 Abt 1608 - 1684 (~ 76 years)
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| Name |
William Potter [1, 2] |
| Birth |
Abt 1608 |
England  [2, 3] |
- 10 Sep 1683 deposition, age 75 or thereabouts
|
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
27 Nov 1684 |
Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut [2, 4] |
| Notes |
- William Potter was born about 1608-10. The identity of his wife has not been established. At age 25 he sailed from England 15 Apr 1635 on the ship Increase , bound for the New World. His name appears on a list of freemen of Boston, Mass., dated 13 May 1640.
Spencer Mead claimed that William Potter owned Shippan Point in Stamford. Paul Prindle clarifies that Potter owned an "allotment in Stanford East field in Shipan," probably not all of Shippan Point. Stamford land transactions involving William Potter are few in number and trivial in acreage.
He was propounded a freeman of Stamford on 14 October 1669, but he was inactive in community matters, perhaps due to ill health. In 28 May 1656 General Court in New Haven, he informed the court that he was a "weake, infirme man and not fit to trayne, and desires he might be freed ."
The will of William Potter was dated 18 Sep 1684 and recorded in Stamford 9 Mar 1684/5. He died 27 November 1684. His inventory totaled £208:12:00 of which £133:100:00 represented land. His will stated "I give unto ye Church in Stamford, out of my Estate, the Som of five pounds, to be improved for ye use of ye Lords Table. The rest of my Estate I give unto Mr. Bishops three Sonns and Children of Sonn in Law, Joseph Mead." With respect to the bequest to the church, Rev. E. B. Huntington in his History of Stamford, Connecticut, published in 1868, wrote "The silver cups now in the service of the table of the First Congregational Church are still witnesses to this bequest."
William Potter was in Stamford by 1650, and his house was on the corner of North Street and the North Street extension to Mill River. He also had a house on the east side of North Street that was sold to Thomas Lyon by 1650. In his will, he left his house and land to the three Bishop sons. Later this houselot was turned over to John Davenport for his parsonage. He also left bequests to the eleven children of his son-in-law, John Mead. There was a William Potter who came to America in 1635 on the Elizabeth. As his age was given as twenty-five, this may well have been the Stamford man. He was in Roxbury, MA in 1646
William Potter's home lot is on record in Stamford, 1650. In 1652, he sells his house lot to Thomas Lyon, and purchases a parcel of land from John Finch. In 1661 he sells land to Jacob Pearson. In 1684, in his testimony before Jonathan Bell, he says he is 75 years old. [5, 6, 7]
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| Person ID |
I14642 |
Mindrum |
| Last Modified |
17 Aug 2015 |
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| Sources |
- [S220] Donald L. Jacobus, Families of Ancient New Haven, (Genealogical Pub. Co., 1974), p. 11.
- [S4566] Paul W. Prindle, Ancestry of Elizabeth Barrett Gillespie, (1976), p. 367.
- [S2758] Jeanne Majdalany, The Early Settlement of Stamford, Connecticut, 1641-1700, (Heritage Books, Inc., 1991), p. 184, ca 1609.
- [S2758] Jeanne Majdalany, The Early Settlement of Stamford, Connecticut, 1641-1700, (Heritage Books, Inc., 1991), p. 184, 1684.
- [S4566] Paul W. Prindle, Ancestry of Elizabeth Barrett Gillespie, (1976), pp. 367-370.
- [S2758] Jeanne Majdalany, The Early Settlement of Stamford, Connecticut, 1641-1700, (Heritage Books, Inc., 1991), p. 184.
- [S3818] E. B. Huntington, History of Stamford, Conn., from 1641 to the present time, (1868), p. 60.
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