Friday, September 23, 2011

Snapshot of Percy Richard Potter at the Potter gravesite, Northborough, Massachusetts



I could be wrong, but I'm guessing that this is a photograph of Percy Richard Potter and his wife Emma Delia (Derosia) Potter, perhaps in their eighties, standing at the gravestone that will be their final resting place.  


There's nothing written on the reverse of the photograph.


Olive Frances Potter is buried there and perhaps others.  Sadly, the entire stone is not shown.


Since Richard died in 1964, this photograph might have been taken shortly before his death.


From online research, hopefully correct [and please weigh in if you feel differently]:


A birth record for a Percy Richard Potter gives a birth date of 2 August 1888 at Northborough, Massachusetts.  The record shows his parents as James Burns and Olive Frances Potter.  


I don't have any information on James Burns.  From reading the actual document, rather than the index, I wonder if James' surname was perhaps Barnes or Burnes.


Olive Frances Potter's birth year, according to the gravestone, was 1867.   Her parents were Merrick Potter and Elizabeth Twitchell.  According to her death record, she died at age 37 on 28 February 1905 at Northborough, Massachusetts and was buried there on March 3, 1905.  


The setting of the photograph, therefore, must be Northborough, Massachusetts.


On the record of his marriage to Emma Delia Derosia on 2 April 1910 in Orange County, New York, Percy Richard Potter indicated that his parents were  Merrick Potter and Elizabeth (Twitchell) Potter, so it appears that his maternal grandparents raised him.


Percy and Emma lived at various times in New York, Massachusetts and Maine.  The 1930 Census found them at Sanford, Maine.  A daughter was living with them.  The writing is a bit hard to read, but appears to show that Percy was working as the foreman at a shoe shop.


His World War II Draft Registration card, dated 27 April 1942, shows the family back in Massachusetts, at  Worcester.  Interestingly, by this time he had formally or informally changed his name to Richard Percy Potter.  He indicated he was working at the Daly Brothers Shoe Factory.


According to the Social Security Death index, he died in May of 1964.


If you have any corrections, additions or insights regarding the information presented here, please leave a comment or contact me directly. 


If you're certain that the photograph shows a couple other than Percy Richard Potter and his wife Emma, I'd definitely want to know that.


A map of Northborough, Massachusetts, in Worcester County:



View Larger Map



Thanks for stopping by!


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