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It seems that every family researcher I have ever spoken with has what we all call a "dead end." This refers that elusive ancestor who can't be found in any available records. Their name is not to be found in any census, bibles, wills, estates, deeds, marriages or deaths. This is the case in my family research for Charity Potts. According to our family oral history, Charity lived in Lenoir County, NC and had three illegitimate children by Walter Dunn, Jr. Census and deeds of the time indicate Walter lived in close proximity with the Potts families referred to in other areas of this website. There's a story that "Walter went north and visited in the home of John Darden where Charity was a maid and she followed him home." There is a reference she came from a South Carolina family. Perhaps we'll never know just where she came from nor who her family were but that's one of the challenges family research presents. Charity Potts and Walter Dunns, Jr.'s three children were: Newman, Hannah and Lucius. Newman settled in Wayne County; Hannah lived in the Kinston area and Lucius settled in Jones County. There is a Mormon record listing Charity and Walter as parents of Newman Potts. This is the only record I have been able to locate with the name Charity Potts listed. There is a Charlotty Potts listed in the 1830 Lenoir County census with 1 male under 5, 1 female 5-10, 1 female 20-30, 1 female 30-40. Newman was born March 1, 1819 in Lenoir County and died April 13, 1884 in Wayne County and is buried in Potts Cemetery. Oral family history states he was bound out to a family when he was a boy and when he was old enough to make his way, he ran away from his family and by his own efforts and admirable determination, he overcame the handicap of earlier life. Hannah Potts was in the 1850 Lenoir County census, age 30, and in the home of Walter and Cynthia Dunn Jr. and is said to have been a family nurse. She later married Dr. Frederick LaRoque after his first wife, Mary Elizabeth Dunn, died November 7, 1860 [daughter of Walter and Cynthia Loftin Dunn Jr.]. Hannah's obituary reads she died in 1891 "in the home of her brother, W.W. Dunn." Lucius Potts was shown in the 1850 Jones County census in the home of Lewis H. Missalier, a merchant from New Jersey. Lucius age was 18 and his occupation listed as Taylor [sic]. His obituary states he died in 1856 at the age of 24. His remains were interred with Masonic honors, of which order he had been a member some years. I will be adding more information on the Newman Potts family from which I descend. Back to Home Page |
