My Genealogy Hound

POTTS, ELAM A. farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 29, P.O. White Hall. Among the farmers of Greene County Mr. Potts takes a leading position; he is the oldest son of William and Margaret Potts. William Potts was a native of England, who crossed the Atlantic in an early day; he became a resident of Ohio, where he married in 1820; when Illinois was so deep in the wilderness that Chicago was unheard of, and the moccasined foot of the North American Indian trod with independent step the broad unbroken prairies, this family of pioneers made their way to Greene County mostly by river, on a keel boat, settling near what is now Carrollton; land was entered from the government, and soon there nestled amid the tall prairie grass the pioneer’s log cabin, where many happy years were spent; Wm. Potts became a successful farmer, who passed away in 1862; Mrs. Potts died in 1871. Elam received a liberal education, and in 1846 was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ann Culver, a daughter of Dr. S. H. Culver; for several years he rented property until able to purchase; he now owns 330 acres, unparalleled in the West, on which he has erected a handsome farm residence; in 1867 Mrs. Potts died, leaving to the care of her husband two children, William H., and Julius E.; the same year Mr. Potts was married to Miss Naomi Zillinger, by whom he has two children: Clarence E., and Maud E.