Enos Potter
In 1788, at the suggestion of John C. Symmes, Enos Potter purchased a section of land in the Symmes purchase, and with his wife Rhoda Miller, left his pleasant home in New Jersey to make a new one in the wilderness. But, upon his arrival at Columbia, learning that the Indians were very hostile, they concluded to remain there till these dangers were over. But, after having spent ten years in their temporary home, they removed, in 1798, to their farm, near Middletown, where they were the remainder of their lives. These early pioneers had ten children, the youngest son of whom was Aaron, who was born in 1809. In this home he grew up under the fostering care of a more than ordinary mother, his father dying when he was only five years old. But in 1827, when he attained his eighteenth year, he left the maternal fireside, and removed to Cincinnati, where, under the tuition of E.B. Potter, he learned his trade. On September 20, 1830, he married Miss Emeline Ransdale, and in 1837 he removed his business to this city, where he remained to the day of his death, with the exception of a few months, which were spent in Indiana. He was the first ornamental marble-cutter ever in this place.
He was baptized by Elder Gard at the age of seventeen, and had decided evidence that he had become a child of God. Nor was his espousal of the faith once delivered to the saints a mere form. As soon as he was settled in business here he was found in the prayer-meetings and Sabbath-school, anxious to do good somewhere, even if the Church of his choice did not exist in the place. For five years he prayed and wept over the fact there was no Baptist Church here with whose members he could work for the honor of God. But when upon the 31st of December, 1841, Rev. A. Drury came here and preached in the Presbyterian Church in Rossville, he felt that the favored time had come, and with one congenial spirit, he resolved that separate meetings should be regularly maintained till God in his providence should warrant the organization of a Baptist church, and just here the real character of Mr. Potter appears in its true light, for he, with Dr. Rigdon, solemnly pledged himself before God, to maintain the worship of God and pay the amount which might be needed to carry this determination into execution, and, with the aid of a few who loved the truth, and under the guidance of such men as Drury, Bryant, Moore, and others of a kindred spirit, the little band so prospered that on the 20th of April, 1844, it was recognized as a branch of the Lockland Church. During that whole period of toil and anxiety, from the preaching of Drury's first sermon in 1841, we find that Messrs. Potter and Rigdon were responsible for all the expenses needed, and so deeply was Mr. Potter interested in that growing work that during most of the time he acted not only as treasurer but as sexton also, and after the organization of an independent Church of his own faith we find that its highest interests lay near his heart. It was the child of his own labor and toil and to the day of his death its welfare found a place in all his prayers. In health his seat in the sanctuary was never empty.
On the first day of July, 1871, he died in the sixty-second year of his age. He was married in 1830 to Miss Emeline Ransdale, daughter of J. Ransdale, a former well-known citizen of Cincinnati. Mrs. Potter was born in Boston, Massachusetts, July 19th, 1813. They were the parents of six children, of whom but one Charlotte A. Shue, now the widow of Adam C. Shuey, now survives. She was born January 9th, 1833.
From A History and Biographical Cyclopædia of Butler County Ohio, With Illustrations and Sketches of its Representative Men and Pioneers, Western Biographical Publishing Company, Cincinnati Ohio, 1882.