Allen Potter

Allen Potter ( born October 2, 1818 in Galway, Saratoga County, New York, † May 8, 1885 in Kalamazoo, Michigan ) was an American politician. Between 1875 and 1877 he represented the state of Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Allen Potter attended the public schools of his home. In 1830 he came to Adrian in Michigan Territory. In 1838 he moved to Jonesville in the meantime founded the state of Michigan, where he served an apprenticeship as a plumber. After another move, he came in 1845 to Kalamazoo, where he worked until 1858 in the iron trade. Then he went into the banking industry. At the same time he began a political career.

In 1857, Potter was elected to the House of Representatives from Michigan. Between 1859 and 1872 he was several times a member and Chairman of the Municipal Council of Kalamazoo. From 1867 to 1871 he sat in the local Board of Education; in 1869 he became its chairman. 1872 was also the drinking water at Potter Committee in his hometown. In 1872, he ran unsuccessfully as Liberalrepublikaner for the U.S. House of Representatives. Subsequently, he joined the Democratic Party.

In the congressional elections of 1874 Potter was in the fourth electoral district of Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of the Republican Julius C. Burrows on March 4, 1875. Since he resigned in 1876 to further candidacy, he was able to complete only one term in Congress until March 3, 1877. After his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives Potter again worked in the banking industry. He also participated financially in the railroad business and the mining industry in Colorado. Between 1880 and 1883 he was a member of the sewage Commission in Kalamazoo; in 1884 he became mayor of this city. He was also Treasurer of the State Mental Hospital of Michigan. Allen Potter died on 8 May 1885 in Kalamazoo, where he was also buried.