Potts, John, 1760-1809

This collection documents copper and iron ore mining, and land speculation in Pennsylvania and Virginia by two Pennsylvania businessmen, John Potts, Jr. and Robert E. Hobart, between 1767 and 1830.

John Potts, Jr., was born on October 20, 1760, the son of Samuel Potts, ironmaster of Pottstown, Pa. He should not be confused with his uncle of the same name born in 1738, a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War.

John Potts, Jr., was educated in Philadelphia as a lawyer. In 1793 he joined his brothers and his brother-in-law, Robert E. Hobart, in forming the Copper Mine Company of Pennsylvania. In the same year he was induced to accept the post of secretary of the Patowmack Company in Alexandria, Va., probably by George Washington, president of the company. His father's work on a scheme to improve the navigation of the Schuylkill River may have been responsible for his joining Washington's project on the Potomac. However, Potts remained active in the Copper Mine Company and apparently induced some of his Virginia associates to invest in it.

Although it completed some short canals and improvements to the channel of the river, the Patowmack Company was ultimately unsuccessful. While living in Alexandria, Potts took over the operation of the Keeptryst Furnace upriver in Berkeley County, now in West Virginia. He was also drawn into land speculation involving some 20,000 acres in Randolph County and 18,000 acres in Spotsylvania County. Neither venture was successful, and the threat of America's involvement in the Napoleonic Wars adversely affected the copper mine project. John Potts was insolvent when he died on October 17, 1809, while on a visit to Pottstown.