John Potts (Pennsylvanian)

John Potts (c. 1710 – 6 June 1768) was the founder of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He was also an ironmaster, merchant, and English Quaker.

Early life
Potts was born about 1710, probably in Philadelphia, the oldest son of Thomas and Martha (Keurlis) Potts.

Career
Like his father, Potts was an enterprising businessman, and for many years was the largest and most successful iron-master in the Thirteen Colonies, operating mines, furnaces and forges in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He served as Justice of the Peace, and was also a judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas.

In 1752, he purchased two tracts of land at the confluence of Manatawny Creek and Schuylkill River, aggregating nearly 1,000 acres. There he laid out the town that became Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

Pottsgrove Manor
In 1752, Potts built a Georgian style home, Pottsgrove Manor, in Pottstown.

In 1974, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The house has been restored and is now an 18th-century historic house museum owned by Montgomery County.

Personal life
Potts married Ruth Savage, daughter of Samuel and Ann (Rutter) Savage, on April 11, 1734. They had 13 children together: Thomas (b. 1735), Samuel (b. 1736), John (b. 1738), Martha (b. 1739 or 1740), David (b. 1741) Joseph (b. 1742), Jonathan (b. 1745), Anna (b. 1747), Isaac (b. 1750), James (b. 1752), Rebeccah (b. 1755), Jesse (b. circa 1757), and Ruth (b. 1759).