Evelyn
Keeney's William Wilson Potter
by Thomas D. Bliss
August 2010
The purpose of this paper is to add some insight into the
confusing naming for William Potter, break the link to the George Whitefield
Potter line, identify the parents of William Wilson Potter, link William Wilson
Potter to his ancestors, prove "the legend of five brothers" put
forth by Evelyn Potter Keeney and sketch the total ancestry going back to
England.
Source:
Settlers XXXVIII: The Descendants of William Wilson Potter, by Carol Hoose Brotzman
The Confusion over the Potter Names
Throughout the records and writings we see various names for
William Potter, like: William, William
Wilson, Wilson, Wilson William,
Winfield, William Winfield and Winfield William. This has led to confusion on the part of
researchers. Here is an example of the
confusion, from the website:
"There is considerable
uncertainty about the early Potter history in Sullivan County. Part of this
revolves around the decision by William Potter to use "Wilson" in his
every day life and on many records, such as the census records, where that is
how he is recorded. However, it is also the case that the Old German Church
Records for the early Lutheran community refer to him as William Potter, so
that is what we will use in this story."
Church Book, kept for the two
German Lutheran and Reformed Congregations by Carl L. Erle, evan.[Evangelical]
Lutheran pastor in Cherry Township, Lycoming County
Baptismal No. 5
29th Sep 1839 Wilhelm, son of
Wilhelm Patter [possibly, William Potter] and wife, born 21st March 1839
sponsors: John Hunsinger and wife, grandparents
I think there is an explanation.
Back in the day, it was common, especially among the Germany
immigrants coming to Sullivan County (e. g., Charles Franz Sick), to have a
first name for formal use and to have a middle name for daily use.
In our case, there are three (3) individuals with whom we
are interested who carry the name William Potter: William Wilson Potter, his son William
Winfield Scott Potter, and his (recently found) father William (no middle name,
or nmn) Potter, husband of Rachel Wilson.
In my opinion, William Wilson
Potter was given the middle name of Wilson to honor his mother, Rachel
Wilson. And William Winfield Scott
Potter (born 1845) was given the middle name Winfield Scott to honor the
national hero at the time, Commander Winfield Scot, known as "Old Fuss and
Feathers". (See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_Scot ).
The father went by the name
William, the son by the name Wilson and the grandson by the name Winfield: William ==> Wilson ==> Winfield. In formal documents, they should have all
used the name William. In the case of
the formal baptismal record, both the father (Wilson) and the son (William
Wellington Potter) were identified as simply William.
Breaking the link to George Whitefield Potter
Our William Wilson Potter and his ancestors and descendants
have no ties to the George Whitefield Potter lineage. Taking from the Brotzman website, the George
Whitefield Potter/Camilla Bliss line could only find two brothers that came to
Sullivan County: George Gilbert Potter and Daniel Wellington Potter. And no link could be made to tie in our William
Wilson Potter to either one. This is
because their is no relationship between the two family lines.
Setting the Stage for William Wilson Potter's Father,
Thanks to Mr. Dick Hunsinger.
The Hunsinger family had a descendant, Anna Catherine
Hunsinger, who married William Wilson Potter.
As such, the Hunsinger family was familiar with both William Wilson
Potter and his father, William (nmn) Potter, and mother, Rachel Wilson. The break came in a correspondence form Mr.
Dick Hunsinger and posted on the website.
William's (William Wilson Potter's)
grandfather was Joseph Wanton Potter, born Nov. 25, 1760 in Narragansett,
Wakefield, R.I. and died Aug. 01, 1840 in Huntington, Luzerne Co., PA.. He
married Diadoma Brookins (spelling may have been Brookings) in 1780 in Vermont.
She was born 1765 in Poultney, Vermont, and died 1838 in Huntington, Luzerne
Co., Pa.. They are buried in the Potter-Emory Cemetery, Luzerne Co., Pa..
Joseph & Diadoma had at least 14 children; Submit (1781), Elsie (about
1782), Lucy 1782), Alden (1784), Joseph (1787), William (1789), Mary
"Polly' (1791), Brookins (1793), Henry (1795), Experience (1798), Alming
(1802), Hannah (1806), Daniel (1809) and Joseph (born unknown) The child
William, was born May 10, 1789 in Huntington Twp., Luzerne Co., PA, and died
April 7, 1847. He married Rachel Wilson, date unknown. She was born about April
27, 1786 and died May 14, 1852. Both are buried at Fairview Cemetery (Bahr
Hill) in Dushore, Sullivan County, PA. William and Rachel are the parents of
William Wilson Potter.
Linking William Wilson Potter to his ancestors
Mr. Dick Hunsinger identified William Wilson Potter's
grandfather as Joseph Watton Potter born Nov. 25, 1760 in Narragansett,
Wakefield, R.I. and died Aug. 01, 1840 in Huntington, Luzerne Co., PA. Also supplied was a link to the ancestors of
Joseph Watton Potter at June Hartzell's website, Descendants of Nathaniel Potter:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pasulliv/settlers/settlers38/Potter3.htm
The Legend of Five Brothers
From the Brotzman website:
Evelyn Potter Keeney recorded
that there were five Potter brothers who came to this area from Huntington,
England; however it was probably Huntington, PA. ... We are not even certain about which or how
many of the "five brothers" actually arrived in Sullivan County. Ernest Hatton (genealogist for the George
Whitefield Potter line) can prove the existence and origins of two of the
original brothers, but we are not saying the legend is wrong. We just hope some
day to prove the total ancestry.
Evelyn Keeney documented the following lineage, as she knew
it, starting with William Wilson Potter:
William
Wilson Potter ==> William Winfield Scott Potter ==> Ellery Earnest Potter
Mrs. Keeney was unable to identify the parents of William
Wilson Potter, but apparently had heard stories that "five brothers"
came and settled in Cherry township.
The legend is true.
We need look no further than the book, History of
Sullivan county, Pennsylvania, by George Streby, to identify the five
brothers who were early settlers to Cherry Township, Sullivan County, PA:
(** 24 years
before the arrival of George Whitefield Potter to Sullivan County after 1848)
Page 1: Organization
Cherry Township was organized at the May
session of the court of quarter sessions of Lycoming county in 1824. It was formed from Shrewsbury township and
comprised all of what is now Cherry township, Dushore borough and Colley
township and a portion of LaPorte township.
Page 2: At the time of its organization, the taxables
numbered forty-eight as follows:
* Nicholas Potter (brother of
Joseph Watton Potter and uncle to the brothers)
* (The brothers):
1.
Alden Potter
2.
Joseph Potter
3.
Brookins Potter
4.
Henry Potter
5. William Potter (father of William Wilson
Potter)
The relationship as brothers can be verified from the
information supplied by Mr. Dick Hunsinger:
A1 Joseph Watton
Potter, b. 25 Nov 1760, Narragansett, RI, d. 01 Aug 1840 Huntington Twp.
Children:
(14) Six boys born in Luzerne Co.:
B4
Alden Potter, b. 1784
B5 Joseph Potter, b. 1792
B8 Brookins Potter, b. 1793
B9 Henry Potter, b. 1795
B13
Daniel Potter, b. 1809
B6 William Potter, b. 1789
m.
Rachel Wilson, b. abt. 27 Apr 1786, d. 14 May 1852.
buried: Fairview Cemetery (Bahr Hill) in Dushore, Sullivan County, PA.
Children:
C1 William Wilson Potter, b. 1816
C2 Joseph H. Potter, b. 1818 in Colley, Sullivan County, PA
The Total Ancestry
Due to the discrepancy in dates found in the various
genealogies, I will just list the path:
Evelyn, Ellery, William
Winfield, William Wilson, William, Joseph, Nicholas, Icabod III, Icabod II,
Icabod, Nathaniel