1919 Diary of the Business-Minded Matriarch of the La Fox, Illinois Potter Family Who Were Integral in the Region’s Growth in the Late 1800s

On offer is the incredible 1919 diary of Annie M. Barker Potter (1840-1933), kept when she was the 79-year-old widow of La Fox, Blackberry Township, Kane County, Illinois visionary Lemuel Milk Potter (1830-1897). 

Originally of the Plymouth, Massachusetts Barkers, Annie married fellow Massachusetts native, sea captain and widower, Lemuel Milk Potter in 1863. That same year, Annie and Lemuel, alongside Annie’s brother, Henry H. Barker (1848-1889), moved to La Fox, Kane County, Illinois. The entrepreneurial Lemuel became a key player in La Fox’s early development. In collaboration with Henry, Lemuel purchased an interest in Frederick Dean’s store and renamed it Potter’s General Store. He and Henry also constructed a grain elevator and a cheese factory (which was converted to a creamery and later became a meeting place, La Fox Hall) in La Fox. Lemuel also had a large residence built for his own family in La Fox. [SEE BIO NOTES FOLLOWING LISTING FOR MORE ON THE POTTERS].

Annie and her adult children were actively involved in the thriving Potter family businesses at the time she kept this diary. A large number of her entries relate to her role within the business. Annie comments regularly on the Potter’s general store, her investments, financial transactions, and business dealings as the inferred manager of the Potter’s other properties. It is impressive that Annie, a female in her golden years, was still respected as a key player in the business by the surviving Potter men. She was also very socially engaged, involved in women’s clubs and keenly aware of the comings and goings of members of the community. Some excerpts of her diary, which cover the year of 1919, give the flavour of her entries and her relationships with the larger Potter family:

“Charlie Eatman and Blanche and Althea are here. I have been writing to Alden” [Feb 23]. 

“Recd of CA Potter to apply on principal of loan $100 and I paid that into the store, this top up all the loans on the trust deed of $3500 except a little [interest]” [April 12].

“I went down town with Doc [nickname for her son Charles] and sent my $15.00 Liberty Loan off to be registered and I got the int on my $25.00 Liberty loan also on my $14.00 liberty loan, The 60 Club met at Mrs. Caldwell’s. My int on loans was $50, 50 on one and 30, 30 on the other” [April 24].

 “Had a telegram from Angie that Everett [Chaffee] died suddenly today. Frank Pudds wife also died today. Rec’d…note $6.00 took this to store and got the money on it” [May 27].

 “I’ve been copying my statement and making out my yearly statement. A hard wind storm has just come up and we think it may take some of the strawberries. We are beginning to have them going to have quite a lot. Tayler paid me rent to Dec 15, 1919, $48.00” [June 11].

 “Have just written to Lizzie about the change over w the store. Arlo and Bill have been to St. Charles, Doc and Grace were up tonight to talk business” [Oct 16]. 

“Got word from Doc that he had heard from Herbert that it was all right to sell the property” [Oct 24].

“All the Finns were up…for dinner tonight we went to Elburn on the O.E.R. to the entertainment…got home about 1 o’clock” [Nov 21].

 “I was sick all night last night and all the forenoon. Got my check from Scott Washburn for rent. 6.00 for Dec 1919” [Nov 30].

 As well as keeping her diary nearly every day for the year of 1919, Annie also kept good track of her finances in the Cash Account section at the back of the diary, providing a clear picture of her transactions and financial habits. 

 This diary provides an insightful peek into the business and personal dealings of the La Fox, Illinois Potter family, who were vital in the building up of the community and whose work in La Fox still stands today. Annie is a strong elderly woman who is more active than many women half her age. She is obviously extremely savvy in business and finance.

 This diary would be a valuable addition to the collection of any historian or anyone interested in the role of women in business in the early 20^th century, the experiences of widows of entrepreneurs in maintaining family legacies, and those interested in the Potter family or pioneering residents of Illinois in general, in particular Kane County.  

 Diary measures approximately 5x3 inches. Cover is chipping slightly but the spine and pages are all intact. Diary is 90% complete and writing is legible. Overall Good.

 BIO NOTES:

Lemuel Milk Potter of Massachusetts first married Elizabeth A. Davis (1835-1855) in May of 1854. Together they had one son, Alden Howland Potter (1855-1933). Following Elizabeth’s death only two months after Alden’s birth, Lemuel married Annie M. Barker, also of Massachusetts, in 1863. Annie was born to William and Rebecca (Potter) Barker. Together, Annie and Lemuel had five children: James (1866-1906), Arthur (b. 1872, died in infancy), Nellie Emma (1874-1899), Charles “Doc” Arthur Potter Sr. (1878-1966) and Elizabeth Potter Wing (1868-1955).

Prior to becoming a force of nature, almost single-handedly building up La Fox, Illinois, Lemuel worked as a whaling captain from May 1859 through June 1863. He left the ship he was captaining, the “Mary Ann”, in June of 1863, and married Annie that October. They moved to La Fox, Illinois after they married.

Lemuel’s first child, Alden Howland Potter married Jane Carr Bliss (1861-1929). They were parents to Alden Archibald Potter (1884-1961), Zenas Lemuel Potter (1886-1958), Jessica Potter Broderick Johnson (1896-1991).

The Potter family has remained very important in Kane County, with Potters constructing or buying at least 12 buildings in La Fox. The Potter and Barker Grain Elevator, which Lemuel and Henry built in 1868, was an important grain transfer point and was added to the United States’ National Register of Historic Places in 2016. 

[This listing was re-researched, re-written and re-listed in 2025].