JEROME COAN POTTER.

  Jerome Coan Potter is now living retired in Guilford, but for many years was actively identified with manufacturing interests. He was born in East Haven, Connecticut, December 1, 1854, a son of Orrin and Phebe (Coan) Potter. The father was born in Hamden, Connecticut, and acquired his education there, after which he became a ship carpenter, employed in the shipbuilding yards of East Haven when that industry was a most important one there. In 1861 he put aside all business and personal considerations and joined the Union army as a member of Company E, Fifteenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for three years. He afterward again became connected with shipbuilding at East Haven and later retired from business life, spending his last days in New Haven. He was a representative of one of the old New England families and was highly regarded in his native county. His wife was born in Guilford Connecticut, June 6, 1830, and traced her ancestry back to Peter Coan, who was born in Worms, Germany, in 1697 and came to America in 1715, settling at Easthampton, Connecticut, whence he removed to Guilford. His son, John Coan, was born at Easthampton in 1729 and was the father of John Coan II, who was born in North Guilford in January, 1763. The line comes on down through John and Betsey (Harl) Coan, who were the parents of Phebe Coan, who became the wife of Orrin Potter. Her death also occurred in New Haven.

  Jerome C. Potter acquired his education in the schools of New Haven, where he resided until his marriage at the age of twenty-six years. In 1883 he removed to Guilford and bought out the blacksmith shop of Richard Spencer, after which he continued in a general blacksmithing business until 1892, when he became associated with Lovell Kelsey and Charles E. Hull in the organization of the Guilford Wheel Manufacturing Company, which took over the business of the firm of George A. Hull & Son, wagon wheel manufacturers, whose plant was destroyed by fire at that time. They purchased a factory building and grounds formerly used as a button factory in Guilford, there installed modern machinery and enlarged the plant for the purpose of manufacturing wagon wheels, beginning business there in December, 1891, just thirty days after the old plant was destroyed by fire. Mr. Kelsey retired from the business after a few years and the manufacturing was then continued by Mr. Hull and Mr. Potter until 1907, when they sold the business, factory and all to the Archibald Wheel Company of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Mr. Potter retired from active business connection therewith. He remained, however, as one of the directors of the Guilford Mutual Fire Association, of which he was one of the organizers.

  On the 15th of September, 1880, Mr. Potter was united in marriage to Miss Emma Isadore Chivers, of Decatur, Georgia. She was born, however, in Boston, Massachusetts, but was reared and educated in Georgia. Her parents were Thomas Halley and Harriet (Hunt) Chivers, the former a physician and surgeon who became a large landowner, having an extensive cotton plantation and owning many slaves at Washington, Wilkes county, Georgia. He was widely known as a writer of lyric verse and many of his poems were extensively circulated. He was not only a prominent and honored citizen of Georgia but was also well known in New Haven sixty years ago, having various business interests in this city. To Mr. and Mrs. Potter were born three children. Roy Clifford, a graduate of Yale University and of the Johns Hopkins Medical College of Baltimore, Maryland, who is now medical examiner for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company at Chicago, married Miss Ida Desmond. Ralph Clifford, an electrical engineer of Lynn, Massachusetts, married Miss Lena Whittaker, of Bar Harbor, Maine and they have a son, Robert. Faye, the youngest of the family, is deceased.

  In politics Mr. Potter has long been a stalwart republican. He served as tax assessor for the town and borough of Guilford and was burgess for more than fourteen years. In 1914 he was elected to the state legislature, serving during the session of 1915 on the committees on labor and woman’s suffrage. He was connected with much constructive legislation and proved an able working member of the house. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church and fraternally he is connected with Menuncatuc Lodge, No. 62, I. O. O. F., of Guilford, of which he is a past noble grand. He has also been district deputy of the order and belongs to the Odd Fellows Veterans Association, and both he and his wife are connected with the Rebekahs. Mrs. Potter is also a member of the Dorothy Whitfield Historical Society. Mr. Potter has membership in the Guilford Board of Trade and at all times he has taken an active and helpful part in promoting those plans and measures which are intended to advance the welfare and progress of his city. As a manufacturer he has contributed to its material development, as an active factor in politics he has contributed to its civic advancement and as a consistent Christian he has aided in its moral progress.
 

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