John Potts was a colonial ironmaster and founder of Pottstown, PA. He served as a Justice of the Peace, and a Judge of the Common Pleas Court. He lived from 1710 until 1768 and had 13 children. Being a wealthy man, he built a beautiful Georgian Style stone mansion in 1752, which has been turned into a museum honoring him. The house exists today in Pottstown, PA and is known as Pottsgrove Manor.

Pottstown Pa is named for this John Potts.

background

"prominent Quaker ironmaster, John Potts" b. Sept 1710, d. 6 Jun 1768 at Pottstown. He was the son of Thomas Potts Jr. of Colebrookdale (called so to differentiate him from his uncle Thomas Potts, Sr., Miller (1660-1719). Thomas Potts, Jr. was the eldest of the orphans of John Pott (1658-bef 1698) who died in Wales leaving 5 orphans who came to the colonies in 1698 on the ship "William Galley" under the care of John Morris & David Powell. Thomas Potts Jr. was of age upon his arrival and lived with his uncle Thomas Potts the Miller in Germantown. Thomas Potts Jr. m. Martha Keurlis in 1699. Their son John Potts (1710-1768) m. Ruth Savage (abt 1715-1786) in 1734. The children of John & Ruth (Savage) Potts were: Col Thomas Potts m. Anna Nutt; Samuel Potts m. Johanna Holland; John Potts m. Margaret Ann Carmick; Martha Potts m. Thomas Rutter III; David Potts m. Mary Ayers/Aris; Joseph Potts m. Mary Sutton Morris; Dr. Jonathan Potts m. Grace Richardson; Anna Potts m. David Potts her 1/2 1st cousin; Isaac Potts m. Martha Bolton and Sarah Evans; James Potts m. Anna Stocker; Rebecca Grace Potts m. Dr. Benjamin Duffield; Jesse Potts m. Sarah Lewis; and Ruth Potts m. Peter Lohra."

Pottsgrove Manor was the Colonial home of John Potts; descendant of England, founder of Pottstown, entrepreneur, businessman and perhaps the greatest Iron Master in all the Colonies.

In 1751, Mr. Potts purchased 995 acres of land from a one Mr. Samuel McCall. Mr. McCall had received this land (and much more) from William Penn as an original land grant. Shortly after his purchase, John Potts began construction on his early Georgian style manor home.

Begun in 1752, the Potts family moved into the residence in 1753, and construction was completed later that year. In 1761, John has the property surveyed, and lays out a grid system of roads and parcels, (similar to Ben Franklins design of Philadelphia), to form the town of 'Pottsgrove'. (The town is later re-named Pottstown in 1815)

In 1768, John Potts, Father of 13, Grandfather of 74, dies. The house and 250 acres are inherited by his oldest son Thomas.[1] At the time of his father's death, Thomas Potts resides in Coventryville, Pennsylvania, just a few miles south of Pottsgrove Manor. For the next 15 years, Thomas splits his time between the two homes until 1783, when he sells the plantation.[1] It is purchased by Col. Francis Nichols, Chief Marshall of Pennsylvania.[2] John Potts was the son of Thomas Potts and Martha Keurlis and was born about 1710. He founded Pottstown, PA. He married Ruth Savage in Coventry, Chester Co., PA. His home, Pottsgrove Manor is still in existence.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Aug 3 2020, 1:29:07 UTC

SOURCES

• https://tehistory.org/hqda/html/v41/v41n3p075.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Potts_(Pennsylvanian)