John Fox Potter nicknamed "Bowie Knife Potter" (May 11, 1817May 18, 1899) was a nineteenth-century politician, lawyer and judge from
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
who served in the
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...
and the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
.
Career
Admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1837, Potter began his legal practice in
East Troy
East Troy is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,673 at the 2020 census. The village is located southwest of the Town of East Troy. A small portion extends into the adjacent Town of Troy. As of 2020, th ...
. He served as a judge in
Walworth County from 1842 to 1846.
A
Whig, Potter was elected a member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...
, and served a term (1856–1857). He was a delegate to the
1852 Whig National Convention and
1856 Whig National Convention. With the demise of the Whig party, Potter became a
Republican and became a delegate to the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...
in 1860 and 1864.
Member of Congress
Wisconsin voters elected Potter to the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
in 1856 and he won re-election twice. Thus, Potter served in the
35th Military units
*35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force
*35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I
*35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...
through the
37th Congress
The 37th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1861 ...
es (1857 to 1863). Potter received his nickname in 1860, as a result of an aborted duel with Virginia Congressman
Roger A. Pryor
Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and judge. A journalist and U.S. Congressman from Virginia known as a Southern "fire eater" for his fiery oratory in favor of slaver ...
after Illinois Congressman (and abolitionist)
Owen Lovejoy
Owen Lovejoy (January 6, 1811 – March 25, 1864) was an American lawyer, Congregational minister, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, and Republican United States Congress, congressman from Illinois. He was also a "conductor ...
's remarks concerning the 1837 murder of his brother
Elijah Lovejoy
Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist. After his murder by a mob, he became a martyr to the abolitionist cause opposing slavery in th ...
. Pryor had edited Potter's follow-up remarks to eliminate a mention of the Republican Party, to which Potter had objected, then Pryor challenged Potter to a duel, but his seconds objected when Potter chose
bowie knives as the prospective weapon, decrying his selection of weapon as "vulgar, barbarous, and inhuman." The incident received considerable press, and Potter's friends afterward often accompanied him when on Washington's streets, lest he be accosted again to test his mettle. Potter served as chairman of the
Committee on Revolutionary Pensions from 1859 to 1861 and of the
Committee on Public Lands from 1861 to 1863. In this latter role, his committee handled the
Homestead Act of 1862
The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of t ...
. He was considered one of the "
Radical Republicans
The Radical Republicans were a political faction within the Republican Party originating from the party's founding in 1854—some six years before the Civil War—until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They ca ...
" due to his support for African-American civil rights and the belief that not only should slavery not be allowed to expand, but that it should be banned in states where it currently existed.
As relations with the southern states deteriorated and the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
eventually began in earnest, Potter was appointed to serve as the head of the House's "Committee on Loyalty of Federal employees", which sought to root out
Confederate
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
sympathizers in the government. His efforts and intrusiveness were not always appreciated;
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron (March 8, 1799June 26, 1889) was an American businessman and politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate and served as United States Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln at the start of the Ameri ...
in particular was annoyed by Potter's interference and repeatedly ignored his demands that Cameron dismiss at least fifty
War Department War Department may refer to:
* War Department (United Kingdom)
* United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...
staffers suspected of Confederate sympathies. Although frustrated by Cameron's recalcitrance, Potter did not actually have the authority to compel Cameron to follow his directives; only the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
held that power and
Lincoln's attentions were needed elsewhere.
The tumultuous relationship between Potter and the War Department was alleviated when Cameron was replaced by
Edwin Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. secretary of war under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's manag ...
on January 20, 1862. Stanton met with Potter on his first day as war secretary, and on the same day, dismissed four persons whom Potter deemed unsavory. This was well short of the fifty people Potter wanted gone from the department, but he was nonetheless pleased with Stanton's initiative.
In 1861, Potter was one of the participants in the
Peace Conference of 1861
The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of 131 leading American politicians in February 1861, at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the American Civil War. The conference's purpose was to avoid, if possible, the secession of ...
, which failed to avert the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. He was defeated in his race for reelection in 1862 by fellow Maine-born lawyer
James S. Brown, a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY)
**Democratic Part ...
who had been
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
prosecutor and mayor, and who would be defeated the following year by a Republican general. During the campaign, his son Alfred C. Potter had enlisted in the
28th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment in August 1862 as a sergeant, but would be mustered out the following April, and began receiving a pension in 1896.
Later career
After Potter's congressional term ended in early 1863, he declined appointment as governor of
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...
, and his wife died in May 1863 in Washington, D.C., leaving Potter a widower with a ten year old son. The
Lincoln administration
Abraham Lincoln's tenure as the 16th president of the United States began on March 4, 1861, and ended upon his death on April 15, 1865, days into his second term. Lincoln, the first Republican president, successfully presided over the Union ...
then appointed Potter as
Consul General
A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries.
A consu ...
of the United States in the British-controlled
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
from 1863 to 1866. Thus Potter resided in what was then the Canadian capital of
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...
.
In 1866, Potter returned to
East Troy, Wisconsin
East Troy is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,673 at the 2020 census. The village is located southwest of the Town of East Troy. A small portion extends into the adjacent Town of Troy. As of 2020, th ...
, where he resumed his legal practice.
Death and legacy
Potter died at his home on May 18, 1899. The Wisconsin Historical Society received his knife.
[Wisconsin's revised privacy law produces broken link at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/artifacts/archives/001252.asp The Monster Knife of John Fox Potter and minimal reference to ''Milwaukee Journal'' article at https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Name/NI78938]
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, John F.
1817 births
1899 deaths
19th-century American diplomats
Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Politicians from Augusta, Maine
People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War
Phillips Exeter Academy alumni
Wisconsin lawyers
Wisconsin state court judges
Wisconsin Whigs
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin
People from East Troy, Wisconsin
19th-century Wisconsin state court judges
19th-century American lawyers
Radical Republicans
19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature
19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives