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Joel Martin Potter and
Eliza Frances Reynolds
L-R: Creed Flannery Potter,
Virgie Potter and Unknown
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Eliza Frances Reynolds
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L-R: Unknown, Eliza
Frances Reynolds Potter and Daughter, Sarah Sallie Potter
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L-R: Ida Fuller Potter, Sarah
Sallie Potter Brown and Unknown
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Joel Martin
"Mart" Potter b 4 Mar 1875 Letcher Co KY d 20 Apr 1949, buried
Potter Family Cemetery, Payne Gap, KY, s/o
Abraham Potter and Sarah
"Sallie" Wright. Joel Martin "Mart" Potter m. 6 Oct 1894 Whitesburg, Letcher, KY
to 1st Eliza Frances Reynolds b 16 Dec 1877 d 23 Apr 1975,
buried Reynolds Cemetery, Seco, KY, d/o
William Henry Reynolds and Matilda Frances Baker. Her marker reads; Eliza
Davis "Grannie" 1877 - 1975. Eliza Francis Reynolds lived to be 98 years of age.
See
Letcher Marriages 1892-1895. Mart and Eliza are listed as J. W.
Potter and Eliza Reynolds. Children of Joel Martin "Mart" Potter and Eliza
Frances Reynolds;
1.
Sarah Sallie Potter b 28 Jan 1899 Letcher Co., KY d 16 Jan 1944, from
complications from surgery, buried Reynolds Cemetery, Seco, Letcher Co KY, m.
(1st) Samuel Washington "Washie" Wright, b 22 May 1896 d 9 Jun 1970 age 74
years, buried Reynolds Cemetery, Seco, Letcher Co KY, s/o
Samuel J "Kinky Haired Sam"
Wright and Martha Jane Reynolds. Samuel Washington "Washie" Wright m. 2nd
Dixie Rose and 3rd Dorothy Killen. Sarah Sally Potter m. 2nd to Roy Brown.
Sally and Roy had no children? Carved on her tombstone is Sallie Brown daughter
of J M and Eliza Potter. Picture of
Sallie Potter Tombstone.
Children of Sarah Sally Potter Wright Brown and Samuel Washington "Washie"
Wright;
Dave Wright m. Carnella Unknown
Don Wright
2.
Virgie Potter b 3 Feb 1897 d Dec 1977, buried Reynolds Cemetery, Seco, KY m.
Henry Vanover b 28 Dec 1892 d May, 1977 Letcher Co., KY, buried Reynolds
Cemetery, Seco, Letcher Co, KY. Children of Virgie and Henry Vanover;
George Vanover
Joel Vanover b 22 Aug 1919 d 5 Nov 1956 in a tragic mining accident, buried
Reynolds Cemetery, Seco, Letcher Co, KY.
3.
Creed Flannery Potter b 2
Sept 1902 d 26 Jan 1959 buried Reynolds Cemetery, Seco, Letcher Co, KY m. about
1920 Letcher Co KY to (1st)
Sarah Rose Robinson b
about 1902 (divorced 1933). Creed Flannery Potter m. about 1936 to (2nd)
Elizabeth "Betty" Brown (divorced) no children. Creed Flannery Potter m. about
1944 Letcher Co KY to 3rd, our Mom,
Ida Fuller b 27 Jun 1912
d 1 Jul 2007, buried Pearland, TX, d/o
Elijah "Green" Fuller and
Leona Smith.
4. Jonah Potter (Jonas in the 1910 Millstone Letcher Co Census) after age 14,
buried Reynolds Family Cemetery, Seco, Letcher Co KY. During and after Jonah's
birth his Mother Eliza Frances Reynolds Potter was very ill and Jonah was born
ill. Jonah never got well and his Mother nearly died after giving birth to him.
She remained ill for several months after his birth.
Eliza Frances Reynolds
and Thomas Davis
Eliza Frances Reynolds b 16 Dec 1877 d 23 Apr 1975,
buried Reynolds Cemetery, Seco, KY, d/o
William Henry Reynolds and Matilda Frances Baker. Eliza Frances
Reynolds m. 2nd to Thomas Davis. Thanks to Kristie Reynolds
for submitting the 1910 Millstone, Letcher, KY Census
excerpt. (I don't know anything about 2nd husband of Eliza Frances Reynolds. Neither Granny,
Eliza Frances Reynolds
nor our Dad, Creed Flannery Potter or any of the family ever spoke of this man or this
marriage).
Joel Martin "Mart" Potter
and Caroline "Callie" Potter
Leona Smith
Fuller
and Joel Martin Potter
Joel Mart Potter and
Leona Smith Fuller
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Leona
Smith Fuller b 1884 d 1966 d/o
Hilliard J Smith and Armelda
"Melda" Combs. Leona Smith Fuller m. (3rd) Joel Martin "Mart"
Potter b 4 Mar
1875 in Letcher Co KY d 20 Apr 1949. s/o
Abraham Potter and Sarah
"Sallie" Wright buried Potter Family Cemetery, Payne Gap, KY. Joel Martin "Mart"
Potter . Leona Smith m.
1st Jim Hale and m.
2nd Green Fuller. Joel
Martin "Mart" Potter and Leona Smith married late in life and had no children
from their marriage.
Although Mart is not buried
with our Mammaw, and is buried by his 2nd wife in the Potter Family Cemetery, he
was married to our Mammaw, Leona Smith Hale Fuller Potter, when he died. Mart
died at home in bed. He went to bed and was found dead in the morning by our
Mammaw. She was devastated.
Mart is buried in the Potter
Family Cemetery in Payne Gap KY. Here is a picture of
"Mart" Potter's Tombstone. Mart's parents
Abraham Potter 1837 and Sarah
"Sallie" Wright are also buried in the Potter Family Cemetery near him. Mart's
personal possessions were claimed by his children by his 2nd wife after his
death. Family stories passed down through the years shed light on some of Mart's
personality traits. He was most noted for being very frugal; often turning out
the lights to save money. Our Mammaw would laugh and tell a story about him
turning out the lights in the middle of supper and leaving everyone in the dark
to feel around for their plates and serving dishes. Mart served as US Marshall
for some time and often came to get our dad, Creed Potter to aid him in arrests.
Mammaw Leona Fuller was an
extraordinary woman. She raised her own food, made clothing for her family and
for other families. She made featherbeds and even the ticking that holds the
feathers. She was the best cook ever and made huge meals for her large family.
She was the hardest working
woman I've ever known and the happiest. Mammaw ran a boarding house where she
fed all the workers that built the roads and railroads and that worked in the
mines. She did everything she could do to raise her family. She was also a
skilled seamstress and made what our mom recalled as very high quality clothing
and sold them to people in the area.
The family did their laundry on
the banks of a nearby stream where they built fires, heated water for the wash
tubs and used home made lye soap to wash the clothes on wash boards. She lived
in a log cabin that was up on a hill and behind her house was her garden, her
animals (cows, chickens and pigs and such), her fruit trees (I remember climbing
up in her cherry tree and eating cherries), her ice cold spring, and her "root
cellar" for keeping things cool.
She canned vegetables and
fruits and anytime of the year she always had plenty to eat because of all the
foods she "put up". One of the best things was her home made butter. I've never
found any butter anywhere like hers. Her butter was white, very mild, sweet and
very delicious. She served it with her home made biscuits or cornbread at every
meal. That was good eating!
She entertained us by telling
us great scary stories, family stories, reading coffee grounds in the bottom of
teacups, mysteriously raising knocking spirits and by singing and playing music
on her hand made dulcimer. I loved her very much and there's not another like
her. When we were at her home, we would sit out on the big front porch in the
good country air, watch the lightening bugs, and listen to stories and tales
while the night sounds of the beautiful mountains enveloped us.
She didn't have an indoor
bathroom for many years, but we never noticed the difference. When we were at
her home, we loved every minute of it. She was a great woman and I can't tell
you how much we miss her. Mart Potter died in 1949 and Mammaw died in 1966.
Mammaw is buried in the Isom Cemetery, Isom, KY. See
Mammaw's Tombstone in Isom, KY behind the Presbyterian Church.

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