Robert Potter, Sr.

Not Robert Potter, born circa same year in RI, son of John Potter and Ruth ——,

• Records of that family were transferred to Kent county in 1750 owing to the town in which that family lived.
  • Kent County: Cities, Towns, and Villages: Warwick; Coventry; East Greenwich; West Greenwich; West Warwick; Anthony; Arkwright; Blackrock; Coventry Centre; Crompton; Fairbanks; Harris; Hillsgrove; Hopkins Hollow; Nooseneck; Lippitt; Quidnick; Spring Lake; Summit; Tiogue; Washington; Whaley's Hollow.

NOTES – by Ken Shelley, 29 Apr 2024

• Did Robert marry once to Elizabeth Cole? Or did he marry, secondly, Elizabeth [Wells]?
• Torrey indicates that Robert married Elizabeth Cole in 1688. If Torrey's date is correct, that makes for a ten-year lag between marriage and having a firstborn child. However, it's possible that Torrey's 1688 entry is incorrect. Should one solely rely on Torrey for the marriage year? I think not.
• Torrey is unsure of a second wife named Elizabeth when he bracketed the surname [Wells] and then gave no date or est. date for marriage.
• Warning about Family History Books that Don't Cite Sources: From the books below-mentioned, none provide a source for Elizabeth Wells.
  • Family History Books too often echo what one originating author supposed but never proved..
• Regardless of my observations, weigh for yourself the items and evidences provided below.

Disputing Sources: Marriages to Two Elizabeths & Children

• ITEM: Which Elizabeth was the mother of all children? Is Wikitree right or is The Hazard Family of Rhode Island correct, which book's data is Not to be trusted without confirmatory sources.
• ITEM: Consider the follow quoted matter related its source:
  • "63. ELIZABETH4 COLE (Susanna3 HUTCHINSON, Anne2 MARBURY, Francis1); b. 4 Mar 1664/65 Boston;[Boston City Registrar, Boston Births 1630-1699 (published), 92.] m. Robert POTTER, son of Ichabod POTTER and Martha HAZARD, ca 1688 Boston. ROBERT POTTER; b. 1667 Portsmouth; d. 1744/45 South Kingstown. He had a will 23 Apr 1744 that was probated 14 Jul 1745. His daughters Marberry [dau.?] and Martha were not mentioned. [NOTE: Author did not provide a source for the Will and Probate dates, though they're probably correct. Finding these documents would be useful."
    • Marston, Watson. 2004. Royal Families: Americans of Royal and Noble Ancestry. Vol. 2: Reverend Francis Marbury and Five Generations of his Descendants through Anne (Marbury) Hutchinson and Katharine (Marbury) Scott. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing. Available at: Ancestry.com.
• ITEM: The book below shows one wife of Robert, Elizabeth Wells, and that he died in 1755, not 1745. The death date of 1745 is found in more than one source.
  • MacKenzie, George Norbury, ed. 2012. Colonial Families of the United States of America, Vol. 3. Baltimore Maryland: Genealogical Publishing. Available at Ancestry.com (2001 edition) shows Robert's death year in 1755.
• ITEM: There's no sourced evidence that supports Robert having a daughter named Rebecca. Only the flawed Hazard Family book (see bottom of overview) includes a Barbara without attribution. The FamilySearch repository does not include a Barbara.

Wikitree: Robert Potter I (1667–1745)

• See Wikitree for details and sourcing.
• FYI: Wikitree shows Elizabeth Wells to have been a daughter of Peter Wells Sr (¿¿ same as Geni's Peter Wells, of Essex, England ??) and Hannah (Pearce) Wells], whose Wikitree profile is not supported with sources as of 29 Apr 2024. (Geni has no profile for a Hannah Pearce.)

Torreys New England Marriages Prior to 1700 at Ancestry.com:

• POTTER, Robert & Elizabeth [COLE]; b 1688; RI
• POTTER, Robert (?1676-1745) & [Elizabeth WELLS]; South Kings town, RI/N. Kingston, RI

Robert Potter Sr

• Birth: 1670, North Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, British Colonial America
• Death: 14 July 1745, South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, British Colonial
• Father: Ichabod Potter, 1637–1675
• Mother: Martha Hazard, 1642–1676
• Married: Elizabeth Wells - in probably South Kingston, Kings County, RI

Children:

• Barbara Marbery Potter, b. cir 1698
• Martha Potter, b. 10 Aug 1699, Kings Towne, (now North Kingstown) Kings, Rhode Island, British Colonial America
• Robert Potter Jr, b. 26 July 1702, Kingston, South Kingstown, Kings, Rhode Island, British Colonial America; d. 16 Jan 1772, South Kingstown, Kings, Rhode Island; m. 5 Sep 1731, South Kingstown, RI, Judith Clarke.
• Capt. Ichabod Potter, b. 30 Nov 1703, Kingston, South Kingstown, Kings, Rhode Island, British Colonial America; m. 20 Mar 1725, Kingston, South Kingstown, RI, Deborah Reynolds.
• Susanna Potter, b. 14 Feb 1705, North Kingstown, Rhode Island; d. 1790; m. 30 Jun 1728, South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, Elisha Reynolds.

Marries #2 Elizabeth Cole- bef. 1697 (considering birth year of firstborn child, Marbury) probably in Kings County, RI

Robert and Elizabeth in Birth Entries of Children (pub. 17 Dec 2019)

1. Marbary Potter, 1697. "Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914", database, FamilySearch. Male.
2. Martha Potter, 1699. "Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914", database, FamilySearch. Female.
3. Robert Potter, 1702. "Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914", database, FamilySearch. Male.
4. Ichabod Potter, 1703. "Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914", database, FamilySearch. Male.
5. Susan Potter, 1705. "Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914", database, FamilySearch. Female.

Births also found in: Arnold, James Newell, ed. 1891. Vital Record of Rhode Island: 1636-1850: First Series: Births, Marriages and Deaths: a Family Register for the People. Providence, Rhode Island: Narragansett Historical Publishing. Available at: Archive.org.

Sources:

• Robinson, Caroline E. and Daniel Berkeley Updike. 1895. The Hazard Family of Rhode Island 1635-1894: Being a Genealogy and History of the Descendants of Thomas Hazard, with Sketches of the Worthies of this Family, and Anecdotes Illustrative of Their Traits and also of the Times in which They Lived. Archive.org. page 7 and page 17. FYI: It's well-known that this book contains many errors and should not be entirely trusted.
  • ALERT: This book differs from Wikitree. The authors show Robert once-married and that Elizabeth Wells was the mother of all children.
• Robert Potter Sr, 1670–1745 - https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHFL-H79