The Case of the Missing Plumber

Here is an intriguing family history item…

I saw an interesting article about Frank Potts, a distant uncle from my mother’s side of the family. He was brother to my great-grandmother, Mary Ann Potts. Expressing it the long way, Frank was my mother’s father’s mother’s brother.


I do not know much about Frank. He was apparently my great-grandmother’s only brother (in a family of eight children). Professionally, he was plumber. He married Louisa Forness, who was from a prominent Black Rock (Buffalo) family. In 1879, they had a child. Unfortunately, Louisa died only two years later, at age 24.

Anyway, this article stunned me. On Sunday, May 17, 1896, the Illustrated Buffalo Express reported the following:

FRANK POTTS MISSING.

HE DISAPPEARED AFTER EATING HIS DINNER ON APRIL 30TH AND HAS NOT BEEN HEARD FROM SINCE.

Frank Potts, a master plumber, who has a shop on Niagara Street, near Hamilton Street, has disappeared. He has been missing from his home. No. 327 Amherst Street, since April 30th. At noon on that day be came home to dinner, took a short nap, then went away. He has not been seen or heard of since by his relatives. Potts Is 48 years old. He is a widower and has a daughter 16 years old. He lived with his mother, while his daughter lived with another relative. The police have been notified, and suggestions of foul play have been made. His home life is said to have been happy, his business good, his circumstances comfortable.

I do not know what happened, but I know that Frank was alive several years later. Therefore, apparently, the story has a relatively happy ending. Still, I would love to a subsequent newspaper article (or perhaps a police report).

Interesting, eh?

Lake Erie ship carpenter

As mentioned, in passing, in my inaugural blog post, John B. WATTS was one of my great-great-grandfathers.

John was born in France, in 1822. I do not know precisely when the family emigrated, but John’s younger brother, Joseph, was born in the USA in 1836. By the 1840 US Census, the family settled in Buffalo, NY.

John's wife was Louisa. She was also from France. I do not, yet, know Louisa’s maiden name. Their children and birth years were:
George, 1846;
Mary, 1848;
Emily, 1848;
Eugene, 1851;
Joseph C., 1854;
Louisa, 1857;
John W., 1859; and
Julia, 1864.

As he is my great-grandfather, their eighth child, “John W.,” is of particular interest to me. It is also interesting to see the name “Eugene Watts,” as my father was apparently the namesake of this great-uncle.

Professionally, John B. Watts was a carpenter—-over the years, variously documented in census records and city directories as ‘joiner,’ ‘carpenter,’ and ‘ship carpenter.’ No success yet, but I hope to discover for whom he worked.

Apparently, great-great-granddad was also a volunteer fireman. Thanks to HeritageQuest Online, via my local library, I discovered Matt Endres History of the Volunteer Fire Department of Buffalo, NY (published 1906). Endres lists John Watts as member of Rescue Hook and Ladder No. 2—located at Washington and Huron. The company’s motto was “where danger lurks, there you will find us.” Buffalo's volunteers had a colorful history. The plot becomes complicated. A subsequent blog will address some details about Watts family involvement with the Buffalo Volunteer Fire Department.

Ellicott Street and then Hickory Street were the principle neighborhoods of John B. Watts’ Buffalo years. [Map on sidebar of this blog.]

John B. passed, at a relatively early age, in 1878.