderful and thoughtful gesture! George was also the executor of Daniel's will along with his half- brother Alvin Potter. So, people do consider others and future generations.--Ernie Hatton )1/29/02

Home of Daniel Potter (1760-1828)
Hartwick, Otsego County, NY
As It Appeared in 2007
Courtesy of Amy Ford

Amy Ford describes the house as follows:

It is a gray house with black shutters built from the lumber of the Congregational church. Some of the exterior walls and flooring are original. The foundation is original to the church. The house was built by a man named Welcome Richards in 1852. It was called the "Welcome House". Excess lumber was used to build a schoolhouse in a neighboring yard. Welcome and his wife Hannah are buried in the village cemetery.

Here is a picture of Daniel's headstone:

Headstone for "Deacon" Daniel Potter (1760-1828)
Otsego County, NY
Reads: " Served seven years a Revolutionary Soldier, 42 years a soldier under King Immanual, felled by an arrow, commissioned by Almighty God, hoping for eternal life through the undivided Sovereign Grace in Christ"
Photo contributed by Ronald Potter

Daniel's second wife Martha applied for Revolutionary War pension benefits in Otsego County from 1851-1853. Various testimony is on record trying to prove her marriage to Daniel; however, she stated that the only record of their marriage were destroyed when a fire destroyed the Potter home and burnt the family records in 1822. Martha did appear to receive a pension and even some land. She died in 1856. Martha's son George Whitefield Potter married Camilla Bliss of Hartwick, Otsego County, New York in 1828. She was the daughter of Charles Bliss and Abigail Rowley. The Bliss family also arrived from England in the early 1600s. From this union there were six known children: Cordelia, born 1829, baptised at Fly Creek, Otsego County, NY, married Rhodolphus Alger of Otsego County, New York; Daniel Wellington, born 1832, who married Maria Smith; Abigail, born 1835, married Moses Austin Rogers of the Rogers family of Plunkett's Creek, Sullivan County, PA; Ellen, born 1841, George Gilbert, born 1845, married Louisa Hartman (he served in the Civil War); and George W.

After the marriage between George Whitefield Potter and Camilla Bliss, the family removed to Towanda, Bradford County, PA. They later removed to Forks, now called Forksville, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. George Whitefield Potter and Camilla Bliss Potter are buried in Forksville.

Microfilmed records at the National Archives include the documents of the Potter pension and a variety of letters by various relatives asking for information about their relationship to Daniel Potter. For example, a letter from James H. Potter (1931) states he is a grandson of Daniel Potter (1858 - 1842) born in Plymouth, Connecticut, with a brother named Robert. This is probably a different Daniel Potter than "ours". How James or a number of other later Potters are related to our Daniel is unknown, but, considering that Daniel had eight children by his first marriage and one by the second, the number of descendants was probably considerable. Howeer, in May 2008, Ernie Hatton informed the genealogical community that the International Society of Genetic Genealogy had tested a DNA sample from one male in each of the two lines thought to be descended from Deacon Daniel Potter and his sucessive wives. The match was perfect and proves that George Whitefiled Potter was indeed a half-sibling to the children of Daniel and his first wife, Naomi.

Alvan Potter (1791-1863), the fourth child of Daniel Potter and Naomi Crissey, married twice. The Charles Potter book (1888) describes his marriage to Mary Randall in 1811. Together they had three children, including Justus, Maria (b. 1825), and L.B. Mary Randall Potter died in 1829. Alvan then married Mary Barker (1803-1869) in 1830. They had at least three children: Leland Barker, b. 1833; Alvan S.. b. 1838; and Harriet A., b. 1841 (birth dates from the 1850 census). There is conflicting evidence as to whether Leland B. ("L.B.") was the child of Mary Randall or Mary Barker. The 1850 and 1860 census ages for Leland suggest Mary Randall died at least four years before his birth, and that he was the child of Mary Barker. In 1850, the family was living in Otsego Township, Otsego County, NY. It is probable that Leland had older brothers and sisters that do not show up on the census, since they had left the Alvan Potter family home by 1850. Alvan is listed as a "tinner" or tinsmith for his occupation.

Leland B. Potter was the oldest child of Alvan Potter and Mary Barker. When Leland was seventeen, he was a clerk living with the Stillman family in Otsego County, NY. Leland moved to Scranton sometime between 1850 and 1855. He married Helen Caroline Finch in 1856. Helen C. Finch was the daughter of Asahael P. Finch and Sarah Tuthill Finch, who had moved to Scranton in 1855. Leland and Helen had several children, including Harriet Finch Potter (Hattie), b. 1857; Walter (may have died as a child); and Helen. Leland carried on the profession of his father, Alvan, being a tinner or tinsmith. The 1860 census shows his occupation, and that he had a young man, William Blaue (?), age 18, from Scotland, who was also a tinner, living with the family. Leland eventually started the L.B. Potter Mine Supply Company, a wholesale business dealing in mine, mill, railroad supply and safety equipment. He operated this business until his death in 1896. Helen was one of the best known women of the city. She was active in the Washburn St. Presbyterian Church, and a social worker. In 1861, Leland and Helen built a solid brick 13-room home in the Italianate style in the borough of Hyde Park (153 Main Avenue). The Hyde Park borough predates the city of Scranton. The home had sixteen-inch thick interior walls, ten foot ceilings, oak flooring throughout, and real operable shutters. It was quite a substantial house for its time. The Potter house is still standing with various colonial modifications, and is currently owned by Richard Leonori, an architect in Scranton.

Leland and Helen Potter's daughter, Hattie, married Eugene Fowler Marsh in January 1885. Every few weeks, Helen Caroline Finch Potter would hitch up the horse and buggy and ride from Hyde Park to Columbia St. in the Green Ridge section to see Hattie. She usually brought cod fish for lunch and she showed her daughter the correct way to cream it, always using an egg in the cream sauce. This recipe was also passed down to Hattie's daughter-in-law, Helen Hagen Marsh.

Leland and Helen's daughter, Helen, married Robert J. Williams on July 18, 1894. After Leland and Helen's death, Helen and Robert Williams lived in the Potter house, and the house stayed in the Williams family until around 1940, when they both died. Helen taught school for twenty years. She was a member of the Washburn Presbyterian Church, and the first president of the women's auxiliary to the west side hospital. She was at one time the president of the board of managers of the Home For the Friendless, and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Robert J. Williams worked with his brother in J.D. Williams and Brothers Co. They were in sporting goods, and ran a toy store. They later entered the restaurant business, and got into the bread, ice cream and candy business. The Williams family is credited with bringing ice cream to the city of Scranton. Robert and Helen had one son, Gerard R. Williams. Gerard ran the Williams family-operated bakery, which served the Scranton community for 115 years. Gerard married Ruth Evans, and had four children including Gerard Jr., Margaret Ann, Wayne, and Lawrence Williams.

George Whitefield Potter

As mentioned above, George left Connecticut and spent time in New York State where he married Camilla Bliss in 1828. Camilla was born on December 7, 1809 and died January 15, 1888. Here is a picture of their gravestones in Forksville, PA: