Capt. John Stephen Potts

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. We're talking about Captain John Stephen Potts, and if you're passing through Hamilton County, this story belongs to the land around you. Born in 1816 in Bradley County, Tennessee, Potts came into the world in an era when a man's life could stretch across more chapters than most novels could hold.

And his did. He married a woman named Malinda Davis, and here's a detail worth slowing down for: Malinda was a cousin of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. That's the kind of family connection that got whispered about at supper tables.

Before Texas ever entered the picture, Potts put down roots in Carthage, Missouri. He wasn't idle there. He served as justice of the peace, then as sheriff from 1850 to 1852, and when the Civil War came calling, he answered it as a Confederate soldier.

So by the time this man set his eyes on Texas, he had already worn a lawman's badge and a soldier's uniform. Moving to Texas, he didn't come empty-handed. In 1872, he paid five hundred dollars in gold for a sheep range in Hamilton County.

Gold. Not paper, not promises. Gold.

He later acquired more land, building something that mattered in this part of the state. And he wasn't just a man of business. He was an ardent Baptist, a Mason, and he donated the site for a cemetery, the kind of gift that tells you something about a man's sense of permanence and community.

In 1878, the people around him honored all of that by naming Pottsville after him. Born 1816, died 1901. The town came first, and the name is still out there on the map.

What the marker says

(1816 - 1901) Born in Bradley county, Tenn. married Malinda Davis, cousin of Jefferson Davis, president of the confederate states of America. Lived in Carthage, Mo., where he was justice of the peace, then sheriff (1850-52), and confederate soldier during the civil war. Moving to Texas, he paid $500 in gold for Hamilton county sheep range, 1872; later had more land. An ardent baptist, a mason, donor of cemetery site, he was honored in naming of Pottsville, 1878.