Natives of Ireland, the Potter family emigrated to America about 1741 and settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. There John had business associations with Indian traders and was sheriff from 1750 until his death. His son James became a young militia officer, commanded a company during John Armstrong's Kittanning expedition (1756) and was active in border defense throughout the French and Indian War. About 1772, he moved to Penn's Valley in Centre County. Commissioned a brigadier general in the Continental Army in 1777, he won high commendation from Washington for service at Brandywine and Germantown and his defensive harassment of Cornwallis. In 1777 he also built Fort Potter and for the next three years attempted to defend Penn's Valley from recurrent Indian raids. Other offices to which he was elected or appointed included: member and vice president of the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council (1780-1781), major general in the Pennsylvania militia (1782), member of the board of censors (1784), and deputy surveyor for state lands in Northumberland County (1785–1789). His son James became a lieutenant colonel of militia in 1793 and an associate county judge in 1800.
