Thomas Potter (1689–1777) was an illiterate farmer who in 1760 built a chapel in Good Luck,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

(now Lacey Township), for the purpose of spreading the doctrine of

Universalism Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept within Christianity that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is se ...

. He was born in 1689, the son of Rogerene Baptist immigrants from

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. Influenced by both

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

and

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

beliefs, Potter, as a Universalist, let people of all creeds worship on his land, but was convinced that God would send him a preacher of Universalism. In 1770, a Universalist preacher named John Murray did in fact appear, and was prevailed upon by Potter to give his first Universalist sermon on the American continent. Murray then went on to become the minister of the first Universalist congregation in America, located in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of North Shore (Massachusetts), Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. ...

, and to be a central figure in the creation of the Universalist Church in America, in 1793. Potter died between 11 May 1777, when he wrote his will, and 2 May 1782, when it was probated. Potter is considered to have been one of the founders of the Universalist movement. Universalists began coming on pilgrimage to the site of his chapel, where in the 1870s they built the Potter Memorial Chapel, and in 1886 created Murray Grove as a center of Universalism. Today Murray Grove is still a Unitarian Universalist retreat and conference center, celebrating the heritage of Potter, Murray and the early Universalists.

External links

Murray Grove Retreat & Conference Center - Thomas Potter farm siteBrown University Charter
Clergy of the Universalist Church of America Place of birth missing 17th-century Christian universalists 18th-century Christian universalists American Christian universalists 1689 births 1777 deaths People from Lacey Township, New Jersey {{Universalism-bio-stub