John Pott
John Pott | |
|---|---|
| 5º Crown Governors Virginia | |
| In office 1629–1630 | |
| Preceded by | John Harvey |
| Succeeded by | John West |
| Personal details | |
| Died | after March 25, 1651[1] |
| Spouse | Anne |
| Profession | physician and governor |
John Potts (or Pott) was a
Biography
John Potts is said to have taken his degree of
"For so much as the Phisicons place to the Company was now become voyde by reason of the untimely death of Dr. Bohune, slaine in the fight with two Spanish Shipps of Warr the 19th of March last, Dr. Gulstone did now take occasion to recommend unto the Company for the said place one Mr. Potts, a Master of Arts, well practised in Chirurgerie and Physique, and expert also in distillinge of waters."
Dr. Potts and his wife Elizabeth sailed from London aboard the George in March 1619. The George was a 150-ton sailing vessel with William Ewen as the master. After a two-month passage the vessel arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in May 1619.
In 1623, Dr. Potts gained notoriety as the individual who prepared the poison served the
The jury for the trial, however, was totally subservient to the obvious wishes of Sir John Harvey. Pott was found guilty and confined to his plantation, Harrop, the first settlement in the area of what is now Williamsburg, where he learned that his entire estate was to be confiscated. Further sentencing was suspended "until his Majestie's pleasure" be known. Governor Harvey now faced a sensitive political problem. He fervently desired that Pott be dishonored and banished from the colony. The physician, however, had much popular support and, in addition, his skills as a physician were still desperately required by the colony. Pott's wife rose from her sickbed and returned to England to plead her husband's case before the king. Apparently Harvey had little choice but to extricate himself from a difficult political situation as gracefully as possible. The governor therefore appealed to the king to pardon Dr. Pott, "as he was by far the best physician in the colony ... skilled in epidemicals." Pott was subsequently pardoned, his estate was returned, and he resumed his medical practice in the colony.[4]
Dr. Potts had a
On July 12, 1632, Dr. Potts obtained a patent for 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) at the head of
With this labor, palisades, six miles (10 km) in length, were run from creek to creek, and, on the ridge between, a settlement to be called
Dr. Potts is believed to have had no children, and apparently died prior to 1645.
References
- ^ Kelly, Howard A.; Burrage, Walter L. (eds.). . . Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Company.
- ^ Charles E. Horton, Jr. and Charles E. Horton, M.D., "John Pott: America's First Physician-Governor and Revolutionary" Vol. 59, No. 7, p. 679, September 1983
- ^ William Waller Hening, "The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia" Vol. 1, p. 145, R.&W.&G. Bartow, New-York, 1823.
- ^ Charles E. Horton, Jr. and Charles E. Horton, M.D., "John Pott: America's First Physician-Governor and Revolutionary" Vol. 59, No. 7, p. 682, September 1983
