The saga of post-Civil-War Boerne and Kendall County history is full of colorful characters and men and women and families of distinction. One of those was the Rev. Andrew Jackson Potter and his wife, Emily Guin Potter, and their 15 children.
The Potters’ homestead will be the site of a Texas Historical Marker unveiling May 31 at 10 a.m. A previous marker for Potter was placed in the mid-1960s but was lost and never recovered.
A new marker has been approved by Texas Historical Commission. The Kendall County Historical Commission will host a gathering at 10 a.m. May 31 at the Patrick Heath Public Library, where speakers will share the back story on the Rev. Potter, followed by a short drive to the original marker site for the THC marker unveiling.
Andrew Jackson Potter, born in Chariton, Missouri, in 1830, served as a chaplain in the Civil War. After the war, he pursued education and was ordained as a Methodist Episcopal circuit riding minister in the Texas Southwest.
He moved his family from a property on Flat Rock Creek near Comfort, to 308 acres he bought from Enoch Deaton. The location was on the old Boerne to Fredericksburg Road, four miles northwest of the Boerne Plaza.
The Rev. H.A. Graves of Seguin, Texas wrote of Reconstruction in 1881: “To the wiser and better element of Texas society the surrender of arms in the late war was in good faith — to give all grades, races and colors, equal civil and political rights under the Federal and State Constitutions.”
Potter married Emily C. Guin of Bastrop, Texas, on Aug. 25, 1853. They settled near Bastrop and lived at various places before moving to Boerne, as it was a little more civilized and closer to the circuit riding districts Potter would serve.
Boerne was in its early twenties and those were exciting times. The Civil War was in the rear-view window. The area and region were developing, and the people were more than ready for peace and prosperity.
Emily was a hardy woman who took care of the large family and property when he was absent for long periods.
Andrew and Emily had a total of 15 children. They were prominent in Kendall County, having many friends, and were involved in local matters. Andrew owned a number of tracts of land. He seldom preached in Boerne, however, as he was never assigned to the Boerne circuit.
In 1883, a page in Boerne history turned when the colorful Rev. Potter, known as the “Fighting Parson,” relocated his family to San Angelo, Texas, to serve the new Methodist Church he founded in that city.
The Kendall County Historical Commission invites the public to gather in the Heath Public Library community room on May 31 to hear more on Potter and his “Fighting Parson” moniker, before the group makes a short drive to the original marker site for the THC marker unveiling. Questions can be directed to Glenn Cummings at 409-201-7969, or: [email protected].
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