POTTER
ITS HISTORY, ITS BUSINESS AND ITS PEOPLE
The building of Potter is the third and most successful attempt to establish a town in this vicinity. The first attempt was at Mount Pleasant. This was one of the first towns started in Kansas and here was located the first post office in Atchison county. It prospered for a time and was a candidate for the county seat. It gradually declined and since the establishment of Potter has been little more than a memory. In the early days, some say before Mount Pleasant was started, a town was laid out near the big spring, a half mile northeast of the present site of Potter, and called Martinsburg. It was extensively boomed, but never advanced beyond the paper stage. Will Young who has seen a printed plat of it says that streams of fresh water were represented as running alongside the principal streets.
Early in 1886 the Pollywog was built and a station located here. A town was platted and called Bennett Springs. It was named for James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald. The springs on the Masterson farm, east of here, were attracting considerable attention at the time and it was thought that a popular resort could be built up here. The railroad people, however, christened it Potter in honor of Hon. Joseph Potter, who owned a part of the land on which the town [was built]. The northern and western portions of the town have been built on land owned by Fred Poos.
The first settler here was T.J. Potter, our present postmaster. He built the house now occupied by Mrs. Mary Hundley in 1882, four years before the town was started.
The first business house in Potter was erected by Charles Klein, a son of Mrs. X. Klein and a brother of Mrs. W.J. Rumley. This was the building now occupied by Martin Decker as a dwelling. Mr. Klein kept a store here until his death when Mr. Owens operated it for a short time and was succeeded by W.B. White who remained in business here until a year ago.
In 1886, Weir and Scrivener, brothers-in-law of Mr. Klein, opened a store on the corner now occupied by L.M. Jewell. Later Mr. Weir became sole owner and after running the store a few years sold it to Kemper and Paxton, of Kansas City, who in turn sold it to L.M. Jewell. Mr. Jewell took possession in March, 1802--nearly seventeen years ago. The names of Jewell and Potter are intimately associated. Mr. Jewell is recognized as one of the most successful merchants of Atchison county and to his enterprise is largely due the enviable reputation that Potter enjoys as a business center.
T.J. Potter ran a store in the post office building for several years. Following Mr. Potter, Clarence Binkley, T.J. Highfill and W.A. Hodge successively operated the store. Mr. Potter now has a stock of groceries here.
About eight years ago C. Hudson built the store now occupied by Beard and Hodge. M.T. Kemper, who had previously been associated with L.M. Jewell in the mercantile business for a short time, did a successful business here for a few years. Frank White, J.E. Collins, White and Hodge, and Glenn Hawley had stores here after Mr. Kemper quit. Last spring Frank Beard and W.A. Hodge bought Glenn Hawley's stock of goods and the firm of Beard and Hodge was launched. This firm is doing a splendid business and their trade is growing. Mr. Beard belongs to one of the pioneer families of Kansas and has lived in this vicinity nearly all his life; while Mr. Hodge has been identified with the town for twenty years.
