FIFTH GENERATION 65 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     519. HANNAH POTTER. 
     
    

    
     520. ELIZABETH POTTER. 
     
    

    
     52L RUTH POTTER, married Benjamin Perry, son Of Benjamin and Elizaéet/J (Hazard) Perry. They 
     
     were first cousins. 
     
    
   
   
    
     § 260. ELIZABETH HAZARD,5 (Stephen, 4.; Stephen,3; Robert, 2; Thomas, 
     
     I), was born July 17, 1729; she married, as second wife, John Potter. There 
     
     is the usual relationship here between husband and wife, but a little remote, John 
     
     being a great—grandson of Martha Hazard, daughter of Thomas Hazard, the first 
     
     in America; Elizabeth his wife being related in the same degree to Thomas Hazard 
     
     through Robert. John Potter lived in, and may have built, the old house in 
     
     Matunuck known as the “Governor Potter ” place. It is impossible to learn 
     
     why it should have been called by this name, for there never was a Governor 
     
     John Potter. Samuel J. Potter, his son, was the only Governor Potter of Rhode 
     
     Island (and he was Deputy—Governor), and he lived in Point Judith, on what is 
     
     now known as the George Pearse place. John Potter left a fortune to be divided 
     
     between his children; he even gave to his daughters eight hundred pounds 
     
     apiece, —— a very unusual proceeding in those days, when fifty pounds and a home 
     
     in the mansion—house until they were married seemed a plentiful provision. 
     
     This was not as unjust as one would suppose such a proceeding to be at the 
     
     present day, for where each man gave his property to his sons he simply provided 
     
     for other men’s daughters, and left it to other men to provide for his. John Potter 
     
     could well leave a large fortune, for he made money easily by a process known to 
     
     few, and approved of by fewer. There is a story well authenticated on this point. 
     
     Nicholas Hazard of Newport, a nephew ofJohn Potter’s wife, when a lad, used to 
     
     often visit his aunt, he being a great favorite with her. The Potters were hospitable 
     
     people and kept open house for poor relations, as well as for the gentry of the 
     
     town; during one of Nicholas Hazard’s Visits, there was a large dinner given to 
     
     some prominent persons. It so happened that a poor pensioner, who was also a 
     
     relative, was staying at the house at the time. She was occasionally a little out 
     
     of her mind, and during a pause in the conversation at dinner she said, “ Friend 
     
     Potter, who made money in the Overing house?” Friend Potter made no reply 
     
     but began a brisk conversation in order to turn the attention of the guests from 
     
     the old lady. She however, watched for another pause, and at the first oppor- 
     
     tunity repeated her question with like success. At last,losing her patience, she 
     
     gave Mr. Potter a smart slap on the knee, saying, “ Friend Potter, I asked thee 
     
     who made money in the Overing house ? ” At the end of lzi: patience, he said 
     
     incautiously, “I don’t know, unless it was the devil.” “ I always said it was the 
     
     devil," replied the old lady, “ but my husband says it was Friend Potter.” As 
     
     'the host and his guests were all Quakers, the turn of the conversation may have 
     
    

    
     been somewhat startling to the company. 
     
     The old house at Matunuck was a very imposing structure, even in the early 
     
     part of the present century, but it has been divided and sub—divided, until very 
     
     little of the original is left. One room is almost all that can be seen, and this was 
     
     once