John F. Potter

John Fox Potter , nickname Bowie Knife Potter (born May 11, 1817 in Augusta , Maine , † May 18, 1899 in East Troy , Wisconsin ) was an American lawyer, judge and politician .

Career

Potter attended community schools and the Phillips Exeter Academy . He studied law , was admitted to the bar in 1837, and then began practicing in East Troy, Wisconsin. Then he was a judge in Walworth County , Wisconsin, from 1842 to 1846 . He represented Wisconsin at the Whig National Convention between 1852 and 1856 . He was also a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1856 and a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1860 and 1864 .

Potter was elected a Republican to the 35th Congress in 1856 and was re - elected twice. He stayed there from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1863. During this time he was chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions (from 1859 to 1861) and the Committee on Public Lands (from 1861 to 1863). In the latter capacity, his committee negotiated the Homestead Act in 1862 .

He ran unsuccessfully in 1862 for a fourth term in the US Congress . After the end of his third term, he was appointed US Consul General for the British- controlled Province of Canada by US President Abraham Lincoln , where he worked from 1863 to 1866. At that time he lived in what is now the Canadian city of Montreal . In 1866 Potter returned to East Troy, where he resumed his practice as a lawyer and which he practiced until his death. He was then buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in East Troy.

Web links

Commons : John F. Potter - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

John F. Potter in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

personal data
SURNAME	Potter, John F.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Potter, John Fox (full name); Bowie Knife Potter (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	May 11, 1817
PLACE OF BIRTH	Augusta , Maine
DATE OF DEATH	May 18, 1899
Place of death	East Troy , Wisconsin