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William E. Potter Diary

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Held at: Princeton University Library: University Archives [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: University Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

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Potter

William Elmer Potter was born in Bridgeton, New Jersey in 1840 to James Boyd Potter (1796-1865) and Jane Harper Barron (1798-1855). He reversed the now usual order of higher education and received his law degree from Harvard in 1861 and his B.A. from Princeton in 1863. (He entered Princeton as a junior.) He enlisted in the 12th New Jersey Volunteers, Company C, in June 1862 as a private and rose to the rank of Brevet Major by war's end. Wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6th, 1864, Potter recovered to see action in all of his regiment's major engagements for the rest of the war. He was one of five officers elected to escort the Confederate flags captured at Appomattox to Secretary of War Stanton.

Following the war, Potter served on the staff of New Jersey Governor Marcus Wood. He later became a successful lawyer and prosecutor in Cape May and Atlantic counties and senior partner of the firm Potter and Nixon of Bridgeton. Active in Republican politics, Potter was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1868 and 1876 and was an elector of the Presidential Electoral College in 1880.

Potter married Alice Augusta Eddy in 1869, and together they had five children. Their third son, David, graduated from Princeton in 1896. William Potter died in 1896 in Bridgeton.

The diary, a single volume comprised of approximately 100 handwritten pages, is inscribed "Diary of Wm E. Potter/Monday Sept. 5, 1859." The first page of the diary contains what appears to be grades most likely from his final year at Harvard. The last page contains subjects for prize debates. The diary itself begins with Sept. 5, 1859 and concludes on June 28, 1862. There are entries for every day between September 1859 and mid-July 1861. Thereafter are occasional periods when weeks and entire months are combined into a single entry.

The diary consists of Potter's days at Harvard (Sept. 5, 1859 to Jan. 8, 1861), a law practice commencing on Feb 4, 1861, his entry into Princeton (Aug. 14, 1861) and his final entry, "Enlisted," on June 28th, 1862.

Many of the entries indicate Potter's simple day-to-day activities. There are lengthy descriptions and comments on Potter's professors including Russell Lowell at Harvard and Lyman Atwater at Princeton.

Potter also provides thoughtful comments on the public figures and events of this period. Of interest is how abolitionist, secession, and war events begin to take up a greater portion of Potter's entries, especially after the election of Lincoln in November 1860. In addition to the entries describing Lincoln's election and inauguration, there are descriptions of the Women's Rights Convention in Boston in 1860, speeches by Edward Everett, secessionist William Lowndes Yancey of Alabama, abolitionists Wendell Phillips and William Lloyd Garrison, Lincoln's appearance and speeches in Trenton and Philadelphia, the surrender of Fort Sumter, the Battle of Bull Run, the "pumping" (dunking) of Princeton students favoring secession, and the fall of Fort Donelson. However, after Potter's religious awakening on February 28, 1862, little note is made of war events. The momentous battles of Shiloh, Williamsburg and Seven Pines are not even mentioned.

A digital scan of this diary, created in 2009, is accessible in the contents list.

The diary was donated to the Princeton Archives by Frederic Fox, an ancestor of Potter, in 1977.

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Described by John S. Riddle, February, 1994.

No appraisal information is available.

Publisher
University Archives
Finding Aid Date
2001
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

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Collection Inventory

William Potter Diary, dates not examined. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

Materials Viewable Online
  1. View digital content

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1 box

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1 box

Arrival at Harvard, 1859 September 5. 1 box.
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1 box

Speech by Edward Everett, 1859 September 27. 1 box.
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1 box

Elections in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, 1859 November 8-9. 1 box.
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1 box

Lecture by Russell Lowell on modern literature, 1859 November 11. 1 box.
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1 box

Trial of John Brown, 1859 November 15. 1 box.
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1 box

Lecture by Russell Lowell, 1859 November 18. 1 box.
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1 box

Comments on "present political aspects of our country" including Republican Party and extension of slavery, 1859 December 21. 1 box.
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1 box

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Visit to Princeton and comments on University President gravesites and buildings of the college, 1860 March 2. 1 box.
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1 box

Republican Convention in Chicago; Lincoln nominated ("Good news"), 1860 May 18. 1 box.
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1 box

Reflections on illness of his brother and on life, happiness and grief, 1860 May 30. 1 box.
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1 box

Wendell Phillips eulogy for Theodore Parker, 1860 May 31. 1 box.
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1 box

Comments on Women's Rights Convention in Boston; William Lloyd Garrison denouncing U.S. Constitution, 1860 June 1. 1 box.
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1 box

Reflections on occasion of his twentieth birthday, 1860 June 13. 1 box.
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1 box

Comments on Stephen Douglass and the split of the Democratic Party, 1860 June 26. 1 box.
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1 box

Observations on Massachusetts state prison, 1860 June 30. 1 box.
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1 box

Fourth of July celebrations, 1860 July 4. 1 box.
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1 box

Visit to home at Bridgeton and descriptions of Monmouth County and surrounding countryside, 1860 August 15-19. 1 box.
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1 box

Sees Edwin Booth perform "Richelieu" in Boston, 1860 September 4. 1 box.
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1 box

Sees Edwin Booth perform "Hamlet", 1860 September 10. 1 box.
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1 box

Elections in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, 1860 October 9-10. 1 box.
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1 box

Hears William Lowndes Yancey speak, 1860 October 12. 1 box.
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1 box

Visit by Prince of Wales to Boston, 1860 October 7. 1 box.
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1 box

Lectures of Richard Dana and Charles Francis Adams, 1860 November 1. 1 box.
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1 box

Lecture by Russell Lowell, 1860 November 2. 1 box.
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1 box

Election day and reactions, 1860 November 6-7. 1 box.
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1 box

Observations on pending secession of southern states, 1860 November 9-December 7. 1 box.
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1 box

Speech by Gov. Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts, 1860 November 13. 1 box.
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1 box

Lecture by Russell Lowell, 1860 November 16. 1 box.
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1 box

Description of student hazing, 1860 November 20. 1 box.
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1 box

Comments on students supporting secession, 1860 November 23. 1 box.
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1 box

Memorial for John Brown ("miserable fanatics holding the meeting"), 1860 December 3. 1 box.
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1 box

Events in Charleston Harbor, 1860 December 28. 1 box.
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1 box

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Reflections on the new year, 1861 January 1. 1 box.
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Secessionist activities, 1861 January 3. 1 box.
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1 box

Finishes classes at Harvard, 1861 January 8. 1 box.
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1 box

Begins to practice law in Bridgeton, 1861 February 4. 1 box.
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1 box

Travels to Trenton and Philadelphia to see Lincoln on his way to Washington; describes Lincoln's demeanor and speech at Trenton, 1861 February 19-20. 1 box.
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Lincoln's inauguration, 1861 March 4. 1 box.
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1 box

Refections on Lincoln's 1st inaugural address, 1861 March 5. 1 box.
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1 box

Resolves to enter Princeton in the summer, 1861 March 31. 1 box.
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1 box

Comments on Alexander Stephens' "cornerstone" speech, 1861 April 3. 1 box.
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1 box

Potter's father approves his decision to enter Princeton, 1861 April 10. 1 box.
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1 box

Surrender of Fort Sumter, 1861 April 14. 1 box.
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1 box

Baltimore riots, 1861 April 19. 1 box.
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1 box

Observations of Washington, D.C. during early period of the war, 1861 July 19. 1 box.
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1 box

Reports on news of Battle of Bull Run, 1861 July 22-23. 1 box.
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1 box

Arrives in Princeton, 1861 August 14. 1 box.
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1 box

News of battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri, 1861 August 15. 1 box.
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1 box

Comments on Lyman Atwater's lecture on philosophy, 1861 August 21. 1 box.
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1 box

Capture of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 1861 September 2. 1 box.
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1 box

Joins Princeton association organized to prevent "any uprising among the secessionists in this neighborhood", 1861 September 3. 1 box.
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1 box

Description of "pumping" (dunking) of Princeton students favoring secessions, 1861 September 12-14. 1 box.
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1 box

Fights among Princeton students over secession, 1861 September 16. 1 box.
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1 box

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Fall of Fort Donelson, 1862 February 17. 1 box.
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1 box

Discusses religion with Lyman Atwater, 1862 February 25. 1 box.
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1 box

Potter has a religious awakening ("today by the help of God, I begin a new life"), 1862 February 28. 1 box.
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1 box

Religious revivals throughout Princeton campus, 1862 March 3. 1 box.
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1 box

Hears Wendell Phillips in Philadelphia, 1862 March 19. 1 box.
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1 box

"Enlisted", 1862 June 28. 1 box.
Physical Description

1 box

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