13 Facts About Richard Potts

Richard Potts was an American politician and jurist.

Richard Potts returned to Maryland and settled in the state capital of Annapolis in 1761, where he studied law.

Richard Potts commenced the practice of law in Frederick County, Maryland in 1775.

Richard Potts served as a member of the committee of observation for Frederick County in 1776 and as military aide to the Governor of Maryland in 1777.

Richard Potts served as clerk of the Frederick County court from 1777 to 1778, and as prosecuting attorney for Frederick, Montgomery, and Washington Counties in 1784.

Richard Potts was appointed by President George Washington as United States attorney for Maryland, and served from 1789 to 1791.

Richard Potts was a delegate to the Maryland State Convention of 1788, to vote whether Maryland should ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States.

Richard Potts served as a member of the Continental Congress in 1781, and as member of the Maryland convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States in 1788.

From 1791 to 1793 and again from 1796 to 1801, Richard Potts served as chief judge of the fifth judicial circuit of the State.

Richard Potts was later appointed associate justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals, a position he served in from 1801 to 1804.

Richard Potts declined the nomination to be elected to the Maryland State Senate in 1787, but served as a presidential elector in 1792.

Richard Potts declined an appointment as Secretary of State in 1795.

Richard Potts died in Frederick in 1808, and was interred in All Saints' Parish Cemetery until his reinterment in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick.