Clarkson Nott Potter (April 25, 1825 – January 23, 1882) was a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

attorney and politician who served four terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1869 to 1875, then again from 1877 to 1879.

Early life

Potter was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

on April 25, 1825. Potter was the eldest of seven children (six boys and one daughter) born to Sarah (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Nott) Potter (1799–1839) and Episcopalian Bishop

Alonzo Potter Alonzo Potter (July 6, 1800 – July 4, 1865) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States who served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Potter "identified himself with all the best interests of society." ...

(1800–1865) of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. After his mother's death in April 1839 from complications arising from giving birth to their seventh child (and only daughter), his father remarried in 1840 (to his mother's cousin Sara Benedict) and had three more children, all boys. Sara died in 1864 and his father remarried for the third time to Frances Seton, just three months before his death in July 1865. Among his siblings were brothers

Howard Potter Howard Potter (July 8, 1826 – March 24, 1897) was an American industrialist, investment banker, diplomat and philanthropist, and a partner in Brown Bros. & Co. Early life Potter was born in Schenectady, New York on July 8, 1826. He was the sec ...

, a New York City banker,

Robert Brown Potter Robert Brown Potter (July 16, 1829 – February 19, 1887) was a United States lawyer and a Union Army general in the American Civil War. Early life Potter was born in Schenectady, New York on July 16, 1829. He was the third son of Alonzo Pot ...

, a General in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

(to whom he gifted a house known as "The Rocks" in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

), Edward Tuckerman Potter, an architect who designed the Nott Memorial at

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

Henry Codman Potter Henry Codman Potter (May 25, 1834 – July 21, 1908) was a bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States. He was the seventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Potter was "more praised and appreciated, perhaps, than any public man ...

, who succeeded

Horatio Potter Horatio Potter (February 9, 1802 – January 2, 1887), was an educator and the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Dearth of biographical information Potter "shrank from public notice, left no literary monument and has, regrettabl ...

as Bishop of New York in 1887, Eliphalet Nott Potter, who served as President of Union College and Hobart College, and

William Appleton Potter William Appleton Potter (December 10, 1842 – February 19, 1909) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings for Princeton University, as well as municipal offices and churches. He served as a Supervising Architect of the Treasur ...

(1842–1909), also an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who designed the Church of the Presidents in

Elberon, New Jersey Elberon is an unincorporated community that is part of Long Branch in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 07740. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population for ZIP ...

. His mother was the only daughter of

Eliphalet Nott Eliphalet Nott (June 25, 1773January 25, 1866), was a famed Presbyterian minister, inventor, educational pioneer, and long-term president of Union College, Schenectady, New York. Early life Nott was born at Ashford, Connecticut, on June 25, 1773 ...

, who served as the longtime president of Union College. His paternal grandparents were Joseph Potter and Anne Brown (née Knight) Potter and his uncle was

, the bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of New York The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing three New York City boroughs and seven New York state counties.

. Potter graduated from

in 1842, and completed his qualifications as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

in 1843.

Career

After qualifying as a civil engineer, Potter relocated to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, where he worked as an engineer and surveyor. Potter then studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1846 and returned to New York where he commenced the practice of law in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1868, he was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to represent New York's 10th District in the

41st United States Congress The 41st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1869, ...

. He was reelected to the

42nd 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and 43rd Congresses, the last term from the 11th District, and served from March 4, 1869 to March 3, 1875. He did not run for reelection in 1874. In 1876, Potter again elected to the House, and represented New York's 12th District in the 45th Congress, serving from March 4, 1877 to March 3, 1879. During this term Potter was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads. He did not run for reelection in 1878. Potter was President of the New York State Democratic Conventions in 1875 and 1877, and he was a Delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

and

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...

. He ran unsuccessfully for

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...

in 1879. From 1863 to 1882, Potter was a trustee of Union College. He was President of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

from 1881 until the time of his death in January 1882.

Personal life

In 1851, Potter was married to Virginia Mitchell (1827–1890) of Philadelphia, the daughter of Matthew and Louisa (née Kidd) Mitchell. The Potters owned a country house, known as "Nutwood", two miles from Trinity Church in

New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

, overlooking the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Maria Louisa Potter (1855–1882), who married Joseph Leslie Cotton of Boston in 1881. After her death, her widower remarried to the artist Mariette Leslie Cotton. * Virginia Potter (1857–1937), who did not marry, founded several independent hotels for women in New York. *

Howard Nott Potter Howard Nott Potter (May 6, 1859 – July 31, 1937), was an American architect known for his design of churches who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age. Early life Potter was born in New York City on May 6, 1859. He was the ...

(1859–1937), an architect known for his design of churches. He married his first cousin, Helen Potter, the daughter of fellow architect Edward Tuckerman Potter. * Eleanor Potter (b. ). * Clarkson Alonzo Potter (–). Potter died in New York City on January 23, 1882. After a funeral at Grace Church in New Rochelle, he was buried at

Vale Cemetery Vale Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery and the largest cemetery in Schenectady, New York. It opened on 21 October 1857 when the Rev. Julius Seely dedicated what was then termed "the Vale". It has tripled its size since opening and today it ...

in Schenectady. His estate, estimated in excess of $1,000,000, was divided among his wife and children.

References

External links

Clarkson Nott Potter entry
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Clareson Nott 1825 births 1882 deaths American civil engineers New York (state) lawyers Presidents of the American Bar Association Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Union College (New York) alumni Politicians from New Rochelle, New York Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Burials in New York (state) 19th-century American politicians Lawyers from New Rochelle, New York Engineers from New York (state) 19th-century American lawyers

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links