Potterville

History

Potterville is named for the family of Linus Potter (b. 1798), who settled in the area in November of 1845. He lived on a homestead there with his wife Diana until 1846, when he died suddenly of "over laboring in his harvest field, and drinking too freely of cold water." He was buried on his own farm, on what is now the lot on the southwest corner of Main Street and Hartel Road, though later his body was moved to a plot in the Benton Township Cemetery. His wife and seven children (George, Maria "Louisa", Theodore Edgar, Charles, Sarah, John and James) stayed in Potterville after his death. While he resided in the county, Linus was elected Justice of the Peace of two townships in 1845, and Supervisor of Benton Township in 1846. He was considered one of the "most useful and enterprising" early citizens of Eaton County. Prior to their move to Eaton County, Linus and his wife Diana had resided Cayuga County, New York. In 1830, they traveled to Michigan by way of the Erie Canal, to Buffalo and then by way of Lake Erie steamboat to Detroit. From there, Linus and Diana walked to Plymouth, Michigan, a journey of about thirty miles, before walking on to Saline. The pair carried their eldest son, three-year-old George, and their eldest daughter, Louisa. Following Linus Potter's death, Diana Potter continued to raise her children and keep her homestead. In a letter to a grandson written when she was eighty years of age, she said, "I kept my family with me until they became men and women, and neither of my five boys, to my knowledge, have ever used liquor or tobacco, and all have good homes and families." George Potter was a land owner in Potterville before 21 years of age. In 1856 he became the Sheriff of Eaton County and later was elected to a seat in the State Senate.…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity