Individual Details

Birth

“I have often heard his oldest daughter, Ann, tell of the stirring times during the British occupancy of Philadelphia; how they had their valuables hidden in a spring house across the river in Spring Mill hills; how, when her mother went for some things that were hidden and called to a man to ferry her across in the canoe, he telling her that the British were at Barren Hill; how she ran home and made up a lot of pies and put them in the oven; had the boy drive the cattle into the woods, and then waited for the British. They duly arrived, led by a neighbor, whom they had compelled to pilot them under penalty of death. Just as they arrived the man came in with the team. She ran and told him to claim the horses as his. He succeeded in begging off the shafter, the balance they took. When they arrived she met them with her first-born daughter, Ann, in her. arms. She told them she hoped they would not harm a defenceless woman with a babe in her arms. They told her they were not warring against women and wanted to know where the "damn rebel" was. She told them she did not know of any such person. If they meant her husband he was not at home. They asked her if she had anything to eat. She told them she had pies in the oven but that they were not quite ready to draw, so they waited until they were baked. She treated them and they left without harming her. She was fearful they might burn the buildings and that was the reason she tried winning their hearts by putting pies down their throats.
   “Her daughter, Ann Thomas, who lived at the west end of Sixth avenue, Conshohocken (the house is still there), has told me how her mother went to market in Philadelphia on horseback with the butter hampers swung across the horse's back. We can hardly realize the brave hearts of the women of those times, when there were only a few houses in Conshohocken and nearly all woods from there to Philadelphia. She was a remarkable woman. Every child named a daughter after mother, so that Martha became a family name. Martha Potts Mather, the mother of Isaac Mather, of Jenkintown, who celebrated his one hundredth birthday October 28th, was a daughter.”

Marriage

Nathan Potts married Esther Rhoads. They had six children: Daniel, Stephen (who was an apprentice in the printing office with Benjamin Franklin), Nathan, Alice, Zebulon and Isaiah. Zebulon was born March 24th, 1746. He married Martha Trotter, of Philadelphia, daughter of Joseph and Ann Trotter, about 1771. They resided in Plymouth township, near Sixth avenue, Conshohocken, Pa. He was a prominent man in his day, being constable of Plymouth township before the Revolution. He was an ardent patriot during the War for Independence, and having the courage of his convictions was outspoken in defense of the American cause. Zebulon and Martha Trotter Potts had ten children. Ann, born in 1772; Joseph, born in 1774; Esther, born in 1777, died in infancy; Hannah, born in 1778; Alice, born in 1780; Esther, born in 1783; Martha, born in 1785; William, born in 1787; Robert Tower, born in 1790; and Daniel T., born in 1794. Robert T. Potts lived at Swedeland. It is a coincidence that Zebulon and his grandfather, David, both died while in office, one as a member of the Provincial Assembly and the other as State Senator. Another coincidence is that Isaac Mather and President Roosevelt have the same birthday. Zebulon Potts must have been endowed by nature with considerably more than average ability, as his educational facilities were very limited. The following is a clipping from the Norristown Herald, "The County's Senators" : ... "In 1807 Jonathan Roberts, Jr., of Upper Merion (afterwards United States Senator), defeated John Richards for reelection. Mr. Richards had been defeated in 1799 by Zebulon Potts. In 1801 Mr. Richards was elected to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Potts who died that spring, and in 1803 was re-elected, defeating General Andrew Porter." Senator Potts was carried into the Senate Chamber to cast his last vote, as there was a matter of great importance before the Senate. He died shortly afterwards. Died in office, Spring 1801.