William Potter (abt. 1608 - bef. 1685)

Born about 1608 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Dorothy (Unknown) Potter — married 1637 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Died before 9 Mar 1685 before about age 77 in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut

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William Potter migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 271) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

William Potter

Caution: Multiple William Potters

This William Potter is often confounded with William Potter of New Haven.

Origin

William is found in 1637 at Watertown. His origin is unknown.^[1]

"William Potter aged 75 years or thereabouts" testified in Stamford on 10 Sep 1683;^[2] hence he was born about 1608.

Immigration

William's immigration ship is unknown. He sold his Watertown land in 1645 and removed to Stamford [SLR 1:66, GMN 1:8].^[1]

Marriage and Children

He may have married Dorothy, the widow of John Brown/Browne and the mother of daughters Hannah and Mary. Hannah may have been the "Hannah Potter" who married John Mead.

Dorothy Brown was named in the birth records of both her daughters at Watertown, Hannah and her sister Mary.^[1] There is no further record of either daughter, and there is no actual record of Dorothy's marriage to William Potter.^[1] However, Anderson calls the circumstantial evidence "highly suggestive."^[1] Six acres of homestall and the Remote Meadows grant, which were originally John Brown's Watertown land grants, ended up in the hands of William Potter.^[1] This was commonly seen when a widow remarried.

According to Anderson, this was "probably" the identical William Potter of Watertown, who moved in 1645 to Stamford who was the step-father of Hannah.^[1] Remington calls William Potter either the father or the step-father of Hannah Potter who married John Mead of Stamford.^[3] Anderson reports that Hannah Potter, daughter of John Brown, probably step-daughter of William Potter, "possibly" married John Mead of Stamford.^[1] When William Potter wrote his will in 1685, son-in-law John Mead (and his eleven children) were the only relatives mentioned.^[1]

Anderson concludes, "Unfortunately this suggested Brown-Potter connection remains only a hypothesis. If, for example, a record of William Potter in Stamford named his wife as Dorothy, the case would be much stronger."^[1]

Dorothy and John Brown's Daughters - William Potter's probable step-daughters:

1. Hannah Potter, b September 9, 1634 at Watertown; m John Mead
2. Mary Potter, b 24 March 1636/7 at Watertown, no further record

Property and Positions

William Potter's family was one of a group of families which migrated from Watertown to Stamford in 1645 and 1646. The others' names were John Ellet, Nicholas Knapp, Nicholas Theale, Robert Lockwood, John Waterbury, Richard Ambler, and Gregory Taylor. Some of these names are familiar as later marriages to the Mead family : Knapp, Lockwood, and Waterbury.^[1]

According to Mead, Hannah's father owned Shippan Point at Stamford, and she and her husband John inherited a large amount of property from him.^[4]

Abstract of Last Will & Testament

Potter, William, late of Stamford, will dated Sept. 1, 1684, probated June 22, 1685, legacies to the Church in Stamford, and to the three sons of Mr. Bishop, viz: Joseph, Ebenezer, and Benjamin; to the children of my son in law John Mead, viz: John, Joseph, Ebenezer, Jonathan, Benjamin Nathaniel, Samuel, Hannah, Abigail, Elizabeth, Mary, and David. Overseers Jonathan Bell and Joshua Hoyt. Witnesses John Bishop and Francis Bell, page 165.
Mch. 10, 1684/5 letters of administration on his estate granted to John Scofield and Joshua Hoyt, page 167.
Inventory taken Nov. 27, 1684, by Peter Ferris, Jonas Weed, and Jonathan Bell, and filed June 22, 1685, page 166.^[5]

Death and Legacy

William Potter's will was dated 18 September 1684, and was probated on 9 March 1684/5 at Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut [Stamford Town Records, transcribed, 25, 128].^[3] The only relatives mentioned were the children of his son-in-law, John Mead (who married Hannah Potter).^[3]

This profile reports death date November 27, 1684, without citation.^{[citation needed]}

Research Notes

Savage turned the New Haven William Potter into two men, and incorrectly assigned the Abigail voyage to this Stamford William Potter.

The Browne/Brown family is among those affected by genealogies done by Horatio Gates Somerby. It seems he sometimes invented evidence when it was lacking.^[6] In addition, two different William Potters have been confounded (see William Potter of New Haven).

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Anderson, Robert C., "John Brown" Featured name. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database accessed 9 May 2016: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), Vol 1, Pages 255-57.
2. ↑ Stamford Land Records A:36
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Remington, Gordon L., 1998 The English Origin of William 1 Mead of Stamford, Connecticut. The American Genealogist. New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors accessed 9 May 2016, Vol. 73 : Pages.1-9.
4. ↑ Mead, Daniel M., 1857 A history of the town of Greenwich, Fairfield county, Conn., with many important statistics. New York : Baker & Godwin, 1857, accessed 9 May 2016, Page 62
5. ↑ Mead, Spencer P., (1929) Abstract of probate records at Fairfield, County of Fairfield, and State of Conn... "Fairfield Probate Records, Volume 3, 1675-1690." ExLibrisRoseta accessed 25 June 2016 (Page 63).
6. ↑ Horatio Gates Somerby Fraud

See also:

• Prindle, Paul Wesley, Ancestry of Elizabeth Barrett Gillespie. (Mrs. William Sperry Beinecke) [Summit, N.J.] : P.W. Prindle, ©1976.