Person:John Potts (21)

Notes

Note: there was a different John Potts that had migrated to Augusta County, Virginia by Abt 1750 that should not be confused with this John Potts.

Member of the Assembly 1759-1761.

Founder of Pottsgrove, later called Pottstown, Pennsylvania and ran the Iron works. His house was one of the best built and largest in the state. People would come from as far away as 40 miles just to see his mansion and George Washington was a guest there during the Revolution when John's son, Thomas, lived there. He was the largest and most successful iron-master of the American Colonies, carrying on forges and furnaces in both Pennsylvania and Virginia. He was very good friends with Benjamin Franklin and records of letters between the two are on record.

Was commisioned Justice of the Peace in 1745, 1749, and 1752. A Justice of the Peace was also a judge of the county courts (Common Pleas, Quarter Sessions, and Orphans' Court) and was obliged to decide many important legal questions.

Records in Augusta County, VA

From Chalkley’s Augusta County Records:

• Vol. 1 - NOVEMBER, 1764 (A). - Potts vs. Boff.--Conrad Boff, of East Nantmill Township, County of Chester, Pennsylvania, bound to John Potts, of Calebrook Dale, County of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2d February, 1749. (Note.--Mary Boff, widow and executrix of Conrad, lives (at time of suit) on South Fork of South Branch.)

• Vol. 1 - MARCH, 1765 (B). - Wilson vs. Potts.--Bond 27th July, 1743. John Potts, of Amity, and County of Philadelphia, yeoman, to Owin Richards, of the same place.

1.   Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

   the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

   John Potts (c. 1710 – 6 June 1768) was the founder of the town of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He was also an ironmaster, merchant, and English Quaker.

   John Potts, oldest son of Thomas<ref></ref> and Martha (Keurlis) Potts, was born about 1710, probably in Philadelphia. He married Ruth Savage, daughter of Samuel and Ann (Rutter) Savage, on 11 April 1734.<ref></ref> The marriage was accomplished after the manner of Friends, though not under their care or jurisdiction. John and Ruth had the following children: Thomas, b. 1735, Samuel, b. 1736; John, b. 1738; Martha, b. 1739–40; David, b. 1741; Joseph, b. 1742; Jonathan, b. 1745; Anna, b. 1747; Isaac, b. 1750; James, b. 1752; Rebeccah, b. 1755; Jesse, b. c. 1757; Ruth, b. 1759.

   John Potts, like his father, was an enterprising businessman, and for many years was the largest and most successful iron-master in the American Colonies, operating mines, furnaces and forges in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He long filled the office of Justice of the Peace, and was also a Judge of the Court Common Pleas.

   In 1752, he purchased two tracts of land at the confluence of the Manatawny Creek and Schuylkill River, aggregating nearly 1,000 acres. There he laid out the town of Pottstown.
   

   This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at John Potts (Pennsylvanian). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.