Colusa County
Biographies
ADELBERT
EUGENE POTTER
The genealogy of the Potter
family is traced back to the time of Cromwell, when one of that name held the office of judge in England, but the downfall
of Cromwell caused him the loss of his office and honors and forced him into
retirement. During the early history of America one branch of the family became
transplanted in New England and contributed to the material growth of that
region. Col. Nathan Potter, who served as a colonel in a regiment of state
troops, became late in life a resident of New York state,
where he died. Among his children was a son, Albert, who was born in Rhode
Island, became a farmer in New York and died in Allegany county in 1848 while
still a young man. The latter married Samantha Sweet, daughter of Spencer
Sweet, a farmer of New York, where she was born and where in 1903 her death
occurred.
Of three children, all still living,
Adelbert Eugene Potter was the youngest, and he was
born near Alfred, Allegany county, N. Y., May 19,
1847. Of his father he has no recollection, for he was scarcely one year old
when death removed the head of the family from their midst. While still a mere
boy and lacking considerable of having attained the full stature of manhood, he
offered his services to the Union. As he lacked one inch of the required height
he could not be accepted as a soldier, so he secured an appointment as musician
and as such was mustered in at Auburn in September, 1862, going to the front
with Company H, One Hundred and Sixtieth New York Infantry. During his service
he grew nine inches in stature and so in a short time was promote to the ranks,
which gave him the privilege of participating actively in battles. Among his
engagements were those at Fort Brislau, La., Pleasant
Hill, the Red river expedition under General Banks, and Port Hudson, where he
was shot through the leg, receiving such a serious wound that he was unable to
leave the hospital for a year. On his return to the
regiment he was sent with them in pursuit of Early and took part in the battle
of Winchester September 19, 1864. At the battle of Cedar creek October 19, same
year, he was taken prisoner, sent to Libby prison and from Richmond transferred
to Salisbury, where he remained four and one-half months, meanwhile suffering
untold pangs of hunger. On being paroled in March, 1865, he went to Annapolis
and secured a furlough. On the way home he was taken ill and before he was able
to be out of bed the war had ended. However, he started back and at Elmira, N.
Y., was honorably discharged by special order.
After
having regained his health and carried on farm pursuits in Allegany county, N.
Y., for a short time, in 1867 Mr. Potter started for California, taking the
Nicaragua route to San Francisco. The men whom he accompanied had planned to
mine in Nevada, but after they reached San Francisco the leader of the company
and one of its members began to quarrel and the result was that the party
disbanded. For two years he worked in the vicinity of Sacramento and in 1869
came to Colusa county, where he secured work as a farm
hand. Two years later he began farming for himself, renting land for the
raising of grain. One mile west of Colusa lies the
farm which he now owns and operates, often alluded to as the old Major Cooper
place. The ninety-one acres are mostly in alfalfa, which he was one of the
first to raise. Near by he has one hundred and twenty acres of grain land. In
addition he operates a grain ranch of nineteen hundred acres about six miles
north of Colusa, of which one thousand acres are in grain, and the balance
utilized for the pasturage of cattle. With Mr. Roberts he put in a ditch and
aided L. L. Hicok in putting in the pumping plant,
the enterprise later being incorporated as the Roberts Irrigating Ditch
Company, of which he is a director. The plant is operated by an electric motor
of one hundred horse-power, with a twelve-inch and a
fifteen-inch pump, having a capacity of ten thousand gallons per minute.
The marriage of Mr. Potter took
place in Colusa and united him with Miss Sarah J. Kennedy, who was born in
Amador county, this state. They are the parents of
three sons, namely: Lavern E., a farmer of Sonoma county; Everett R., a walnut
grower at El Monte; and Delbert E., who remains with his parents. On the
organization of John F. Miller Post No. 110, G. A. R., Mr. Potter became one of
its charter members and later was honored with the office of commander, which
he holds at this writing. Aside from his interests in his home county he has
other activities elsewhere. Some years ago, with B. F. Maxson,
he set out an orange grove of thirty-five acres at Tustin. At El Monte, in the
Mountain View district, he has fifty acres of English walnuts in bearing
condition and recently set out an additional tract of forty acres. By reason of
his interest in that product he has become a member of the Mountain View Walnut
Growers’ Association and keeps in touch with all movements for the development
of that important industry, which he believes to be one of the most profitable
in the state.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: "History of the State of
California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento
Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, Pages
576-577.
The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, 1906.
© 2017 Cecelia M. Setty.
Golden Nugget Library's Colusa County Biographies