John Potts — Cooper, Commissioner, Democrat...

Trolling through old Buffalo, New York, newspapers (on line), I see many references to John Potts as Water Commissioner.

Most likely, this is my mother’s father’s maternal grandfather. Unfortunately, I have not found any references to his home address, or any other fact that could confirm that this is my great-great-grandfather. However, one of my cousins assures me that there were no other known Potts families in the Black Rock section of Buffalo, so I am reasonably confident that this is my guy.

By trade, this second great-grandfather was a cooper—a maker of casks, barrels, and the like. He owned a business on Tonawanda Street, in Buffalo, NY. Apparently, he was very active in neighborhood politics.

First, a bit of history of the Water Works….

According to an 1860 Gazetteer of the State of New York, published by R.P. Smith:
“Lower Black Rock is supplied by the Jubilee Water Works with water obtained from the Jubilee Springs. It is conducted through wooden pipes, of which there are more than two miles laid…. The Jubilee Water Works Company was organized in 1827, with a capital of $20,000. At one time the company had 16 ml. of wooden pipe laid, fully supplying Black Rock and a part of Buffalo: but, while the increase of population created a greater demand for water, the supply from the springs diminished, and in 1845 the citizens of Lower Black Rock purchased the works and confined the supply to their own village.”

The above water district geography is consistent with John Potts’ Tonawanda Street home.

A bit more info was available from "A New Look at an Old Neighborhood: Historic Homes of Buffalo’s Linwood Avenue Preservation District 1820-1982” (excerpted on the Internet at http://www.buffaloah.com/h/buffalo/pollack.html)

“The Jubilee Water Works was the first Company to successfully supply water to the Village and later, the City….
Pump logs were laid from the spring to Black Rock, and later, along Main Street to the Canal basin….
Water was supplied to the families of Black Rock at the rate of seven dollars annually. Stores and offices were charged five dollars….
Another water supply supplemented the Cold Springs and the Jubilee Logs in the 1840's and 1850's….
Sentiment did not deter city officials from covering the springs when road paving was planned. The Cold Springs were thought destroyed in 1890, during construction of the Bird Avenue sewer. But recent excavations for the rapid transit system have revealed that a large quantity of cool, clear water is still running beneath the surface of Main and Ferry Streets. And the mouth of the Jubilee Springs is still visible in Forest Lawn Cemetery, marked with a plaque near the Main Street entrance….
At the turn of the twentieth century, Buffalonians were still drinking water from a branch of the original Jubilee Springs, which emptied into Jubilee Lake in Forest Lawn Cemetery.”

Probably more that anyone wanted to know about the history of Buffalo’s water supply. Surprisingly, there is more detail available on the internet! Anyway….

Searching newspapers, from April 1865 though January 1867, I found reference to John Pott(s) as Water Commissioner of the Jubilee Water Works. The name was usually spelled “Potts,” but occasionally “Pott.” All the Water Commissioner references were within Buffalo’s Common Council proceedings. A January 1866 item was the Annual Report of the Jubilee Water Fund, from Jubilee Water Commissioner John Pott to the Common Council of Buffalo. Several news articles reported John’s $50.00 quarterly salary.

So, apparently John Potts was politically active.

Along more partisan political lines, I found articles—from September 1866 and October 1867—mentioning John Potts as an officer of the Twelfth Ward Democratic Club. That is the ward where my Potts ancestors lived in the 1860’s. John Potts was also listed as being appointed to the 1863 Democratic “Vigilance Committee,” to watch the polls. I guess this branch of the family tree was not filled with Abraham Lincoln supporters. {Oh well, at least we kept the two party system alive.}

Moving away from politics, to business, I did find one other interesting lead. On 10 Sep 1885, the Buffalo Courier reported “The articles of Incorporation of the North Buffalo Permanent Savings and Loan association were files for record yesterday. The officers are: President, J. M. Simon; vice-president, Adam Thiel; treasurer, John Potts; secretary, Gottlieb Bealer; attorney, Henry Guenther.” I could not find any other references to the North Buffalo Permanent Savings and Loan association, but it may prove to be another interesting clue to our family history. Maybe.

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?