POTTER FAMILY

This account was written by Nora Shanahan
Phillips (Mrs. W. E.) of Coldwater, Miss.      
Present address is Olive Branch, Miss.1      

James Potter   born 17902)
Margaret Parker Potter3    )              Great Grandparents

Daniel Potter born Crawford County GA. 18244
Mary Rebecca Smith Potter born Jan 13, 1830 Lawrence District, S.C. Died 19275

Grandparents

      Grandpa was an Englishman6, a Baptist preacher and a teacher in early years. He had six brothers, 4 sisters--three Baptist preachers among them7. Minutes of association 1855 showed him an active pastor in eastern counties, Pontotoc, Union etc. where they owned land. Most of their children were born up there.

Mama [Mrs. Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan] away at school when he bought a home below Senatobia and moved there. I have heard Aunt Bettie Scott8 tell of this move. They drove cattle, hogs, etc. she helping the boys, walking for miles. It seemed so primitive and so hard--and unbelievably far back, or so it sounded as she related it to us when she was 75 years of age9. Dates on old letters fix it [the move] at 1865 or 1866. Well, this move from the hill country to the low country was disastrous. They lost "little Sister" who was only a baby10. Grandpa [Daniel D. Potter] and one child died on the same day11 and another within the week12. Shortly before grandmother's [Mary Rebecca Smith Potter] youngest child was born, Uncle Danny Potter (Y. D.)13. All this, four deaths, within two or three years--(this has always been a nightmare to me.)

Poor brave grandmother [Mary Rebecca Smith Potter] then had many years of widowhood. Of her nine children, all (except the three who died in childhood at Senatobia) lived to rear families. One died a young man, with two children, Uncle Danny [Y. Daniel Potter] and the others lived to a good age, but Grandmother Potter survived all but two of her children--she being in her 97th year when she died at blue Springs, Miss. in 1927 at the home of Uncle Will Potter14. In these later yars, she was totally blind. But had retained her mental faculties and her memory was most wonderful, making her an interesting talker. A grand woman indeed, as were all these Potters. You might be interested in knowing that we saw our grandmother married to Uncle Tucker15 (her sister's husband, no less) in about 189216. All of her children were married by then. Thereafter, in good circumstances, she lived many years in Sherman, Miss., a small town, where she was much loved. She continued in Church, prayer meeting, Missionary society and everything until well into her 80's. She worked a garden and flowers then too, I know.

As ancestors these Potters were worthy of our pride in them. So perhaps were Shanahans, at least those we ever knew about and the few old friends of Papa's [Michael William Shanahan] we knew of were of such refinement and education as to assure me that Papa had the highest of standards, indicated by the quality of his selected friends and of what little we could recall of him. Mama [Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan] was loved by all.

The Potters, my uncles and Aunts, nearly all had very large families--but small families predominate in the next generation (my generation). One cousin (Potter) had a quite large family, the others only one and two children or none. In our family we four children17 (Nora S[hanahan] Phillips, Lena Shanahan Stewart, Sallie Shanahan Freeze and Dennis Potter Shanahan) were more prolific. I had four, Sallie had seven and you know brother's [Dennis Potter Shanahan] and Sister's [Lena Estelle Shanahan Stewart] families. (Brother DPS had eight children and Sister Lena had ten.) Of the other cousins, only one had the large family the parents did. That was one of Aunt Bettie's children18.

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One of the Boone cousins, Norman19, had four or five. The two daughters of Uncle Danny went to Texas with their mother when very small. Of them I do not know. But no other very large families in our generation. Next generation (our children) are doing some better in numbers. Sallie has about 20 grandchildren20, I have three21, about twelve of Brother's [Dennis P. Shanahan]22 I believe. Do not know exactly how many Stewarts23--do you? Of this age group there are scattered ones no telling where. Some in Texas named Normans, some with the name Wilkerson24, some Boone, others whose names I do not know whose mothers were Potters.

SHANAHAN FAMLY

Michael William Shanahan, born September 29, 1841 at Limerick, County Cork, Ireland (Irish Free State) near Belfast, where he was probably educated25.
His parents were:
Henry Shanahan (I think his name was Henry--not quite sure)26
Bridget Luby Shanahan27

Their children were, Dennis, Michael William, Maggie A. and one named Henry perhaps or Charles (do not know) But he was drowned in _____ river. This river was nearby the home of a grandmother, who had charge of the children after the parents both died in an outbreak of plague.

"Mike" (my father) as he was known, was being educated for a priest (Catholic). He said, "the thing was rotten." He refused to accept this fate.

(Note from typist Beulah Pearl (Billie) Shanahan Murrie: ((I have heard my father, Dennis Potter Shanahan, tell this story many times--of how when grandfather Michael W. Shanahan ran away from his Catholic background and the priesthood he stowed away on a ship coming to America. After the ship was out to sea he was discovered and, as he had no money, he was forced to work his passage out. Altho' he had been taught the art of manly defense he had never done much physical work and he had to work very hard, as the stowaway was not shown much mercy, and he was given jobs that left him exhausted and his hands blistered. This art of defense was to be used to good advantage later in his Mississippi school teaching years.)) To read this a family story of Michael's schoolteaching days click here.

Michael arrived in the New World around 1855 or 1856. What he did in the next few years I am not sure, but he was at Senatobia, with good friends at the time Civil War broke out. Still young, he joined the first company formed at Senatobia, Mississippi. This company later combined or reorganized at Pensacola, Fla. Thereafter throughout the war he belonged to the 9th Miss. Infantry, Co. B. under Capt. J.P. Holihan. First Lieut. R. E. McCarthy, close personal friend of Second Lt. M. W. Shanahan, corresponded with him for life, then wrote us and once visited us. We were taught to call him Uncle. This Company was part of the first regiment raised in the State of Mississippi. Lt. Shanahan participated in the following battles: Shiloh, Stone River, Chicamauga, Missionary Ridge, Dalton, Resasca, Lost Mountain, Kenesaw Mountain, Jonesboro, Ga, Franklin Tenn., Nashville, Atlanta and others. There at Atlanta he was wounded in arm--according to records he was once before wounded but I think not seriously. (Needless to say, I read avidly "Gone With the Wind" when current, for it described vividly the battle of Atlanta, and my heart bled at the suffering of the wounded, not knowing if he was among those not cared for.) I have records, crumbling with age, where he was given sick leave for 6 months, where he was sent back home, Senatobia to collect recruits, his orders commandeered his transportation and notations of same were written all over it--not legible now. Also I have (or Mama had) the thin shirt he wore when wounded at Atlanta. His sword and bayonet and other keepsakes she kept--and some confederate money which became

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worthless after the Confederate States of America had fallen to the Yankees.

Well, he was discharged at Greensboro, N.C. and somehow returned to Senatobia, taught school and worked. In 1868 he met Mama! I think Mama returned home from school at Lexington, Miss. about June that year of 1867 or 1868. Grandpa Potter died about August--and in November Papa and Mama were married. Wed in bonds of Holy Matrimony M.W. Shanahan and Sallie (Sarah?) Margaret Potter, Nov. 16, 1868 at Senatobia, Miss.

Thereafter the Potter estate there was sold and both Potters and Shanahans purchased land below here, three miles east of Coldwater, Miss. Followed years of farming and schoolteaching and rearing a family. Michael W. was not so successful as a farmer as he was as a school teacher.

(Typist Note: I know some very interesting things about my Grandfather's schoolteaching days that I heard his son, my father, D. P. Shanahan tell many times. He told the stories many times and they never changed in flavor or content. If anyone is interested I will be glad to tell the true stories to them. (Billie Murrie))

Those were hard years to cope with at best, known as Reconstruction Days. Mama herself was never strong. Papa's health became so bad that Mama began teaching. Thus went the years, until May 26, 1887 when Papa passed on. Sister Lena was 17, I less than 7, Sallie less than 4 years old.

(Typist note: Brother Dennis Potter was 12 years of age at Michael's death.)28

Life for the widow and orphans was not easy and we did not get the schooling our parents would have desired. Mama could have married, as I remember it, a few times but never even considered it. So she lived a widow 34 years. She died at the age of 69 years, March 10, 1921. Beloved of all who ever knew her; gentle, refined, very near perfection.

(Typist Note: I have heard my father [Dennis Potter Shanahan] say many times that the worst thing he ever heard his mother say, was about an old man in the community that talked a great deal: "Old Mr. _____ talks too much with his mouth!" D.P. Shanahan almost worshipped the memory of his mother S. M. Shanahan).

Both she and papa could and should have shone brilliantly in a higher position in life. Certainly their qualifications merited it. And I think I came by it honestly, the feeling always with me, that I never was meant to walk so lowly a path. All of us had that high minded, uprightness of character. Sister (Lena) retained it through all her hardships. Pride in our heritage from, on Mama's side, a long line of fine people. Of the Potters I can go back much farther (will give you some of it on another page).

But for the Shanahans, I can give very little more history. Dennis (and they called him Denny too, just as D. P. Shanahan was called) Shanahan and their sister Maggie A. Shanahan were, in later years, in New York and Jersey City, N. J. They had bitterly repudiated Papa when he was converted and joined the Baptist Church. But did later correspond somewhat--a few letters at least from the sister, then from a nephew, T. J. Shanahan son of Dennis I suppose. He worked on, I think, the Cunard Ship Line, stevedore for a time then promoted to other work. He wrote, as you can note, to Mama [Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan], for years but finally we lost connection somehow. I have pictures of him and the first child named John, the next Tommy--then a girl whose name I do not know. His wife was named Lizzie. What became of Aunt Maggie I never knew.

Children of Michael William Shanahan and Sarah (D. P. Shanahan always addressed letters to his mother Sallie M. Shanahan) Margaret Potter Shanahan (born June 17, 1851) :

Lena Estell Shanahan Born Apr. 25, 1871 - Mary Luby Shanahan Feb. 1, 1877
Dennis Potter Shanahan Nov. 25, 1873 - Nora Mildren Shanahan Aug. 26, 1880

Sallie Moina Shanahan Oct. 16, 1883

[Transcriptionist's Note: This is the complete letter; however, I have not yet completed all the footnotes, so there's more on the way!]

Notes:

1 Nora Mildred Shanahan Phillips, born 26 Aug 1880 near Coldwater, MS was the fourth daughter of Michael William Shanahan and Sallie Margaret Potter, the granddaughter of Daniel Potter and Mary Rebecca Smith and the great granddaughter of James Potter and Margaret Parker.
2 James Potter's birthdate of 1790 is confirmed by the Census records for the year 1830 in Crawford County, GA, page 407, House#382 where he is listed as being between 30 and 40 years of age.
3 Margaret Parker Potter is found on the Census records for the year 1850 in Pontotoc County, MS, page 147b, Line#18, House#1249 where at age 52 (birth date circa 1798) she is widowed and living with her son Cornelius O. Potter. This census gives her place of birth as GA; however a later census from the same county in 1860 gives her birthplace as MS. Other Potter researchers give her birthdate as 28 Mar 1798 and her death date as 14 Apr 1881 quoting her tombstone in Wallerville or New Harmony Cemetery as their source. Neither of these dates has yet been confirmed.
4 Daniel D. Potter (son of James Potter and Margaret Parker). The birthdate that Nora gives as 1824 is confirmed by his tombstone in the Old Carolina Cemetery in Coldwater, MS which gives his age at his death on 13 Aug 1867 as 42 years, 8 months and 29 days.
5 Mary Rebecca Smith was the daughter of James Smith, Jr. and Sarah Teague.
6 Why Nora refers to her grandfather as an Englishman is a mystery as it is well established that he was born in the United States and not in England. She may simply have been trying to indicate that Daniel's roots were English (as opposed to being Irish like those of her father Michael William Shanahan).
7 Daniel's identified brothers are: (1) John W. Potter, Sr. (2) James Franklin Potter (3) Cornelius Ogelthorpe Potter (4) George Washington Potter and (5) Thomas Potter. John W. Potter and George Washington Potter were known to be preachers. The 6th brother has not been identified and I suspect that Nora included Daniel in this number and if so, he would make the 3rd preacher in the family. Daniel's known sisters are: (1) Susan Temperance Potter Hicks (2) Mary Potter Webb (3) Nancy E. Potter Mitchell (4) Eliza A. Potter Coleman.
8 Martha Elizabeth "Bettie" Potter Scott was the fourth child of Daniel D. Potter and Mary Rebecca Smith. She is found listed as Martha E. in the census records for the year 1860 in Pontotoc Co, MS, page 840, Line #5, House #2312, as being age 3 (birth date circa 1857) and again in the census records for the year 1870 in DeSoto County, MS, page 394, Line #25, House #68 as Bettie age 14 (birth date circa 1856). Although no marriage record has yet been found, we know that "Bettie" married William Scott sometime before 1880 because he is identified as being her husband in a Tate County MS Court Document.
9 Aunt Bettie Scott appears to have related this story to Nora (and her siblings) sometime in 1931/32. Nora herself, would have been aged 51 or 52 when she heard it.
10"Little Sister" died Jan. 25, 1867: age 6 months, 7 days and is buried in the Old Carolina Cemetery in Coldwater, MS.
11Daniel D. Potter and Mollie E. Potter died Aug. 13, 1867. Mollie E. Potter's age is given as 3 years, 8 months, 26 days. Both are buried in Old Carolina Cemetery, Coldwater, MS.
12John R. Potter appears on the census records for the year 1860 in Pontotoc County, MS, page 840, Line #6, House #2312 as being age 2 (birth date circa 1858). He died within a week of his father and sister on 17 Aug 1867 at age 8 years, 10 months and 28 days and is buried in the Old Carolina Cemetery in Coldwater, MS.
13Y. Daniel Potter appears on the census records for the year 1870 in DeSoto County, MS, page 394, Line #27, House #68 as Daniel age 3 (birth date circa 1867). His initials are confirmed as being "Y.D." by a court document filed 2 Dec 1880 in Tate County, MS wherein he is listed as a minor child, "Y.D. Potter". What the "Y" stood for no one seems to know, but it is my conjecture that it might have stood for "Young" to differentiate him from his father.
14William C. Potter, the third child of Daniel D. Potter and Mary Rebecca Smith; he appears on the census records for the year 1860 in Pontotoc County, MS, page 840, Line #4, House #2312 as age 6 (birth date circa 1854). He also appears in the census records for the year 1870 in DeSoto County, MS, page 394, Line #24, House #68 age 18 (birth date circa 1852). It is unknown when he married, but his wife's name was Sarah Thomas. William C. appears to have had a rather large family, but to date only one of his sons has been identified [Guy Rivers Potter] born 24 Dec 1895, died in WWI in France on 15 Jul 1918.
15James McCalvin Tucker born 11 Jun 1826 in AL, died 20 Oct 1897. His first spouse was Sarah Smith [sister to Mary Rebecca Smith Potter] whom he married on 18 Jan 1850 and who died on 21 Mar 1888. James married Mary on 21 FEB 1889 in Pontotoc County, MS when she was age 59 and he was age 63. James is buried in Cherry Creek Cemetery, Pontotoc Co, MS as is his first wife, Sarah Smith. It is unknown where Mary Rebecca is buried [not beside her first husband Daniel D. Potter] so perhaps Mary's final resting place is also in Cherry Creek?
16As I have not actually seen the marriage record for James Tucker and Mary R. Smith Potter from Pontotoc Co., MS I don't know if this is an error on Nora's part or if the error lies with my source for the marriage info [Jan Craven's Gedcom on Worldconnect].
17Michael W. Shanahan & Sallie Margaret Potter actually had 5 children; however, one (Mary Luby) died when she was just 7 years old. The surviving children were (in birth order): (1) Lena Estelle Shanahan Stewart, born 25 Apr 1871 (2) Dennis Potter Shanahan, born 25 Nov 1873 (3) Nora Mildred Shanahan Phillips [writer of this letter], born 26 Aug 1880 and (4) Sallie Moina Shanahan Freeze, born 16 Oct 1883.
18Have not yet tracked "Aunt Bettie's children down yet; but have a good lead from the Registration for the WWI Draft that was done for MS. It lists a Daniel Potter Scott born 20 Mar 1888 in Coldwater, MS. Age and birthplace are appropriate and with a name like Daniel Potter (Bettie's father's name) odds are that this is her son.
19The "Boone" cousin that Nora refers to here would have to be the son of her mother's [Sallie Margaret Potter] sister, Hannah Potter Boone.
20As of the date of this transcription I have a list of 25 granchildren for Sallie Moina Shanahan Freeze.
21As of the date of this transcription I have only identified 3 out of Nora's 4 children and only 2 out of 3? grandchildren.
22As of the date of this transcription I have identifed 20 granchildren of Dennis Potter Shanahan.
23As of the date of this transcription I have identified 29 granchildren of Lena Estelle Shanahan Stewart.
24This is an interesting reference to the Wilkerson surname. We know that Nora's brother married Ellen Wilkerson, but her children, would, of course, bear the Shanahan Surname. Nora must be indicating that one of her female cousins married into the Wilkerson family (perhaps the same Wilkerson family that Ellen is from?).
25The city of Limerick, Ireland is located in County Limerick, not County Cork as this letter suggests (although it should be mentioned that there are at least three parishes within County Limerick which "straddle" the County Lines and are located partially in County Limerick and partially in County Cork). The "Irish Free State" didn't come into being until 1922 (well after Michael's death), so I am assuming that Nora used what for her was then a current geographical place name to indicate which portion of Ireland her father was from. The reference to Belfast, however, completely baffles me for it is neither close to County Limerick or County Cork nor is it part of the Irish Free State.
26Examination of Griffith's (or the Irish Householder's Index) reveals that neither Henry or Charles is a very common first name among Shanahan's. There are only 3 Henry's and 3 Charles listed in the entire index and none of these are located in County Limerick or Cork or Belfast. This may be a pretty good indication that Nora was incorrect about Michael's father's first name.
27For many years I assumed that the name Luby was an Irish girl's given name (used as a middle name for both Bridget and Mary Luby Shanahan). However, evidence now supports the theory that LUBY is a surname rather than a given name. I base this conjecture on the fact that (1) LUBY is listed as a surname in the Griffith's Valuation Index of Ireland, and (2) The name Luby is not listed in the Griffith's Valuation as either a first or middle name for anyone in the entire country of Ireland.
28Lena Estelle Shanahan was age 16, Dennis Potter was 13, Nora was 7 and Sallie was 3 at the time of their father's death in May of 1887.

Transcribed 18 Sept 2000 by Kathy L. Rhodes from a photocopy of the original letter which was typed by Beulah "Billie" Pearl Shanahan. Bilie was the niece of Nora Mildred Shanahan Phillips and I believe that she had requested her Aunt Nora to put in writing all that she could remember of her family's history. I surmise that Nora wrote to her niece Billie in longhand and that Billie then typed the letter so that she could distribute copies to other family members who were interested in preserving the family's past.

Because this document contained almost no paragraph breaks, I took it upon myself to insert a few in order to make the letter somewhat easier to read. I also inserted a few comments for clarity's sake whenever the letter seemed somewhat ambiguous. Comments inserted by me are enclosed in brackets [] and should not be confused with the Typist's Notes enclosed in parentheses () as these notes were inserted by Billie (the recipient of the letter).

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