Isaiah L. Potts' Genealogy of the Line of the POTTS
Extracted and Updated by William R. CARR
Notes and information added by William R. Carr in Green.
January 6, 2001
Descendants of Thomas POTT
Return to Isaiah
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This contains information from sections of, "The Potts Family in Great Britain and America," 1901 - Thomas Maxwell Potts.
NOTE: The files have been updated with information received from several contributors. When doing research on your own line it would always be a work to the wise to check the facts for accuracy. The information contained in these files appear to be correct, but other than my own direct lines I have not verified much of the information.
FIRST GENERATION
1. Thomas POTT was born about 1590 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales. The Potts Family in Great Britain and America - 1901 - Thomas Maxwell Potts pages 59-80
Thomas Pott the eldest of the family of Llangirrig so far as we now know, was evidently an aged man at the making of his will in 1654, as his children were then all married and had children of their own, and azs he speaks of some of his grand-children as unmarried it is fair to suppose that some of them were grown up and of marriageable age at that time. He calls himself yeoman which, from the English usage of the word, would indicate that he was a landowner. He was a resident of the Parish of Llangirrig, in Montgomeryshire, above described. His will was made in 1654, and proven in 1661, but as the inventory of his personal effects was filed in 1658 he probably died in that year. The following is a copy of his will, as taken from the original on file in the Consistory Court at Bangor, so far as it can be deciphered. It is much eaten away by the decay of the paper from age and damp. The blank spaces in the printed copy only approximately correspond with the missing parts in the original. The Will was printed on page 59 -60.
Some if not all the family became members of the Society of Friends. There probably was a Friends Meeting established in this vicinity, but no records are known to be in existence at this day. It is well-known that many Friends came to Pennsylvania from that section of Wales in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and they may have carried such records as they had with them, as was sometimes done where the whole membership removed in a body.
These devoted people suffered persecution in common with those of other sections.
Thomas POTT had the following children:
+2 i. Anne POTT. b. 1612, Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales, England
+3 ii. Elizabeth POTT.
4 iii. Evan POTT. Mentioned in his father's will in 1654, when he was married and had one daughter.
5 iv. John POTT. Names in his father's will in 1654, when he was married and had two children, one named Margaret.
SECOND GENERATION
2. Anne POTT was born about 1612 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales. their place of residence seems to have been Nantgnernog in the Parish of Llangirrig. John Pott died about 1672/73, leaving a wife Anne and seven children surviving him. His will dated 12 February, 1672, and proven 21 May 1673, is on file in the Consistory Court at Bangor, North Wales. The following are copies of this will and inventory of his personal effects, found on pages 61 - 63. TMP
She was married to John POTT. John POTT was born about 1610 in Cheshire, England. He died on Feb 12 1672 in Llanidloes, Montgomery, Wales. W1ill Proven Feb 12 1672 Anne POTT and John POTT had the following children:
+6 i. Thomas POTT, b. 1632, Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales, England.
7 ii. George POTT was born about 1634 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales.
8 iii. John POTT was born about 1636 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales. He died before 1672.
9 iv. Alice POTT was born about 1638 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales.
10 v. Elizabeth POTTS was born about 1640 in Llanidloes, Montgomery, Wales.
11 vi. Anne POTT was born about 1640 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales.
12 vii. Sarah POTT was born about 1642 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales.
13 viii. Margaret POTT was born about 1644 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales.
THIRD GENERATION
6. Thomas POTT was born about 1632 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales. He was married to Elizabeth. Elizabeth was born about 1636 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales. She died on Jan 8 1707 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania. Elizabeth was widowed in England, where all of her children were born, and emigrated with them to Pennsylvania. It is believed she and her children came to the New World aboard the ship "William Galley" in 1682.
Thomas POTT and Elizabeth had the following children:
+21 i. John POTTS.
+22 ii. Thomas POTTS.
+23 iii. Jonas POTTS, born about 1662 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales.
+24 iv. Margaret POTTS.
25 v. Elizabeth POTTS was born about 1666 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales. She died in 1690 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania.
+26 vi. Jane POTTS.
+27 vii. David POTTS (This branch > +3044 Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt and +3907 Eleanor Roosevelt).
FOURTH GENERATION
23. Jonas POTTS was born about 1662 in Llangirrig, Montgomeryshire, Wales. He died in 1719 in Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania.1 The Potts Family in America, 1901, Thomas Maxwell Potts, pages 220-226
He was married to Mary. Jonas POTTS and Mary had the following children:
+33 i. David POTTS.
+34 ii. Rachel POTTS.
+35 iii. Elizabeth POTTS.
36 iv. Hannah POTTS was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He was married to Mary. Jonas POTTS and Mary had the following children:
37 i. Deborah POTTS died on Jul 24 1718. She was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
+38 ii. Jonathan POTTS, born on Jun 19 1714 in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
+39 iii. Jonas POTTS.
FIFTH GENERATION
38. Jonathan POTTS was born on Jun 19 1714 in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died in 1785 in Lincoln Co., Kentucky. The Potts Family in Great Britain and America, 1901, T. M. Potts page 230 and 338
He is believed to have been the son of Jonas Potts, of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, by his second wife. (See Chapter VIII. pages 220 to 230, ante). He removed, first, to Virginia, (supposed to Loudoun County), and from there to Kentucky, where he spent the remainder of his life. The meager account we have of Jonathan Potts is largely founded upon tradition, communicated by aged members of the family.
In 1878, Mr. Edwin H. Potts, (NOTE: For the record of Edwin H. Potts, see pages 303, 305, and 306, ante). then aged sixty nine years, gave the writer some interesting and valuable information, concerning the early history of the family. Nearly all his statements have since been verified by written records. Among other things he stated that two nephews (half brothers) of his ancestor, David Potts, __Jonas Potts and Jonathan Potts by names, ---after living in Loudoun County for some time, removed to the west, Jonas settling in western Pennsylvania. Since then Jonas Potts, who settled in western Pennsylvania, and his descendants, have been quite fully traced and the result given in Chapter XXI.
In the year 1887, Mr. Joel Potts, of Sharpsburg, Illinois, then above seventy years of age, and a grandson of Jonathan Potts, informed the writer that the traditions of his family allege, that the Potts family came from Wales to Pennsylvania with William Penn; that the emigrant family were Quakers, being driven from Wales by reason of the religious persecution they had endured, on account of their faith. His grandfather removed from Pennsylvania to Virginia, and from thence to Kentucky, where the family endured the hardships and privations incident to frontier life and the hostility of the Indians. Other members of the family have the same tradition of Welsh descent.
NOTE: Except of David, very little information of the children of Jonathan Potts has, come to notice. Two of the sons are said to have been drowned in the river by the parting of a raft. Mr. Joel Potts says his aunt Sarah married Robert Rowland, had children and removed to Missouri. He also says that another aunt, whose name he had forgotten married a man named Burke, and that Burkesville, Kentucky, took its name from him. She had no children, and is said to have lived to the great age of 115 years.
He was married to Naomi HALL in 1740 in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Naomi HALL was born on Jun 18 1718 in Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania.4 She died after 1790 in Lincoln Co., Kentucky. Jonathan POTTS and Naomi HALL had the following children:
100 i. POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
101 ii. Nathan POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
102 iii. Amos POTTS was born in 1743 in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
+103 iv. Sarah POTTS.
104 v. POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia. Married Burke from Burkesville, no issue
+105 vi. David POTTS, born in 1751 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania.
106 vii. POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
107 viii. Ezekiel POTTS was born on Sep 3 1758 in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
SIXTH GENERATION
105. David POTTS was born in 1751 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania. He died in 1823 in Mercer Co., Kentucky. He settled in Mercer County, and engaged in farming. He suffered much from the incursions of hostile Indians. In religious persuasion he was a Baptist. He learned to read after his marriage, and then confined his reading to the Bible. His second marriage took place when about sixty. TMP page 341
He was married to Elizabeth LUNA. (LOONEY, daughter of Absolam LOONEY) David POTTS and Elizabeth LUNA had the following children:
+293 i. Jeremiah POTTS.
+294 ii. Jonathan POTTS, born on Jan 9 1775 in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
+295 iii. John POTTS.
296 iv. Isaiah Luna POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia. LDS records give the birth date as "about" 1794 in Mercer County, Kentucky, but I believe it was more probably about 1784 in Virginia. Other estimates range back to 1871.
297 v. David POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
298 vi. Catharine POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
299 vii. Mary POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
300 viii. Margaret POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
301 ix. Amy POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
302 x. Rebecca POTTS was born in Loudoun Co., Virginia.
He was married to Martha (TINES) SHORT, a widow, in Washington Co., Kentucky. David POTTS and Martha TINES had the following child:
+303 i. Joel POTTS. One family history gives three wives for Joel: (1) Sarah Ann Blizzard, (2) Mary Ann Clark, and (3) Ruth Clark Myers. No children are mentioned. (A history compiled by Joseph J. Reichel, Lt. Col. (USAF Retired))
There are significant conflicts between the information given in some family histories and the records at the LDS. I tend to believe the family histories rather than the LDS files which often conflict with themselves. David (the elder), received military bounty land in Kentucky in 1784. He probably didn't move to Kentucky until some time after that year. Possibly Elizabeth died in Virginia before the move.
SEVENTH GENERATION
296 iv. Isaiah Luna POTTS. Born "about" 1784 in Loudoun County, Virginia. This birth year is based on the probable age at later stages of his life. Isaiah married Polly Blue, daughter of James Blue, on 21 October, 1811, in Union County, Kentucky. There is no record of any natural children:
i William Luna POTTS, born 1812 in Union County, Kentucky. Note that this is only a hypothetical child placed here only as a "possibility" to fulfill the "Legend of Billy Potts". There is no record that Polly and Isaiah produced any natural children.
ii Viola (Ellis) POTTS. Isaiah and Polly adopted Viola in 1833 according to the public record. Date of birth, natural parents, and circumstances of adoption are not known.
The Illinois Servitude and Emancipation Records 1720-1865, indicate that an "Ailsy," a female negro, was emancipated by Isaiah on June 16th, 1834, and Mary, a mulatto, was emancipated on October 7th, 1836.
From this point, the lineage is my own
SEVENTH GENERATION
294. Jonathan POTTS (Isaiah's brother) was born on Jan 9 1775 in Loudoun Co., Virginia. He died on Oct 26 1868 in Warren Co., Kentucky. Another authority gives the date of birth as May 30, 1776. He is said to have been named in honor of his grandfather.
"Colonel Potts, as we was often called -- was held for
several months by Indians before he was able to escape.
"In choosing a site for a home in Warren County,
Kentucky he found 2 springs and built a log cabin by one and a barn by the
other. In 1819 he started building a two story stone house using the original
log house as a kitchen. It was completed in 1822 and that date was inscribed on
a ---(board?) over the front door.
"The house was written about in an album of Early
Warren County, Kentucky landmarks by Irene Moss Sumpter (? illegible) in 1978 --
only stone house in county.
"His daughter, Rebecca, inherited the house and
she and her husband Edwin Smith Raised their 9 children there.
"The house remained in the family until 1942, when
it was sold after being in the family 130 years.
"In 1949 a new buyer removed it to Bowling Green,
Kentucky and rebuilt it at 54 Hight--- Drive." (submitted by uncle Joseph
Potts -- source Reichel's history of the Potts Family)
He was married to Bathsheba BALLARD (daughter of Reuben BALLARD and Mary) on Feb. 7, 1799. Jonathan POTTS and Bathsheba BALLARD had the following children:
The below listed children were probably born in Warren, rather than Union, County. Union county wasn't formed until 1811.
760 i. John C. POTTS was born on Apr 11 1800 in Union Co., Kentucky. He died on Jul 19 1834.
761 ii. Elizabeth POTTS was born on Apr 22 1802 in Union Co., Kentucky.
+762 iii. Reuben POTTS.
+763 iv. Isaiah Luney POTTS. (Subject's namesake and nephew) born on Jan 8 1808 in Union Co., Kentucky. As mentioned above, other records indicate the birth must have been in Warren County. Union County was not formed until 1811-12. Jonathan's other children were probably born in Warren County also. The following entry indicates Isaiah moved to Union County in 1842. His uncle Isaiah (of Potts' Hill Fame) was mentioned as one of the earliest settlers in Union County, so it is unlikely that this Isaiah was in Union County at the time, but there is much room for confusion between the two Isaiahs in any case.
+764 v. Ninian POTTS.
765 vi. Alexander POTTS was born on Aug 11 1812 in Union Co., Kentucky. He died in 1817 in Union Co., Kentucky.
+766 vii. Rebecca POTTS.
767 viii. Thomas J. POTTS was born on Aug 10 1817 in Union Co., Kentucky.
Note: Both Isaiahs (of Potts' Inn fame and Union County, Kentucky) were Isaiah L. Potts. The middle name is sometimes rendered Looney, Luney, and Luna. I believe the Potts Hill Isaiah used "Luna" and his nephew used "Luney". Since they lived at the same time and in the same area, a distinction was called for.
EIGHTH GENERATION
763. Isaiah Luney POTTS was born on Jan 8 1808 in Union (or Warren) Co., Kentucky. He died on Feb 16 1886 in Union Co., Kentucky. He removed in 1842, from Warren County to Union County, Kentucky, where he engaged in farming. He was married to Sarah BURRIS. Sarah BURRIS was born on Nov 9 1809 in Butler Co., Kentucky. She died on Mar 9 1859 in Warren Co., Kentucky. Isaiah POTTS and Sarah BURRIS had the following children:
1800 i. Stanford POTTS was born on Jul 19 1834 in Warren Co., Kentucky.
1801 ii. Bluford POTTS was born on Apr 15 1836 in Warren Co., Kentucky.
1802 iii. Bedford POTTS was born on Jun 20 1838 in Warren Co., Kentucky.
1803 iv. Columbus POTTS was born in Warren Co., Kentucky.
1804 v. John T. POTTS was born in Union Co., Kentucky.
1805 vi. William Woodring POTTS was born in Union Co., Kentucky.
1806 vii. Ann Elizabeth POTTS was born in Union Co., Kentucky.
1807 viii. Mary Jane POTTS was born in Union Co., Kentucky.
1808 ix. Sarah POTTS was born in Union Co., Kentucky.
I bring the genealogical record to this point to
illustrate the number of Potts that originated in the subject region of
Kentucky. Stanford Potts, above, was my great-great grandfather. He married a
Martha Brown, and their son, Joseph, married Rachel Gunter, who was an orphan
and Union County "bound child." They moved from Union County,
Kentucky, to Saline County, Illinois just after the turn of the twentieth
century. Their son, Joseph, Jr., married Sybil Gurley, my grandmother. My
father, James Robert Potts, and his sister and brother, were adopted (1918), by
their mother's second husband, George Carr.
Then there was me, "Conceived in Infamy" (about
December 7, 1941), and born September 1st, 1942.