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| James Hollister Potter III UNC - 1934 |
(August 29, 1914 ‒ December 25, 2009)
In 2008, with help from his second wife, Mary Ruth Nelson, Mr. Potter (age 94) wrote the following, and mailed it to me (Mary Warshaw) noting that they had been meaning to compile the information for his obituary:
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My great grandfather, William Jackson Potter (1801‒1886), came to Beaufort, about 1827, as a young man to help build Fort Macon (1826‒1834). He married a local girl, Elizabeth Davis, on October 8, 1828, and lived here as a cabinet maker until his death.
My grandfather, James Hollister Potter, Sr. (1847‒1938) son of William Jackson Potter, was in the wholesale and retail fish business. He also dealt in real estate. He built the Post Office, Five-and-Ten-Cent Store and Potter’s Emergency Hospital—all on Front Street.
My father, J.H. Potter, Jr. (1879‒1971) was a merchant. He owned Potter’s Pure Food Store and Potter’s Toy Shop; both were located on Front Street in the early 1900s. He also assisted in organizing the first Beaufort Fire Department.
I, James H. Potter III, was born in 1914. I attended kindergarten at St. Paul’s School and graduated from Beaufort High School in 1931. I then attended the University of North Carolina until the banks closed due to the depression. I got a job working in the US Post Office for $100 a month. I worked there until I was drafted into the Army in 1943.
After I was discharged from the Army in 1946, I went into the grocery business--Potter’s Grocery Store. I owned and my wife operated Potter’s Dress Shop. I became a real estate broker and appraiser, and later became President of the Carteret County Board of Realtors as well as being the appraiser for the urban renewal of Front Street.
Over the years, I was a Boy Scout Master and President of the Beaufort Jaycees, receiving the “Man of the Year” award in 1943. I was a member of the Beaufort School Board, the Board of Trustees of Ann Street Methodist Church, the Beaufort Planning Board and the Carteret Draft Board until the draft was discontinued during the Vietnam War. I was vice-chairman of the hospital board for six years during the building of Carteret General Hospital. I was also a member of the Dune Club Board of Trustees and on the board of directors at First Citizens Bank for sixteen years.
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On July 18, 1937, James Hollister Potter III married Virginia Stanton
Staton (1917‒1978).
About 1980, he married Mary Ruth Nelson (1930‒2010).