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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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John
Potter Among
those of our citizens who have developed a high order of ability in connection
with agricultural pursuits, and whose rare personal and social qualities have
given him a deserved and added prominence, Mr. Potter is conspicuous.
Like many of the representative men of the county he is a native of the
Keystone State, born in Mercer County, May 12, 1825. But he needs no
introduction to the people of Jasper County, for a long residence here, and
above all a career of usefulness and prominence, have given him a very extensive
acquaintance, if not personal, at least by name. Our
subject is the son of Thomas and Margaret (Parker) Potter, natives of Scotland
and Ireland, respectively. The
father came to this country with his parents when young, and settled with them
in Pennsylvania. There be grew to
manhood and married Miss Parker, who bore him three children, John and two
daughters. One of the daughters,
Mary, died when two years of age; and the other, Jane, grew to womanhood and
married Ezra Doolittle. She had two
children, and died when her last child was six weeks old. One child died; the other is Mrs. James Glidden, of Brooklyn,
Green County, Wis. In
1829 the father of our subject died, and the mother after ward married a man by
the name of McLaughlin. One of her children by this marriage, E. McLaughlin, was
a soldier in the Civil War and died at St. Louis while in the service.
A daughter by this marriage, Selma McLaughlin, is the wife of J. L.
McLaughlin, of Jasper County. When
our subject was about six years of age he went to live with an uncle, William
Scott, who was a merchant. With him
he remained until fourteen years of age and secured a fair education for that
day. He then began working out on a
farm, and continued this until nineteen years of age, when he began learning the
blacksmith's trade. In 1849 he went to Wisconsin, and after following his trade
there for two years, came to Iowa, and located at Le Claire, in Scott County.
There he followed his trade until 1864, when he returned to his native
state, but only remained there a short time, and then went to the Lone Star
State to seek a good location. Not being satisfied with the outlook there, he
again burned his face westward, and settled in Port Byron, IL, where he remained
until 1856. From
there ho went to Clinton County, Iowa, settled on a farm, and remained there
until 1864, when he sold out and came to Jasper County, settling on land in
Mound Prairie Township. After four years he sold this, and settled in Des Moines
Township, Jasper County, where he has remained since.
In all his land deals he has made money, and is now classed among the
wealthy men of his locality. He has
a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres adjoining Prairie City, but for a
number of years he has lived a quiet and retired life, doing but little work. In
the year 1855, while living in Fort Byron, IL, he married Miss Maria P. Miner, a
native of Trumbull County, Ohio, born in 1830. The Miner family came from
Connecticut, and was of old Puritan stock. This family settled at a very early
date in Ohio. Mrs. Potter's brother
Albert was a noted physician of Niles, Ohio.
Her father was a blacksmith by trade, but later in life retired to a
farm, where he died about 1868. The mother died about 1873. Mr.
and Mrs. Potter have no children. Both
are members of the Christian Church, and are very liberal in their contributions
thereto. When the new Christian Church was completed, and they
were raising money to pay for it, Mr. Potter drew his check for $1,100. This is
only one of his many acts of liberality, for he has ever been generous with his
ample fortune. He is a high degree Odd Fellow, and has belonged to the order for
about forty years. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, IL, 1894, p. 235. |
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