POTTER, John S., actor, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1809; died in Morris, Illinois, 21 February, 1869. He was early apprenticed as a printer in the office of the Philadelphia "Gazette," but began to frequent the theatres, and soon joined the Boothenian dramatic club. He made his first appearance at the Washington circus in 1827, and then went to Pitts-burg, where he played under the name of John Sharp. For several years he acted in various parts throughout the United States, but ultimately he became a manager, in which vocation he continued until his death. Mr. Potter built the first theatre in Natchez, Mississippi, and also those in Fort Gibson in 1836; in Grand Gulf in 1836; in Natchitoches in 1837; in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1837; in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1839: in Chicago, Illinois, in 1841 ; in Rochester, New York, in 1846; and in Cleveland, O., in 1848. He sailed for California in 1855, and remained on the Pacific coast until 1865, building theatres in California, Oregon, and Vancouver's island.