Compiled By: Joseph J. Reichel
Published: 1980, Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A., by the compiler; corrections and revisions as of 1982, 1989 and 2004
Format: Looseleaf Notebook, 8.5" x 11", 144 pages including index
The book is dedicated to the memory of Joe's mother, Lena Parsada Reichel (1887-1981).
The author considers his work a limited history and genealogy of the ancestors and descendants of one Jonathan Potts of Virginia and Kentucky. He indicates his sources, and acknowledges the help of family members and various cousins.
Very quickly the compiler points out that there are uncertainties in the descendentcy in this Potts line, not the least of which concerns the subject himself, Jonathan. Suggested theories regarding Jonathan’s parentage are offered. The compiler’s numbering system and abbreviations are also explained.
Absent proof a British origin is suggested for the surname Potts and its variations (Pot, Pott, Potes, Pottes) since, it is claimed, these names were found in isolated instances in different parts of Great Britain at a very early period. Some Pott(s) families later became so distinguished as to warrant the granting of "arms", and several designs appear in English records.
Pott(s) families were noted in Derbyshire and Cheshire, and one branch settled in Montgomeryshire, Wales. At least some, and perhaps all, of the Potts in Wales were members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). As a result they later suffered persecution at the hands of both Puritans and the Church of England. Abstracts of early Pott wills in Wales are examined.
In the mid 1600s, to escape increasing persecution, many members of the Society of Friends fled to the colonies in America only again to be subjected to humiliating indignities and where strict laws were passed to limit their activity. Some of the first to arrive were deported or flogged and driven from town to town. William Penn enters the picture.
In the late 1600s there were many persons with the surname Potts who had arrived in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. A plausible explanation of their relationships is asserted based on the work of Thomas Maxwell Potts.
Jonas Potts is thought to have arrived from Wales with his widowed mother Elizabeth and several brother and sisters. Records of his presence in Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania. Descendants are traced to Loudoun Co., Virginia; Washington Co., Maryland; Washington Co., Pennsylvania; and Jefferson Co., Ohio, among other locations.
Jonathan Potts is believed to have followed his half-brother David to Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in Virginia, yet no record of him can be found there. He is found in Augusta Co. though, in an area which later became Botetourt Co.
About 1779 Jonathan Potts sold his property and removed to Kentucky Co., Virginia (later to become part of Kentucky, the state, June 1, 1792).
Jonathan’s son David Potts and his family are detailed.
Five illustrations within the book are listed.
Twenty-one published references are cited, plus private correspondence.
Note: This work is an enormous expansion of chapter X of Thomas Maxwell Potts’ compilation, The Potts Family.
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