Born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, September 13, 1819. He came of sturdy Scotch Irish ancestry and was a man of sterling character and of nervous, active temperament. He was married to Miss Mary H. Patter in 1846 and with his wife came to Iowa by steamboat, down the Ohio from Pittsburg to St. Louis and up the Mississippi to Muscatine, in 1851. They located on a farm near West Liberty where they resided until 1855, when they took up a claim a couple of miles east of Wapello, which is still known as the old Potter homestead. Here they endured the hardships and privations of pioneer life and raised a family of four sons and one daughter. Mr. Potter took an active part in politics in early life, serving as a member of the county board of supervisors and as a representative from this county to the Tenth General Assembly, 1864. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church.