Résumé

Principal, Joseph Walter Potter, Architect, Prince Rupert, BC, 1910-1922.

Principal, Joseph Walter Potter, Architect, San Diego, CA, c, 1924-1956. Once he had relocated in San Diego, in late 1923, Potter seems to have worked in several capacities, building contractor, draftsman, and self-employed architect. The San Diego City Directory, 1924 (p. 751) indicated his profession to have been "building contractor." He worked as a draftman for an architect in 1929. (See San Diego City Directory, 1929, p. 670.) The San Diego City Directory, 1938, (p. 522), also noted that Potter's occupation was "draftsman." City directories of the years 1933, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1947, 1948, and 1950 listed his occupation as "architect." Although it is unclear exactly when he retired, it is likely that he worked well into the 1950s in some capacity. Potter's name appeared in the American Architect's Directory, 1956, (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1955), p. 442), with his office located at his home address.

The San Diego City Directory, 1950 (p. 821), listed his occupation as "architect," although the same directory of 1959 (p. 802) listed no occupation.

Relocation

A somewhat murky figure, Joseph Walter Potter was a peripatetic architect born in Worcester, Worcestershire, England, who emigrated from Great Britain to Toronto, ON, Canada, prior to 1890. Sources do not agree on his birthdate. Ancestry.com's California Death Records page, based on the California Social Security Death Index, indicated it to have been 10/09/1881, while the web site Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950 listed it as 10/09/1879. He apprenticed with the Limerick, Ireland-born architect Joseph Connolly (1840-1904), who, in turn, had worked with noted Dublin architect, James Joseph McCarthy (1817-1882), known as "the Irish Pugin," for his devotion to Gothic Revival architecture. Based in Toronto, Connolly carried out in excess of 30 commissions for the Roman Catholic Church across Ontario between 1875 and his death in 1904, many of these in various permutations of the Gothic Revival Style. At the height of his career in the late 1880s and early 1890s, Connolly worked on several projects including an addition to Saint Mary's Cathedral in Kingston, ON (1889), Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Kemptville, ON (1889), and the grand, Italian Renaissance styled Saint Paul's Church in Toronto (1889), based on the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome (1823-1840). According to historian Donald Luxton, Potter began his seven-year apprenticeship (1896-1903) with Connolly on 05/01/1896.

Luxton's chronicling of Potter's life does not correlate entirely with that published in the Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950, The dictionary indicated that he worked for Connolly from 1893 until 1898, beginning when he was 12 years old. While Luxton stated that Potter then worked for H.P. Smith in Kingston, ON, the dictionary said that he relocated to Buffalo, NY, then a thriving manufacturing center. to serve as a draftsman for "Thebaud and Sullivan, Architects" between 1898 and 1901. A Victor Emile Thébaud (07/03/1872-07/19/1950), an 1896 graduate of Cornell University's School of Architecture, did work in Buffalo at this time, but he worked by himself in Room #71 of the Dun Building, Buffalo, NY (in 1898)and in Room #114 of the Prudential Building (1900). Luxton then indicated that Potter relocated to New York City for two years to work for the noted Beaux-Arts firm of Carrère and Hastings.

TheBiographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950noted that Potter moved to Chicago in 1901, where he spent two years as the Chief Draftsman for an office there, but the name given by Potter, either "L.D. Schawtzen" or "L.D. Schwatzen" does not seem to have existed. Antonia Brodie'sDirectory of British Architects, 1834-1914: Vol. 2 (L-Z), produced by RIBA, indicated that he worked for "L.D. Schwatzen of Chicago, Michigan, 1901-1903," while the web site Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950, said that "Potter moved to Chicago and worked as chief draftsman for L.D. Schawtzen (in 1901-03)...." No Chicago architect, however, is known by either name. The dictiorary then said that Potter spent two years in the Toronto office of Charles J. Gibson (1862–1935) between 1903 and 1905.

Both Luxton and the dictionary agree that Potter did work as the First Assistant to Chief Architect Francis Ryley Heakes (1858-1930), of the the Province of ON's Public Works Department, where he remained from 1905 until 04/1910. He moved to the northern BC town of Prince Rupert by 05/1910.

The Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950 stated: "A biography on the newly-arrived architect, published in the Prince Rupert Optimist, 20 August 1910, claims that he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1905, but this cannot be substantiated in records from that institution. He also claims to have worked for Carrère and Hastings in New York City, but this too cannot be confirmed." The likelihood of Potter working for Gibson/Heakes in Toronto and finishing an architectural degree in Philadelphia all in 1905 seem remote. Additionally, there is no evidence to reinforce the claim that Potter had ever worked in the prestigious atelier of Carrère and Hastings.

Potter stayed 13 years in Prince Rupert, not without controversy. He did design several significant buildings, most notably the Prince Rupert City Hall (1912), its Fire Station (1912) and Saint Joseph's Convent (1917), and established a reputation as the best-trained architect in this isolated Pacific Northwest town. A scandal in 1922-1923, however, sunk his hopes of settling in Prince Rupert. Questions emerged surrounding the structural integrity of his Booth Memorial School in Prince Rupert (1921-1922); both theBritish Columbia.Department of Educationand the British Columbia Provincial Government made official inquiries into the building's deficiencies causing the school to be abandoned by Easter 1922. (SeeBritish Columbia, Department of Education, Annual Report1922, [Vancouver, BC:BC Department of Education, 1923], and the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, [Vancouver, BC: British Columbia Legislative Assembly, 1922].) These inquiries cast doubt on Potter's abilities, making it very difficult for him to remain as an architect in the small town of Prince Rupert. He made arrangements to leave by at least 12/21/1922, when he filled out a US Department of Labor "Alien Certificate" on 12/21/1922 that stated he would enter the US via Seattle on his way to Los Angeles, CA. (See "Alien Certificate,"Source Information: Ancestry.com. Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.) It is not clear if Potter relocated for a few months in Seattle during 1922-1923; Luxton said that "He was living in Seattle when he requested resignation from the Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC) in 1923...." No work by Potter, however, is known in the city. Adding to the mystery, there is another record of Potter making his way through Seattle slightly later.

Potter sailed on the Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Steamship Service's S.S. Princess Victoria from Vancouver, BC, to the Port of Seattle in 08/24/1923; a manifest for the ship indicated that his wife, Jean, traveled with him. This manifest stated that while they entered the US at Seattle, their final destination was Los Angeles. It also recorded that neither had been to the US previously. although this was apparently untrue if Potter had worked in Chicago, Buffalo and/or Seattle.(See "Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961 forJoseph Walter Potter," 08/1923, Source Information: Ancestry.com. Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.) Potter was in possession of $1,000 with which to set up a new life in the US.

According to Potter's application for citizenship of 1928, he claimed to have entered the US on 12/21/1922 (the date of his "Alien Certificate"), although the Princess Victoria's manifest stated that his entry came over 9 months later. (See "Petition for Citizenship," Source Citation: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records in the Superior Court of San Diego, California, 1883-1958; Microfilm Serial: M1613; Microfilm Roll: 10.) He may have shaved a few months off to speed up the application process. This document also listed his occupation as "Builder," implying, perhaps, that he engaged in construction work to make ends meet. His citizenship papers indicated that he had resided in San Diego since 10/15/1923. Joseph and Jean Potter lived for some brief time (perhaps between 08-09/1923) in Los Angeles, and then moved to San Diego, CA. (Potter's name did not appear in the Los Angeles City Directory of 1924, but did in the San Diego City Directory, 1924 [p. 751].) He and his wife first applied for naturalization on 01/14/1928 in the Superior Court of California at San Diego, and received it on 06/20/1930.

Joseph W. Potter lived at the following addresses in San Diego: 1924-1928, 840 B Street; 1928-c.1932, 1665 9th Avenue; (this was a rental apartment costing $30 per month, according to the US Census of 1930); 1933-1937, 1623 9th Avenue; 1938-1962, 2936 1st Avenue,

As for his later years, Luxton reported that Potter "...moved to Los Angeles where he went back to school at the University of California, and received a degree in architecture." Unless he earned this degree at another Los Angeles university (i.e., the University of Southern California [USC], perhaps), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) did not start a program in architecture until 1964, when it fomed the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning (GSAUP). He continued, "Potter moved to San Diego in 1927, and practiced there until his retirement in 1939." (See Donald Luxton, Building the West, The Early Architects of British Columbia, {Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 2003], p. 481.) His retirement from architecture did not end before World War II, and it may not have come until the mid-1950s.

Joseph Walter Potter passed away at the age of 80 in San Diego. He last resided at 2936 1st Avenue in San Diego; where his second wife, Bertie, lived until her death in 1976.

Parents,

At the time of his entry into the US on 08/24/1923, Potter indicated that his mother was still alive and residing in Toronto.

Spouse

An "Alien Certificate" issued by the US Department of Labor (12/21/1922) indicated that he intended to travel from Canada to Los Angeles with his wife, Jean.May Potter. According to the ship's 1923 manifest of the S.S. Princess Victoria, she had been born in Toronto, CA, and was 35 years old. Joseph's naturalization application contradicted this, however, stating that she had been born 11/25/1891. The two wed in Toronto on 01/13/1908, and they had had no children by 1928. (See "Petition for Citizenship," Source Citation: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records in the Superior Court of San Diego, California, 1883-1958; Microfilm Serial: M1613; Microfilm Roll: 10.) Jean May Potter died in San Diego prematurely on 06/08/1939 at the age of 50. (See "Jean M Potter in the California, Death Index, 1905-1939," Source Information: Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1905-1939 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.) Potter married Bertie Beatrice Potter (1880-1977) c. 1942 in San Diego.

Biographical Notes

The California Social Security Death Index (accessed 06/01/2015) indicated that Joseph W. Potter had been born on 10/09/1881, not 10/09/1879. His application for US citizenship and his World War II Draft Registration Card indicated the former date. Two immigration documents recorded Potter to have been 5-feet 6 inches tall, with brown hair and blue eyes at age 40. Hotel manager Robert Thacker and his wife Mollie, who lived at 636 C Street in San Diego, served as witnesses during Joseph's citizenship hearing. They had known Potter since 03/01/1925. (See "Petition for Citizenship," Source Citation: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Records in the Superior Court of San Diego, California, 1883-1958; Microfilm Serial: M1613; Microfilm Roll: 10.)

• Worcester, UK (Architect's Birth)
  Worcester, UK

  ---

  ---