Edward Tuckerman Potter (September 25, 1831 – December 21, 1904) was an American

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 ...

best known for designing the 1871

Mark Twain House The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. It was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter and built in the American High Gothic style. Clemens b ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. With his half-brother

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 ...

, he also designed Nott Memorial Hall (1858–79) at his alma mater,

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 ...

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 ...

. Both the Mark Twain House and Nott Memorial Hall are

National Historic Landmarks A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

Early life

Mark Twain House Hartford Connecticut 2009

Potter was born in

on September 25, 1831. He was the son of 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." ...

and, his first wife, 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. He graduated from

in 1853 and studied architecture under prominent architect

Richard M. Upjohn Richard Michell Upjohn, FAIA, (March 7, 1828 – March 3, 1903) was an American architect, co-founder and president of the American Institute of Architects. Early life and career Upjohn was born on March 7, 1828 in Shaftesbury, Dorsetshire, E ...

Career

Buildings designed by Potter that are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

include: * Nott Memorial Hall,

, Schenectady, New York, 1858-1879 * Library at

Armsmear Armsmear ("meadow of arms"), also known as the Samuel Colt Home, is a historic house located at 80 Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the family home of firearm manufacturer Samuel Colt. Armsmear was listed as a National Histor ...

, Hartford, Connecticut, 1861-1862 * Additions to the Christ Episcopal Church,

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

, early 1860s * St. James Episcopal Church, NE corner of MacArthur and Broadway, Lewistown, Illinois, 1863-1865 * Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1864 * St. Paul's Memorial Episcopalian Church and Rectory, 225 St. Paul Avenue, Staten Island, New York, 1866 *

Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House The Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House is an Episcopal church at 155 Wyllys Street in Hartford, Connecticut. It was commissioned by Elizabeth Jarvis Colt, the widow of Samuel Colt, and completed in 1867. The church and its associate ...

, 155 Wyllys Street, Hartford, Connecticut, 1867 *

St. John's Episcopal Church (East Hartford, Connecticut) St. John's Episcopal Church is a historic church building at 1160 Main Street in East Hartford, Connecticut. It was designed by Edward T. Potter and was built in 1867, and is a prominent local example of High Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic ...

, 1160 Main Street, East Hartford, Connecticut, 1867 *

All Saints Memorial Church All Saints Memorial Church is a historic Episcopal church at 674 Westminster Street in Federal Hill, Providence, Rhode Island. The current church building, a large brownstone structure with a flat-topped tower, was designed by architect Edwa ...

, 674 Westminster Street,

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, 1869–1872 *

, 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford Connecticut, 1871 * Church of the Holy Innocents Willow Avenue and 6th Street, Hoboken, New Jersey, 1872 * Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 121 West 12th Street, Davenport, Iowa, 1873 * St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, One Hudson Street, Yonkers, New York, 1874. Additions to the façade. * One or more buildings in Downtown Main Street Historic District, East Hartford, Connecticut. Roughly bounded by Main Street, Governor Street, Chapman Place, and Burnside Avenue.

Gallery

File:NottMemorialInterior.jpg, Nott Memorial interior, Schenectady, New York (1858-1879) File:Image St. James.jpg, St. James Episcopal Church, Lewistown, Illinois (1863-1865) File:Nativity Episcopal Cathedral, Fountain Hill HD 01.JPG, Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (1864) File:Church of the Good Shepherd Hartford CT.JPG, Church of the Good Shepherd, Hartford, Connecticut (1867) File:St Johns Episcopal Church East Hartford CT.JPG, St. John's Episcopal Church, East Hartford, Connecticut (1867) File:All Saints Providence.jpg,

, Providence, Rhode Island (1869-1872) File:Church of the Holy Innocents (Hoboken, New Jersey).jpg, Church of the Holy Innocents, Hoboken, New Jersey (1872) File:2015 Trinity Cathedral - Davenport 01.JPG, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Davenport, Iowa (1873) File:Trinity Cathedral Davenport interior.JPG, Trinity Cathedral interior, Davenport, Iowa (1873) File:St. John's Episcopal bells in Getty Square jeh.jpg, St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, Yonkers, New York (1874)

Personal life

Among Potter's sibling and half-siblings were

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 ...

; Democratic

U.S. Representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Clarkson Nott Potter Clarkson Nott Potter (April 25, 1825 – January 23, 1882) was a New York attorney and politician who served four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, then again from 1877 to 1879. Early life Potter was born in ...

;

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 ...

, 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.

; Eliphalet Nott Potter, who served as President of Union College and Hobart College; and

, also an

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 paternal grandparents were Anna and Joseph Potter, a farmer. His uncle,

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 ...

, served as bishop of the

. His maternal grandfather was

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 ...

, the longest serving college president in the United States. Potter was married to Julia Maria Blatchford (1834–1922), the daughter of U.S. Minister to the State of the Church Richard Milford Blatchford and Julian Ann (née Mumford) Blatchford. Together, they lived much of their married life abroad in London and Paris and after his retirement, they spent most of their time 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, ...

. Julia and Edward were the parents of: * Julian Potter (1858–1913), who married actress Alice Berenice Pixley, the sister of fellow actress

Annie Pixley Annie Pixley (née Annie Shea, c.1848 – November 8, 1893) was an American stage actress. Pixley was born in Brooklyn, and moved with her family to San Francisco. After her father died, her mother married a California rancher, and Annie took h ...

. * Ethelinda Potter (1860–1949) * Edward Clarkson Potter (1862–1950), who married Emily Blanche Havemeyer (b. 1865), a daughter of

Theodore Havemeyer Theodore Augustus Havemeyer (May 17, 1839 – April 26, 1897) was an American businessman who was the first president of the U.S. Golf Association and co-founder of the Newport Country Club, host to both the first U.S. Amateur and the first U.S. ...

. * Robert Francis Potter (1864–1930) * Richard Milford Blatchford Potter (1869–1901) * Louisa Millicent Potter (b. 1872), who married Earl Sheffield in 1902. She later married architect

William Adams Delano William Adams Delano (January 21, 1874 – January 12, 1960), an American architect, was a partner with Chester Holmes Aldrich in the firm of Delano & Aldrich. The firm worked in the Beaux-Arts tradition for elite clients in New York City, Long I ...

(1874–1960) in 1907. * Julia Selden Potter (b. 1875) Potter died at his home, 67 West 52nd Street in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

on December 21, 1904.

References

External links

Edward Tuckerman Potter papers, 1864-1965
held in th

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library is a library located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in the New York City. It is the largest architecture library in the world. Serving Columbia's Graduate Schoo ...

Edward T. Potter Architectural Drawings - UF Special and Area Studies Collections
at web.uflib.ufl.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Edward Tuckerman 1831 births 1904 deaths 19th-century American architects Union College (New York) alumni Edward Tuckerman Potter buildings