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POTTER, Clarkson Nott, a Representative from New York; born in Schenectady, N.Y., April 25, 1825;
completed preparatory studies; graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y.,1842; graduated
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a civil engineer, 1843; served as a surveyor in Wisconsin in
1843; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1846 and commenced practice in New York City in
1847; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-first and to the two succeeding Congresses (March 4,
1869-March 3, 1875); declined to be a candidate for renomination to the Forty-fourth Congress in
1874; elected to the Forty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1879); chairman, Committee on
Pacific Railroads (Forty-fifth Congress); declined to be a candidate for renomination to the Forty-sixth
Congress in 1878; president of the Democratic New York state conventions in 1875 and 1877;
delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1872 and 1876; unsuccessful candidate for
lieutenant governor in 1879; trustee of Union College 1863-1882; president of the American Bar
Association in 1881 and 1882; died on January 23, 1882, in New York City, N.Y.; interment in Vale
Cemetery, Schenectady, N.Y.
BibliographyVazzano, Frank P. The Louisiana Question
Resurrected: The Potter Commission and the Election of 1876. Louisiana History 16
(Winter 1975): 39-57.
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