JAMES W. POTTS, A business enterprise of Summitville which is a reliable source of supplies in the hardware and implement line to the greater part of Van Buren Township in the store of James W. Potts and his partner, Mr. Vinson, Mr. Potts has been known in Van Buren Township since childhood, He is an aggressive and able young business man, and for a number of years followed farming in this vicinity and in Delaware County, His practical knowledge of agriculture has been an asset in his present business, since he knows exactly what the agricultural community needs in the way of its mechanical and hardware supplies, and is a business man who looks closely after his trade and his stock, which has been the chief factor in the success of his establishment in Summitville.
James W. Potts was born February 8, 1881, on his father’s farm in Van Buren Township, about three miles southeast of Summitville, on the Peter Flint Gravel Road, His parents were Jesse M. and Sarah A. (Hudson) Potts, His father came to Indiana from North Carolina when a young man, arriving in Anderson without money, He is the type of man who made success from small beginnings, Miscellaneous work of any honest kind afforded him his livelihood for some time until he was married, He then rented a farm from his father-in-law, James Hudson, and afterwards as his means increased bought eighty acres, At the time of his death he was the owner of one hundred and forty-three acres, and a man of substantial influence in the County. He was buried in Mt, Pisgah cemetery in Monroe Township, His children were Martha A., deceased; Mrs. Mary Jane Ellsworth, deceased; Lilly A. Poindexter; James W.; William W., who is employed on the Cincinnati Times-Star at Cincinnati.
James W. Potts was reared on a farm, All his school associations center about the Dageon school, in Van Buren Township, which he attended from the time he learned his letters until his education was considered complete, When he started out for himself he rented a part of the Hudson estate, and at the same time managed his father’s farm, Afterwards he bought seventeen acres from the Hudson place, and conducted that little farm with profit for some years, He then sold it and moved to Delaware County, where he rented a farm of seventy acres for two years, After that he bought back from his brother William W., the seventeen acres of his original homestead, and has since increased his ownership of land in this Township to sixty-five acres, It is located two and a half miles southeast from Summitville, His brother-in-law Wallace Poindexter attends the farm, On leaving the country, Mr. Potts engaged in business in Summitville, and in partnership with Oscar A. Vinson bought out what has long been known as the Summitville Hardware Company.
On August 18, 1892, Mr. Potts married Miss Ida A. Young, a daughter of Ellison and Laura (Widener) Young, Five children have blessed their marriage, namely: Two who died in infancy; Londis L., in high school; Jesse E., in the first year of high school and James F. Mr. Potts has fraternal affiliations with the Improved Order of Red Men, Neoskaleta Tribe, No. 149; the Knights of Pythias, Gas Belt Lodge No, 361; the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No, 10434; and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No, 478, His church is the Christian denomination. When he can get away from business Mr. Potts enjoys nothing better than recreation in the woods, hunting and fishing and such other diversions as the outdoor life affords.