Jonathan Potts (240)

Election date: 1768 (Elected to the American Society when it absorbed the membership of the Medical Society.)

Jonathan Potts (11 April 1745–15 October 1781) was a physician and slaveholder, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768 through his election to the Medical Society before November of the same year. Potts was born into a large and still growing family in Chester (now Berks) County, Pennsylvania, the son of an iron magnate. Rather than follow into the family business, Potts opted to study medicine. He first apprenticed under APS member Dr. Phineas Bond before traveling to Edinburgh in 1766 to continue his studies alongside friend, fellow student, and APS member Benjamin Rush. The perilous crossing, however, proved transformative for Potts and he arrived in Scotland with a renewed dedication to his Quaker faith. His stay, however, was briefer than anticipated owing to the surprise news that his finance was expecting their first child. He sailed back and soon after began his new life as father, husband, and physician first in Pottsgrove then in Philadelphia by 1768. There, with support from his family, he opened his own practice, attended medical lectures at the College of Philadelphia, and in 1771 received his M.D. degree. The following year he and his family relocated to Reading, PA where he opened an apothecary shop and private practice. His skills were soon put to use with the arrival of the American Revolution. Early on, Potts received an unforgiving but valuable lesson in preparation when he first reported to APS member and his former teacher, Dr. John Morgan at Fort George in August of 1776. His experience at the camp, rife as it was with disease, prepared him to better serve the Saratoga campaign the following year. Through advanced planning, Potts minimized disease at camp by erecting isolated inoculation hospitals and keeping the diseased men out of camp. Thereafter he continued to serve in leadership roles in managing hospital. Eventually, charges of mismanagement reached him, and he retired as his health deteriorated. He helped found a Masonic lodge in Reading right before his death. His older brother, Thomas, was also an APS member.  

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