Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/409

 POTTER

POTTER

Texas insurgents at San Augustine Springs, Tex., July 27, 1861, and was not exchanged until Aug.

27, 1862. He was appointed colonel of the 12th New Hampshire volunteers, Sept. 27, 1862 ; was engaged in the Maryland campaign. Army of the Potomac, October-November, 1862 ; in the Rap- pahannock campaign, December, 1862, to May

1863, commanding a brigade in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Va. At Chancellorsville he was severely wounded, cap- tured and was held as a prisoner of war from May to October, 1863. He was promoted major and transferred to the 19th infantry, July 4, 1863 ; brevetted colonel. May 3, 1863, for Chancellors- ville, and lieutenant-colonel, Dec. 13, for Fred- ricksburg ; served on special dv;ty five months, 1863-64, was assistant provost marshal-general of Ohio, 1864, and commanded a brigade in the 18th corps, Army of the James, September-December,

1864, taking part in the attack on Fort Harrison, Sept. 29, 1864. He commanded a brigade in the 24th army corps, Dec. 2, 1864, to Jan. 16, 1865, and was chief of staff of the 24th army corps, Jan. 16, to July 10, 1865, being engaged in the attack on Hatcher's Run, Va., and the pursuit of the Confederate army. He was brevetted brigadier- general, U.S. army, March 18, 1865 ; was pro- moted brigadier-general of volunteers, May 1,

1865, and was mustered out of the volunteer service, Jan. 15, 1866. He was married in 1865, to Alice Kilburn of Columbus, Ohio. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel, 30th infantry, July

28, 1866 ; commanded a regiment in the depart- ment of the Platte in 1867 ; Fort Sedgwick, Colo., 1867-68, and Fort Sanders, Wy., 1868-69. He was transferred to the 4th infantry, March 15, 1869 ; promoted colonel and transferred to the 24th infantry, Dec. 11, 1873; commanded Fort Brown, Tex., 1874-76, and the District of the Rio Grande, 1875-76. He was governor of the Soldier's Home, Washington, D.C., 1877-81; in command of a regiment at Fort Supply, Indian Territory, 1881-86, and of the department of the Missouri, April to Oct. 12, 1886, when he was retired from active service, having been promoted brigadier-general, U.S.A., April 1, 1886. He died in Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 1, 1892.

POTTER, Margaret Horton, author, was born in Chicago, 111., May 20, 1881 ; daughter of Orrin Woodard and Ellen (Owen) Potter ; grand- daugliter of Abel and C\'nthia (Woodard) Potter and of William and Abba (Potter) Owen, and a descendant of Martin Potter of Potter Hall, South Shields (1714), Yorkshire, Eng.,and Owen Tudor of Wales (1485). She attended a pi'eparatory school in Chicago, and pursued advanced studies under a private tutor. She was married to John Donald Black of Chicago, Jan. 1, 1902, but con- tinued to write under her maiden name. Her

published works include: A Social Lion (1899) ; Unccmonized (1900) ; The House of De Mailly (1901).

POTTER, Orlando Brunson, representative, was born at Charlemont, Mass., May 10, 1823 ;

son of and Sophia (Rice) Potter, and a

descendant of Jolin Potter, who signed the cove- nant of New Haven in 1639. Orlando was a student at Williams college, 1841-42 ; taught school in Dennis, Mass. ; attended the Harvard Law school ; was admitted to the bar in Boston in 1848, and practised in Boston and at South Read- ing, Mass. In 1853, upon discovering the value of a patent for a sewing machine obtained by Mr. Brown, he organized the Grover and Baker Sewing Machine company, financed the concern, protected the patent in the courts, and as one- third owner of the stock acquired a large fortune. He withdrew from the company in 1873, and de- voted himself to the management of real estate. On Aug. 14, 1861, he laid before Secretary Sal- mon P. Chase a plan to remedy the unequal and changeable values of the currency of the differ- ent states, which plan, with the modification of issuing United States notes as legal tender, which he did not approve, became the basis of the banking system of the United States in 1863. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for representative in the 46th congress in 1878 in the tenth district ; was elected from the eleventh congressional district of New York, as Union Democratic representative in the 48th congress, 1883-85 ; declined renomination in 1884, and the Democratic candidacy for mayor of New York city in 1886. He was a member of the first Rapid Transit commission of New York city, a trustee of Cornell university, 1891-93, and president of the State Agricultural society. He maintained on his own farm a home for poor children, its occupants being cared for under his personal supervision. He was married first in October, 1850, to Martha G., daughter of B. B. Wiley of South Reading, Mass., and secondly, to a daughter of Dr. Jared Linsly of New York. He left an estate valued at $7,000,000. He died in New York city, Jan. 2, 1894.

POTTER, Piatt, jurist, was born in Galway, N.Y., April 6, 1800; son of Restcome and Lucinda (Strong) Potter. He was graduated at Schenec- tady academy in 1820 ; studied law under Alonzo C. Paige ; was admitted to the bar in 1824, and practised law in Minorville, N. Y., 1824-33. He was a member of the assembly from Montgomery and Hamilton counties in 1830, and engaged in prac- tice in Schenectady with Alonzo C. Paige in 1834. He was married in 1836 to Antoinette, daughter of the Rev. Winslow Paige, D.D. He was master and examiner in chancery, 1828-47 ; district attorney of Schenectady county, 1839-47, and