Alonzo Potter (July 6, 1800 – July 4, 1865) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States who served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.

Early life Potter was born on July 6, 1800, in Beekman, New York. He was the sixth child of Anna and Joseph Potter, who was a farmer. His ancestors emigrated from England to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in the mid-seventeenth century. Through his grandparents Thomas Potter and Esther Sheldon, respectively, Alonzo was descended from the co-founders of Rhode Island, William Arnold and Roger Williams. There have been in the Potter family two brothers who were bishops in the Episcopal Church: Alonzo Potter was bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania and his younger brother Horatio Potter was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Alonzo's son Henry Codman Potter, successor to Bishop Horatio Potter in New York, was a third.

Education Alonzo first attended the district school in his hometown. Although he was a "bright" student, he did not care for reading until he read The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Potter was so taken with the story that he could not put it down except for eating and sleeping. He later said that from then on, "I took pleasure in books."

When Potter was twelve years old, he entered an academy in Poughkeepsie, New York. Within three years, his teacher said that, "by capacity and scholarship," Potter was ready for college. At age fifteen, Potter passed the entrance examination and enrolled in Union College in Schenectady, New York. In 1818, at age eighteen, he graduated with honors, and he "won the prize of college ambition." At his graduation, he gave the Valedictory Oration.

After graduating from Union College, Potter moved to Philadelphia to be with his brother, who was a bookseller. During this time, his interest in books continued. He also became interested in the Episcopal Church.

Religious convictions Potter's "religious convictions became so decided" in Philadelphia that he joined the Episcopal Church. He had not been baptized, so he requested and received it in St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia. Later, in Christ Church, Philadelphia, he was confirmed by Bishop White. Shortly after that, Potter decided that he wanted to be ordained in the Episcopal Church. He began theological studies under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Turner, afterward for many years a distinguished Professor in the General Theological Seminary. He continued studying theology after he returned to Union College as a Tutor.

While still in Philadelphia before he returned to Union College, he gave instruction to "colored persons." This action foreshadowed his later concern as a bishop for "equal rights and opportunities in Church and State to all sorts and conditions of men."

Union College: 1821–1826 In 1821, after his time with his brother in Philadelphia, Potter returned to Union College as a Tutor and soon became "Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy."

While he was teaching at Union College, Potter was made a deacon in 1822 by Bishop John Henry Hobart. When he was twenty-four years old, he was ordained Priest in 1824 by Bishop Thomas Church Brownell. Shortly after he was ordained, Potter gathered "a little congregation of blacks in Schenectady" and became their minister. S. F. Hotchkin, The First Six Bishops of Pennsylvania (Diocese of Pennsylvania Church House, 1911), 22-28.

In 1823, Potter published his first book. It was A Tractate on Logarithms, by which he came to be known "as a proficient mathematician."

In 1825, Geneva College, now Hobart College, offered the twenty-five-year-old Potter its presidency. However, he declined the offer.

Marriages Potter married three times: first to Sarah Maria Nott, next to her first cousin, Sarah Benedict, and last to Frances Seton.

Sarah Maria Nott Potter

In 1824, Potter married Sarah Maria Nott. She was the only daughter of Eliphalet Nott, President of Union College. On March 16, 1839, Sarah Nott Potter died about four hours after giving birth to her seventh child and only daughter. Potter described his wife's many virtues: "she gave herself, seemingly without a pang, to her household, to her friends, and to anyone whom she could make more happy." She was "a centre of delight to all who knew her."Michael Bourgeois, All Things Human: Henry Codman Potter and the Social Gospel in the Episcopal Church (University of Illinois Press, 2010), 7.

Sarah Benedict Potter According to his wife's request, the children were placed under the care of her cousin Sarah Benedict. Alonzo married Miss Benedict in 1840. She was thirty-one years old. They had three boys. Before her death, Sarah Benedict Potter suffered from consumption, which made her "too ill to do active work." She died at their home in Philadelphia on January 29, 1864.

Frances Seton In 1865, Potter married his third wife, Miss Frances Seton. They were married only three months before he died on July 4, 1865. She died on October 27, 1909, in Flushing, Long Island, N. Y. Her will bequeathed $10,700 to charitable and religious bodies. Of this, $5,000.00 (~$ in ) was given to the Board of Mission of The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Triennial Report of the Board of Missions Presented at a Joint Session of the Two Houses of the General Convention, Cincinnati, October 7, 1910. page 31.

Children

In total, Alonzo Potter had ten children: seven (six boys and one daughter) by Sarah Nott and three boys by Sara Benedict.

Children by Sarah Nott Potter Clarkson Nott Potter (1825–1882) was a Democratic member of the House of Representatives after the Civil War. Howard Potter (1826–1897) was a New York City banker who was known for his contributions to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, the Children's Aid Society, and the New York Orthopaedic Hospital."The Amazing Potter Family." Robert Brown Potter (1829–1887) was a United States General in the American Civil War and a financier. Edward Tuckerman Potter (1831–1904) was an architect who designed the Nott Memorial at Union College."Edward Tuckerman Potter papers, 1864-1965." Henry C. Potter (1834-1908) was a priest in the Episcopal Church and the seventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Eliphalet Nott Potter (1836-1901) was rector of an Episcopal Church, college professor, and president of three colleges. Maria Louisa Potter (1839-1916) married sculptor Launt Thompson and lived in Italy."Maria Louisa Potter."

Children by Sarah Benedict James Neilson Potter (1841–1906)."Clarkson Nott Potter, 1825 - 1882." William Appleton Potter (1842–1909) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings, including the Church of the Presidents (New Jersey) in Elberon, New Jersey."William Appleton Potter (1842-1909), Architect," Frank Hunter Potter, (1851–1932) served as a first lieutenant in the American Civil War.Congressional Series of United States Public Documents, Volume 2815 (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1891) "Francis M. Potter," pages 1–4.

St. Paul's, Boston: 1826–1831 In 1826, Potter accepted a call as rector of St. Paul's Church, Boston, Massachusetts and was instituted on August 29, 1826. He succeeded Dr. Samuel Farmar Jarvis, who, leaving the parish in 1827, left it without a rector. At the time, there was no rectorship in the Episcopal Church "more important or more difficult to fill." St. Paul's had been founded in 1820, but it did not attract a sufficient congregation, so the bishop and his presbyters vacated the rectorship. The parish was "left prostrated, depleted and in debt."

Under Potter's ministry, "a large parish was formed." His ministry includes sermons, lectures, and pastoral visits. Potter's sermons were "always Gospel truths" and "illustrated plainly." He gave weekly "evangelical lectures" on Tuesday evenings. Pastoral visits were the third factor in Potter's success. He spent all day Monday and Tuesday mornings making "general visits" to parishioners. The visits included Scripture reading and prayer. He made "visits to the sick and dying" as needed.

On May 12, 1829, Potter preached a sermon on "behalf of missions" before the Board of Directors of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church.An Appeal in Behalf of Missions: Addressed to Episcopalians. A Sermon Preached before the Board of Directors of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, in St. James' Church, Philadelphia, on Tuesday, May 12, 1829. P. & C. Williams, 1829). The Spirit of the Pilgrims, which was a short-lived (1828-1833) religious magazine, "Spirit of Pilgrims-Magazine." reported on the sermon with these words: "We have seldom read a more earnest and touching appeal on the subject of missions, particularly foreign missions, than this sermon presents... His discourse, wherever circulated, cannot fail of doing good." The Spirit of the Pilgrims, Volume 2, August 1829 (Peirce and Williams), 462-462.

Potter's work became too much for him. He began to suffer from a "partial loss of voice" and "impaired health," so, in 1831, he resigned and went back to Union College to teach. His five years in Boston had been "a marked success." Potter came to a parish marked by dissension and debt and it was marked by "unity, quietness, strength and prosperity."

Union College: 1831–1845 In 1831, Potter returned to Union College as professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy. Also, on demand, he taught "Greek and Latin, algebra and geometry, logic and rhetoric, technology and trigonometry." In 1838, he was elected vice-president of the college and served in that capacity until he became a bishop in 1845. While at the college and later as bishop, Potter was nationally known "as a leader in education."

While at Union College, Potter declined three offers. In November 1835, he declined the Professorship of Ecclesiastical History in the General Theological Seminary. Also in 1835, Potter declined a call to Grace Church, Boston. In 1838, he declined election as bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Massachusetts. Although Potter's health had improved, it was, "especially in his vocal powers, far from satisfactory."

Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania: 1845–1865 In 1845, Bishop Henry Ustick Onderdonk resigned his office as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania because of "widespread dissatisfaction." Hermon Griswold Batterson, A Sketch-book of the American Episcopate (Lippincott, 1878), 95. Furthermore, the diocese was divided between Tractarians and those who wanted a more Protestant Episcopal Church.

The Diocesan Convention met in May 1845 to elect a bishop. After four days, no nominee had been elected by both orders. Then, on May 23, 1845, Potter was nominated. On the first ballot, he was elected by the clergy. The laity gave Potter their unanimous vote. On June 4, 1845, Potter wrote his "formal letter of acceptance." He was consecrated September 23, 1845, in Christ Church, Philadelphia. Bishop John Henry Hopkins of Vermont was the preacher.

On September 24, 1845, the day after his consecration, Potter consecrated a new church. Five days later, he began making visitations to the part of his Diocese farthest from Philadelphia. By May 1846, Potter "had visited every parish in his Diocese but two."

Lowell Lectures in Boston