Person:Luke Potter (1)

Origins

At least one researcher indicates that Luke was baptized 18 Oct 1615 in the church of St. Peter and Saint Paul in Newport, Pagnell, Buckhinghamshire, son of Jeffrey Potter and Agnes Beard. See: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3239670&id=I33188

Life in New England

1638/9: Listed as freeman, March 13, Boston

1644: m(2) Mary Edmunds.

1646: Witness to the will of William Halstead 13 of 4th month [June] in Suffolk Co., MA

One of the first settlers of Concord; deacon of the church.

1654: The town of Concord, MA was divided. The limit of each quarter as foloweth... the south quarter by there families are all on the south and southwest side of the mill brooke except those before ... with Luke Potter, Georg Heaward, Mihel Wood, and Thomas Dane.

Legacy

Will: #17812 (Concord, MA): Will of "Luke Potter of ye Towne of Concord ...of about Eighty years of Age", dated 11 Jun 1695, codicil 15 Sep 1697, proved 1 Nov 1697, names beloved wife [not named]; son Judah; daughters unis fay [fry?], Elizebeth Jones deceast, daugther Barratt, Dorthy Brookes; fives sons of my daughter Elizebeth Jones decea'd viz Sam'll Ephraim Joseph John & Nathan'll Jones; grand son Luke Potter son to my son Judah. Son Judah sole executor.

History of Concord by Shattuck (p. 381) recognized that Luke had two wives but confuses the picture by saying he m. (2) 1644 Mary Edmonds but attributing several children born after 1644 to the unknown first wife.

1. Eunice
2. Remembrance
3. Luke...
4. Samuel [died in Sudbury fight 1676]; m. Sarah Wright 1673
5. Dorothy
6. Mary, m. Humphrey Barrett
7. Bethia
8. Judah m. Grace Brooks 1686 and was burnt to death in his dwelling-house, June 20, 1731. She d. 1753, age 93. "In Judah alone was the name preserved," Son Luke d. 25 Sep 1784, age 92; son Samuel d. June 14, 1814; a 96; another son Samuel d. 15 Feb 1800, a. 95]

Genealogies of Some Old Families of Concord by Potter (p. 13) attributes to a first wife Mary ---:

Eunice #1 d. young, Eunice #2 m. John Fry, Rebecca d. young.

To the second wife Mary Edmunds: Luke, Samuel, Dorothy, Elizabeth, Mary, Judah, Francis and Bethiah.

Concord Births tell us that Luke Potter d. 13 Oct 1697, while Mary d. 15 Feb 1710/11.

Additional Sources

[incorporate into Sources]

1. "List of Freemen, Boston, MA, March 13, 1638/9," NEHGS Register, 1849, volume 3, p. 96

2. "Abstracts of Early Wills," NEHGS Register, 1849, volume 3, p. 177:

3. Shattuck, Lemuel,. A history of the town of Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts : from its earliest settlement to 1832 : and of the adjoining towns, Bedford, Acton, Lincoln, and Carlisle, containing various notices of county and state history not before published. Boston Concord: Russell, Odiorne and Co. : J. Stacy, 1989. p. 34-35

4. John Brooks Threlfall, Twenty-Six Great Migration Colonists to New England & Their Origins; Madison WI: Published by the Author, 1993. Note: 1-3, 63-82a, 88-103, 122-33, 188-207, 338-53, stear addendum; Page: 227

5. Charles Edward Potter, Genealogies of some Old Families of Concord, Mass and their Descentants...; Concord, MA: Alfred Mudge & Sons (1887); Volume I, p. 5

6. Massachusetts Marriages 1633-1850 [NEHGS?]

7. Concord Massachusetts - Births, Marriages, Deaths 1635-1850

1. ↑ Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1635-1850. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1891)
   p. 57.

   Decon. Luke Potter (husband to Mary his wife) dyed October 13, 1697.