POTTER, Elisha Reynolds, Congress, RI (1811-1882)

POTTER, Elisha Reynolds, (son of Elisha Reynolds Potter [1764-1835]), a Representative from Rhode Island; born in Little Rest (now Kingston), R.I., June 20, 1811; attended the Kingston Academy and was graduated from Harvard University in 1830; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1832 and practiced in South Kingstown Township, R.I.; adjutant general of the State, 1835-1836; member of the State house of representatives, 1838-1840; elected as a Law and Order Party candidate to the Twenty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1843-March 3, 1845); chairman, Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business (Twenty-eighth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1844 to the Twenty-ninth Congress; served in the State senate, 1847-1852 and 1861-1863; State commissioner of public schools from 1849 to 1854, when he resigned; associate justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from March 16, 1868, until his death in Kingston, Washington County, R.I., April 10, 1882; interment in the family burial ground, Washington County, R.I.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present