Wednesday, September 10, 2008

No longer looking for information about Isaac "Ike Shooter" Potter, son of Isaac Potter born abt 1804 in Letcher County, KY.  Ron Ryan, a direct descendant of Ike "Shooter" Potter found me and helped piece facts and family determinations together to form some kind of picture as to what happened to two of Ike's boys.
Isaac Potter born around 1804 in Ashe County North Carolina, married Mary Huston and settled on Potter's Fork in Letcher County, Kentucky where he raised his family.  This son of Abraham Potter was successful and achieved a certain amount of prominence in the area. His son Isaac earned the Ike "Shooter" name when he won a shooting contest. I have seen pictures of Ike and he was a handsome, distinguished looking gentleman in a nice suit and tie. The Potters lived next door to the Wright Family and a few doors up from the notorious lawman, John W. Wright, sometimes called Bad John Wright. There was an article in Kentucky Explorer about Bad John Wright and his run in with Ike and a few other Potters. I believe this incident had something to do with politics and the KKK.  It didn't take long for Bad John Wright to set Ike Potter and his sons straight. 
I heard a story that Old Isaac told his son Ike Shooter that he needed to get his sons out of Letcher County before Bad John Wright killed them.  Ike Potter, did, in fact,  pact up, lock stock, barrel, and bad omen and sold his land on Potter's Fork for $12K.  As it turned out, it seems Bad John Wright and Ike Shooter worked together with with John Mayo of Paintsville to procure mineral rights for coal companies.  Shooter's wife, Elizabeth Anderson mothered his children in a lifestyle better that most people of that era. Still tragedy stuck the Ike "Shooter" Potter family while living comfortably in Catalpa in Lawrence County. George P. Potter was murdered first by a man whose last name was Skeens.  I do have that story from Ron Ryan but I have to look for it.  It may have been over a truck. George's first marriage to Anna Davis ended shortly after she give birth to their first child.  George, then married Pearl Quillen. She died at 20 years of age of a mammary gland infection after giving birth.  George then married Elvira White.  They had three children before George was shot and killed in 1830 by Mr. Skeens. 
Death certificate:
Lawrence, Louisa General Hospital
Name: George Potter Date of Birth: March 10, 1888
Date of Death: Sept. 6, 1930 Residence: Zelda, KY
Male; White; married. Wife: Elvira Potters
Occupation: Farmer.                                             Birthplace: Kentucky
Name of Father: Isaac Potters Birth Place: Kentucky
Name of Mother: Elizabeth Anderson Birthplace: Kentucky
Informant: Mrs. Elberta Potters Address: Zelda, KY
Filed Sept. 10, 1930 W. J. Roberts
Date of Death: Sept. 6, 1930 Dr. attended deceased on: Sept. 5, 1930
Death occurred Sept. 6 at 6:00 P.M.
Cause of Death: Gunshot wound of lower abdomen - Homicide
An operation preformed: Yes Signed: L. S. Hayes Sept. 8, 1930
Burial: Potters Cemetery 9-8-1930
Undertaker: H. H. Curtright Louisa, KY
I hope that someone will read what I have written, mindfully correcting errors and adding information. Listen for ancestral shadows that follow our every step; feel past life memories when they jostle the soul, feel their story accurately and repeat it with honor for they live in us and give us power.

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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Who killed John Morgan Potter? I ran across the death certificate of John Morgan Potter.
John Morgan Potter was born Feb. 25, 1884 and died Sept. 19, 1936. He was 52 years and 6 months and 24 days old. He was divorced. He had been married to D. Elizabeth Dingus. John Morgan Potter was born in Kentucky, most likely in Letcher County. He resides in Potter, Lawrence County, KY. He is the son of Elizabeth Anderson and Isaac Potter.
The informant is Martin Potter from Potter,KY. John is buries in Potter Cemetery Sep. 21st, 1936. The undertaker was H. H. Curtright, Louisa, KY. Signed by W. J. Roberts on Sept. 30, 1936.
"The principal cause of death and related causes of importance in order of onset were as follows:
Jury Verdict of Homicide."
"If death was due to external causes (violence) fill in also the following: Homicide.

Signed by Frank Nunley, J.P.

I read somewhere that John Morgan's father Isaac "Ike Shooter" Potter had been involved somehow with the KKK and that his father Isaac Potter, Sr. told him that if he didn't get out of Letcher County, something bad was going to happen to him or his boys.
I also heard that the another son of Ike Shooter was murdered but as of yet I can't confirm it. I hope that someone out there will help me find out what happened to John Morgan Potter.
Adeline, KY