Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 i Jonathan Potts 1714 – 1785 His Ancestors and Descendants Revised Compiled by Joseph J. Reichel Privately published by Joseph J. Reichel Aurora, Colorado 1980 © Copyright 1980, Joseph J. Reichel First Revision– 2004 Adds material in chapter nine concerning Joel Potts; son of David Potts, Sr. and Martha Short. Contributed by Cyrus Potts Second Revision – 2011 Adds appendix L, with an intriguing story about one Billy Potts, and Adds appendix M, about Isaiah Potts and Polly Blue. Both contributed by William R. Carr ii Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 Also By Joseph J. Reichel http://home.comcst.net/~joereichel/ ` A Reichel Family Published in 1985 Includes these allied families: Potts, Mosley, Maloney, Oslin, Smith, Nunley Hugh W. Spry and Minnie Lee Jones Their Ancestors and Descendants Published in 1987 Includes these allied families: Jones, Brubaker, Funk, Gish, Harshbarger, Kaufman, Lee, Penn, Savage, Whitmore Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 iii Time is like a river of passing events, with current so strong, as soon as something is brought into being it is swept away and replaced by another, and this too will be gone before long. -- Marcus Aurelius Antonius Meditations IV 43 iv Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 Dedicated to the memory of my Mother Lena Parsada Potts Reichel Born: 2 September 1887 Died: 25 June 1981 Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication iv Preface vii Introduction ix PART ONE Background & Probable Ancestry of Jonathan Potts 1 Chapter One Derivation of the Name 2 Chapter Two British Origins 3 Chapter Three Colonial America 9 Chapter Four The Potts Families of Early Pennsylvania 11 Chapter Five Jonas Potts of Wales and Pennsylvania 14 PART TWO Jonathan Potts and His Descendants 21 Chapter Six The Potts Family of Botetourt County, Virginia 23 Chapter Seven Jonathan Potts 1714 -1785 25 Chapter Eight David Potts of Mercer County, Kentucky 37 Chapter Nine Joel Potts—Son of David Sr. and Martha Short 47 Chapter Ten Amos Potts of Bradley County, Tennessee 74 Chapter Eleven Martha (Potts) Langston of Tennessee 86 Chapter Twelve Archibald R. Potts of Bradley County, Tennessee 90 Chapter Thirteen William Amos Potts of Texas and Oklahoma 92 Chapter Fourteen Lena Parsada (Potts) Reichel of Oklahoma and California 97 Chapter Fifteen Mary Marthena (Potts) Wolfe of Tennessee 106 Chapter Sixteen Nancy Matilda (Potts) Kelley of Tennessee 109 vi Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 APPENDEXES A Revolutionary War Service of David, John and Jonathan Potts 118 B Research Notes 1752 – 1800 120 C Land Purchase by Amos and John Potts, Jr.—1783 123 D Abstracts of Marriage Bonds 124 E Inventory of Estate for John Potts, Jr. 126 F Land Sale by John and Nathan Potts—1799 128 G Bible Record—Albert Potts Family 129 H Bounty Land Warrant for Amos Potts, Bradley County, TN 130 I Amos Potts—War of 1812 Pension 131 J Rachael Potts—Widows Pension 132 K H. D. Kelley vs A. R. Potts, et al 133 L Isaiah Potts and Polly Blue, by William R. Carr 138 M The Legend of Billy Potts 161 ILLUSTRATIONS Map of Early Botetourt County, Virginia 22 Map of Kentucky—1780 – 1801 36 Family Outline for Jonathan and Naomi Potts family 72 Amos Potts Farm, Bradley County, Tennessee 73 Amos Potts War of 1812 Enlistment Records 75 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCE 160 INDEX OF POTTS SURNAMES 165 INDEX OF SURNAMES OTHER THAN POTTS 168 Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 vii PREFACE fter publication of this book in 1980 my attention was called to some minor corrections and additions for consideration. So, in February 1982 I distributed four pages of “Errata Aand Addenda’ to address those suggestions. Another addition was made in April 1989 and was included in loose leaf copies of the book sent to requestors. All of these and more additions are included in the first and second revisions. My book was published before there was easy access to the Internet, and since that time Internet use has made great strides in the field of genealogical research. In recent years there have been a number of researchers who have used the Internet to record their Potts research findings. Chief among those is the work of Cyrus Potts- http://www.pottsinfo.com/ This should be considered a limited history and genealogy of the ancestors and descendants of one Jonathan Potts of Virginia and Kentucky. There are undoubtedly other lines of descent which should really be included in a book of this nature, and perhaps another now or future researcher will be encouraged to enlarge the scope of this work and publish a more complete version. Source material In 1976 I was fortunate to find a comprehensive book, published in 1901 by Thomas Maxwell Potts of Cannonsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is titled: Historical Collections of the Potts Family in Great Britain and America, and I will be referring to that excellent work rather frequently in my beginning chapters by just using the author’s initials—“TMP.” That book was the result of years of research during the latter part of the nineteenth century by both TMP and a previous researcher, William John Potts , who apparently had the time, interest and money to conduct a heroic amount of firsthand research in British archives as well as in early records in the United States. Miss Mildred O. Eubanks, (see Chapter Eight), an avid Potts family researcher, was kind enough to lend me her copy of this rare book for several months and I made a thorough study of it, drawing shamelessly from its pages in writing this book. The passage of time has revealed one or two “facts” in TMP’s book which need to be corrected in line with recent findings, and I have noted these in the appropriate places. Researchers of the Potts surname should, if at all possible, review TMP’s book for background and factual data in order to save a lot of work, as it includes several distinct lines. Pages from the book may be examined on the Internet at: www.heritagepursuit.com. My effort pertains largely to the story of Jonathan Potts and his descendants and expands significantly upon what is offered in TMP’s fine work. Additional sources are listed in Appendix B, as well as in footnotes. Researchers using the material in this book should, as do all good genealogists, double check for accuracy before accepting the data as the final word. My material was gained from a great many sources, some of it well documented, and some merely family tradition. viii Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 My adventure into family history has been very gratifying. To see before one’s very eyes a record detailing an activity of a long-gone ancestor is a strangely moving experience; a concrete link with the past which never fails to still emotions. It is indeed fun to unravel mysteries, discover faint clues, resolve contradictions, unmask false tradition or prove valid ones, and experience the romance of the centuries through identifying with ancestors who lived in a bygone era. Acknowledgements The project has given me the pleasure of corresponding with and meeting some truly interesting “cousins.” Each has shown an interest in my work and has contributed personal and statistical data to make the story more complete. Foremost among those from whom I received generous assistance and encouragement was my mother, Lena Potts Reichel Baker, who inspired me to uncover her Potts roots and gave me the necessary first clues. Also very helpful were my aunts, Auban (Potts) Hinton, and Ruby (Potts) McCune. In addition to the afore-mentioned Mildred Eubank, these newly discovered cousins participated generously in the project: Bernice (McCune) Unsell; Edna (McCollister) Wofford; and Reba (Potts) Harrison. Of course my numerous brothers and sisters were of great help in rounding out that portion of the story concerning the Reichel family. Thanks is owed to Mr. Ernest L. Ross of Cleveland, Tennessee who helped me obtain data about Amos Potts of Bradley County, Tennessee, and who provided me with a copy of Chapter XXV of J. S. Hurlbut’s History of the Rebellion in Bradley County, East Tennessee , which appears in Chapter Ten. A very special thanks goes to cousin Cyrus Edward Potts—he who has built a rather large computer database of Potts facts and lore. Cy has provided me with invaluable help and encouragement in producing this revision by checking information against his database, catching a multitude of errors through efficient proofreading, and providing the new data appearing in Chapter Nine. I doubt that this revision could have been completed without his willing help. William R. Carr has also offered a major contribution to this work by providing data about his Potts line; that of Isaiah Potts and Polly Blue. This material may be found in Appendix M. In addition, Bill has contributed the astonishing tale of murder at Potts Inn, in The Legend of Billy Potts , which may be found in Appendix L. Joe J. Reichel 344 Titan Street Aurora, CO 80011 Jonathan Potts 1714 - 1785 ix INTRODUCTION he ancestry of Jonathan Potts , as related in this book, is based on the traditional view of his Tparentage as explained in The Potts Family, (Short Title) a reference mentioned in the preface. The reader should be aware however, that questions have been raised by competent researchers which tend to cast an element of doubt concerning the accuracy of that view. Unfortunately neither TMP nor any researcher with whom I have been in contact has been able to prove conclusively that Jonathan Potts , born in 1714 and died in 1785, was in fact the son of Jonas Potts of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (Chapter Five).